You may have noticed that American president George W. Bush, who for the first six years in office denied the existence of Global warming and used his office to obfuscate the issue and increase the ignorance of the American people has finally stepped on on-board to acknowledge its reality and ask the world for voluntary action. An important thing that everyone is missing, still, however, is the role of the massive wasteful consumer economy on the creation of global warming, and the potential for change by the American consumer to alleviate its causes. No one ever dares to mention conservation, as that would cut into the huge profits taken by the fossil fuels industries.

What does this have to do with the Wisdom of the Hands? What if we were making things in our own homes and communities instead of shopping? We would cut the huge wasteful traffic to the mall. We would find pleasure in our own creation of beautiful objects from common raw materials. We would discover our identities as makers, transcending the empty and wasteful consumerism that holds our culture and our planet in its choking grasp.

And again, what if we were making things instead of shopping? It might be pretty sad at first. We don't make things as well as machines, but in time with some attention and practice our skills will grow. The things we make have greater feeling and greater effect. We shape material and are shaped as well. In our efforts we become makers, powerfully engaged with tools and the essential realities of the materials of life. In essence, we become wisely woven into the warp and weft of human creative culture, joining the tradition of those who were here before, painting the caves of Lascaux, carving the stone of the great cathedrals, making simple things from wood or fabric that enrich the lives of our families and members of our communities.

But don't hold your breath. Change is not coming soon. This is a revolution that takes place one maker at a time, and the tide currently stands against us all. The forces of mind numbing consumerism are huge and staunchly arrayed in fear lest we discover the hollowness of their offerings. They will not mention the role of the consumer in making change. There is no mention of conservation. They want us to think that we can shop our way out of global warming by buying new light bulbs, refrigerators and carbon credits, so they can keep their hands comfortably in our pockets and gas tanks as we face change. So we grow one maker at a time. It is inevitable. The hand and the physical realities we face call us to be creative. And we will be.