The darkness is fully upon us, and I invite her in so that I can know her more intimately. The darkness is not only in the form of winter, cold, and COVID aloneness, but of human depravity and ignorance in the time of the great unraveling. Our human civilization has wandered far from the path …
Thanksgiving 2018. A holiday founded on colonialism and genocide, repurposed to allow gratitude and connection – with family, community, and all life. As I turn the compost pile in the front yard, a neighbor walks to her car beneath a sunny Seattle morning sky with double rainbows. “Happy Thanksgiving Jordan”. Returning the perfunctory greeting, I …
I need to learn to let go, while not giving up the fight.
As a health care professional, I believe that anyone working in this field has a moral responsibility to educate their patients about climate change. It’s not simply a matter of doing the right thing, but letting people know that their health is already being directly affected by climate change. If we think that government will “fix the problem”, we ignore the structural obstacles preventing a top-down government fix.
The fossil fuel crisis is bringing changes to our world that are already deadly for many millions. The temperature – both actual and metaphorical – will only climb from this date onward. We can choose to engage and skillfully mitigate these challenges by committing ourselves to increasing our compassion for all life, and by acting on that compassion.
The earth is us. We are the earth. Her ocean flows through our veins, her solidity strengthening our bones. The pumping of our heart draws strength from the molten core of the planet. Sunlight shimmering through the trees is our own nervous system. And we feel her pain. We know she is suffering, somewhere in the deep recesses of consciousness.
Stand tall and brave
Beside deep water
Surf this planetary wave
Of a world getting hotter.
Learn to love your enemies, practice deep sharing with all life, develop true understanding of the truth of interconnectedness with all life. Walk on.
I am full of hope. Every human being has an unlimited potential for wisdom and compassion. That this potential is not always used or only marginally used, is not evidence for its absence. We can transform this world back into a paradise – where the natural world is restored and humans live in balance with nature. We are part of nature. Accomplishing this holistic transformation of our world will require each one of us to take responsibility – for our knowledge, for our actions, for our intentions, and for opening our hearts in compassionate awareness to every living being in the circle of life.
Our world is in uncharted territory. But of course, that is where it has always been – the forces of destruction and creation constantly engaged in dynamic tension – yin and yang, heaven and hell. In closing, while a part of me wants to give you a list of things that You Need To Do to save the world as we know it, my contemplative side recognizes that each person will respond based upon their individual mental-emotional-spiritual outlook.
