Loretto as Fungus

Editor’s note: This is a talk given by Drew Holtmann, teacher at Nerinx Hall High School, at a prayer service at the Motherhouse church about Earth, creation spirituality and community during our high school students’ volunteer week in June.

I was asked to speak about community and care for Earth, and so I was thinking back to a conversation I had with Cody Rakes about fungus. I came to the conclusion that Loretto is a fungus. Here’s how: Studies have suggested that the oaks, maples and cedars that populate this land don’t exist in isolation. As John Donne wrote hundreds of years ago, no one is an island, nor is any tree. We know that there are insects, vines and people that coexist in a symbiotic relationship with these trees. We can see that. However, underneath the soil there are miles and miles of microscopic networks of fungus that connect our forests together. They can transport resources from strong trees to help raise up new saplings and prophetically warn neighboring groves about threats. Scientists call it the Wood Wide Web.

The Loretto Community is like the Wood Wide Web. Like our fungus friends, the Community nourishes and encourages teachers like me to nurture our little acorn students, so they may grow to be good stewards of Earth, lending their gifts and talents in the name of peace and justice.

We are not islands. Our God as Trinity is communal. Our Mother Earth, made up of many ecosystems, is community. May these beings serve as a model for all people on this planet.