Survival, Sustainability, and Solidarity

Recovering a Sense of the Sacred Reverence for Life and Creation

By Randy Thomas

We are living in the world in the greatest revolution in history, a huge spontaneous upheaval of the human race. Not a revolution planned and carried out by any particular party, race, or nation, but a deep elemental boiling over of all the inner contradictions that have ever been in people, a revolution of the chaotic forces inside everybody. This is not something we have chosen, nor is it anything we are free to avoid”
Thomas Merton

Indeed, we are living in the midst of uncertain and transitional times. The life, fate, and destiny of “human civilization” and our planetary home as we have historically come to understand it is unknown. It is a time of challenge, crisis, and opportunity for all of us.

Former ways of thinking, feeling, acting, and being in the world no longer provide assurances of meaning, purpose, and direction. There is a general cynicism and malaise that the current leaders in our world are unable to provide the necessary guidance and moral integrity to help us navigate these tumultuous times.

The negative energies of fear, hatred, anger, doubt, and distrust seem to be permeating our world and our consciousness. This is amplified by media sources through memes designed for further stimulation and consumption by the general public. Ways of presenting “news” and information that serves the media corporations, commercial interests and sponsors, and does little to address the underlying values and needs of community relationships. There are some exceptions to this yet this requires some measure of discernment as to the “real” intentions of these media sources.

In the political “milieu”, some of the “leaders” seem to be driven by a dominant will determined to constellate power, material, and resources in the hungry grasp of a few. The methods and strategies employed foment an unhealthy aggressive form of competition, that conditions an identity of “hyper-individualism” and an inordinate sense of entitlement, privilege, and supremacy over others. In the US this is exacerbated by the presumptive myths of “Rugged Individualism, “Manifest Destiny”, “American Exceptionalism” “ Chosen People, Promised Land”…..... This practice further widens the breach of self and other, here at home and in our global relations with other nations. This further aggravates, exploits, and manipulates the unconscious shadows of “xenophobia” among people and promotes the illusions and projections of a distorted superior sense of identity and exclusive “tribal” belonging. This feeds the feelings of animosity, polarity, resentments, and divisions of unhealed wounds and traumas. The duality of us versus them, source of strife and conflict, cacophany and dissonance of harmful words and ways, and dysfunctional“habits” of living.

This dominating “will to power” pervades and influences all dimensions of our relationships- intrapersonal, interpersonal, familial, communal, national, and global. This has created disease both in our personal body, soul and spirit and in the body, soul, spirit of our shared humanity. It has infiltrated our systems and structures, institutions and organizations, distorting and confounding the ideals and values, which they were intended to serve. As opposed to bringing some semblance of order, balance, unity, equality, justice, security, and safety, in forms of governance, this inordinate will to power has polarized violent forces and inner/outer divisions. We see the consequences of these influences in the destructive policies, infringement on freedoms, decisions and actions that cause harm to “others”- we witness the pain and suffering that is being inflicted on human beings, sentient creatures, nature, and the life giving elements and resources of Earth.

We live in a broken, wounded, and divided world and are often overwhelmed by the pain, suffering, violence, and destruction that pierces our hearts, and disturbs our minds. Yet within the depths of our souls, there is a deep inner yearning and stirring for healing, wholeness, reconciliation, harmony, and peace. We need to honor and trust these yearnings in our willingness to be in symphony and concert with others. We are being drawn to listen and respond in deeper, dialogue, communion, and relationship with the creative energies of Life and Spirit. This is the challenge and calling of our times, vocation, and vision, a deeper opening of our hearts, minds, and hands together in cocreating a compassionate community. A community that is formed by sharing and serving one another, particularly those that are hungry, sick, homeless, and hurting, and expanding our circles of compassionate care to include, all forms of life, our posterity, and continuing creation. Truly the penultimate issues of our time are survival, sustainability, and solidarity in communion with others.

Within our diverse faith communities and with other people of goodwill, how do we personally and communally bring this “new way of living” and new habits of the heart into being? How do we honor and practice the “spiritual values” of “xenophilia” love of others and “biophilia” love of life as a compass and guide of our shared humanity and world? How do we recover, discover, and uncover a sense and likeness of original wholeness, blessing, and goodness...... and learn how to manifest this through our lives? One way that has been offered by many wise, loving and compassionate sages throughout human history is journeying to the ground, heart, and center, the potential unfolding Mystery and embodying Presence of our shared creative origins.