Sister Carol Coston, OP, has brought to our Motherhouse a new vision of Earth ethic, called permaculture, (permanent agriculture). This new vision serves to correct the skewed vision perpetuated by the food industry. As Sister Carol writes, “Currently, much food production is viewed as big business for profit—not as a response to each person’s right to eat. Efficiency is measured by total profits rather than by the quality of the food or the condition of the soil. The land is often abused rather than “cared for.” Seed-bearing plants are not seen as a gift from God to be shared but as the first step in a vertical integration of agribusiness.”

Permaculture is a design based on natural ecosystems that would put food production back into the hands of local farmers with the support they need to sustain it. Cities and communities would be arranged in such a way that people would have direct access to locally grown food instead of importing it from thousands of miles away. Tax breaks, water subsidies, price and other supports would be designed to aid small farmers rather than agribusiness. A key principle of permaculture, Sister Carol states, is “to give back to Earth as much or more than you take from her.”

As you look at the world, what new vision is needed to promote the reign of God which includes the care for the entire earth community? What actions are you willing to take to make your personal vision a reality?

Blessings, 

Sister Sara

Sister Carol Coston, OP, reflects on her personal discernment process: “As I think back on these experiences and on the way I have changed over the past six and a half decades of my life, I recognize that my personal transformation has been more evolutionary than epiphanic. The movements have involved gradual changes, a sort of unfolding, rather than abrupt shifts— although, once I complete the internal shift, the external decisions to act on the internal change have always come quickly.”

Three deep impulses have guided Sister Carol’s life: her quest for God, her struggle against racism and class prejudice, and her commitment to social justice and care for Earth. She helped found, and for 10 years served as the first director of NETWORK: A National Catholic Social Justice Lobby, based in Washington, DC. Sister Carol was also a founding member of the Adrian Dominican Sisters’ Portfolio Advisory Board, serving as the Board’s chair for 12 years and representing our Congregation in dozens of shareholder resolutions on issues of justice in the global economy. 

She founded and directed two Partners for the Common Good loan funds, raising more than $11 million in religious investments to provide low-interest credit to low-income communities in the United States, Latin America, and South Africa. She also co-founded and co-directed Santuario Sisterfarm, a sanctuary for cultivating diversity and sustainable agriculture in the Texas Hill Country. 

Sister Carol is the first and only sister to receive the Presidential Citizens Medal, given by the President of the United States “in recognition of U.S. citizens who have performed exemplary deeds of service for our nation.”

What internal change are you noticing in your own life? How has this internal shift borne fruit in external action? What deep motivations guide your life?