It is easy to feel despair and helplessness
over the direction we are heading as the climate and weather changes.
(What
has happened to the bees?) But to quote Kenny Ausubel (page
210 in Restoring the Earth) “There is a global renaissance
at the heart of which is the simple principle of reverence for life
in all its forms. It is often founded on a new covenant with nature
and a reaffirmation of compassion for all the world’s peoples.”
Johnathan Schell adds “All the technical solutions for environmental
problems are insufficient to correct our straying course without
a deep renewal of life-affirming values.” (His book is
The Unconquerable World) Shifting our priorities from commodities
to life may be the central spiritual challenge of our time according
to Kenny Ausubel. His involvement in this by creating the Bioneers,
over the past decade, with Paul Hawken and others, has been the
project of large numbers of individuals and communities all over
the world.
America can BE the republic that demonstrates
the checks and balances of three branches of government to shift
our current policies and revive the social, economic and ecological
agendas of the country. If NOT, local communities and neighborhoods
can choose to work together for the sustainability of their area.
The creative response to our times requires a personal integration
that extends trust, discerns the practicalities needed and comes
from the wisdom inherent in the human being whose intentions are
high. Our responses are beyond political or religious affiliations.
The questions of our time about Valuing Life could unify us, and
heal many separations.
“In our everyday lives, we may
accept change grudgingly. In the garden, however, we nurture and
celebrate its stunning Beauty. All gardens remind us that we are
part of a larger universe” to quote Lauri Brunton and Erin
Fournier from The Sanctuary Garden. Interestingly, only America
is new to the need for neighborhood gardens. Our visits to England,
France and Australia show the common practice of neighborhood gardening
as a part of life.
Over the years the larger Growing Domes
have been a central piece for about fifteen schools and communities
in their garden project. The legacy of life offered there as a living
classroom and a central hub of activity may now become a refuge
for those who wish to grow locally, as the opportunity for organic
food from far distances is reduced.
For information on the Global Climate
Crisis and our need to respond, please read The Long Emergency by
James Howard Kunstler, or The Winds of Change by Eugene Linden.
See the DVD called The End of Suburbia….and June 19th, at
8pm, PBS will host a special called Earth at the Edge, by Bill Moyers.
-- Puja Dhyan |
