A Delicate Balance

I have studied many streams, from their rushing mountain headwaters to their sluggish tidal mouths; great giants of rivers; tiny tributary brooks; streams flowing from clear springs; streams disappearing in sandy deserts. In all of them, one finds the same forces of nature at work, making for the slow carving out of valleys and for the enrichment of plants and wildlife.

Everywhere there is a delicate balance among water, soil, plants, and animals. Man can change this moving balance of nature for the good by stabilizing it at new levels and by adding new harmonious elements, as when he stores the water of ephemeral streams to create green oases. Or he can throw it out of balance by selfish or ignorant use of resources, so as to set in motion a vicious chain of destruction, as when he slashes a forest and launches a whole new cycle of soil erosion.

Whether one explores the nearby stream or the mysteries of interstellar space, one finds order and a sense of divine direction in the physical universe. A biologist in his laboratory learns that there is law of mutual aid, which is dominant in the animal and plant world. Each of us learns for himself in the innermost laboratory of his conscience that there is a law of love among mankind. I believe that this is the law which Jesus preached. This is the law which He lived, supremely.

I believe that each of us finds greatest use and greatest satisfaction in a life which respects and kindles the spark of the divine that is found in the conscience of every other member of the human brotherhood and which nourishes the harmonious growth of individual men and women. To set the welfare of any national or racial group ahead of the development of individuals, or to coerce individual expression of thought and worship, is to unloose a destructive erosion of human values to gain the temporary prosperity of a state. While watching the German occupation of France, I became convinced that man can no more conquer or preserve a civilization by war than he can conquer nature solely by engineering force.

The good life, like the balance of all the complex elements of a river valley, is founded upon friendly adjustment. It changes slowly, but it leads always towards a more fruitful development of individual men in service of each other. It embraces confidence in fellowship, tolerance in outlook, humility in service, and a constant search for the truth. To seek it in our own lives means imperfection and disappointment but never defeat. It means, I believe, putting ourselves in harmony with the divine order of love, with the great stream of forces that slowly are shaping—in spite of man’s ignorance and selfishness—an enrichment of the human spirit.

Gilbert F. White is often referred to as the “father of floodplain management.” Widely known for his work in geography, public policy, water resources, and environmental initiatives, White was known worldwide for his work on floodplain management and the importance of sound water management in contemporary society. He was president of Haverford College from 1946 to 1955, taught at the University of Chicago, and retired from teaching at the University of Colorado. White died in 2006 at the age of 94.