Connections

It's the third planet from the sun -- a tiny blue sphere spinning for a moment in time -- a remarkable place that was kind enough to yield just the right elements to sustain a phenomenon called life. Where each creature is as unique as the world we call home and a day begins in much the same way for all. Maybe that's when it crosses your mind; in the warmth from a ray of sun or the kindness of a stranger it occurs to you how one life touches so many others, and you begin to see how all things are connected like the blood that unites one family and you come to realise that mankind did not weave the web of life we're merely a strand in it, and whatever we do to the web, we do to ourselves, on the third planet from the sun.

IT'S NOT JUST A PLANET

IT'S HOME

The Hour of the Wolf

You have been telling the people that this is the eleventh hour.
Now you must go back and tell people THIS is the hour,
And there are things to be considered:
Where are you living?
What are you doing?
What are your relationships?
Are you in right relations?
Where is your water?
Know your garden.

It is time to speak your truth,
Create your community.
Be good to each other
And do not look outside yourself for the leader.

This could be a good time!
There is a river flowing now very fast.
It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.
They will try to hold onto the shore.
They will feel they are being torn apart,
And they will suffer greatly.
Know the river has its destination.

The Elders say we must let go of the shore,
Push off into the river,
Keep our eyes open,
And our heads above water.
See who is in there with you and celebrate.

At this time in history,
We are to take nothing personally,
Least of all ourselves.
For the moment that we do,
Our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.
The time of the lone wolf is over.
Gather yourselves!
Banish the word struggle from your attitude and vocabulary.
All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner
And in celebration.

We are the Ones we've been waiting for.

- From the Elders of the Hope Nation -

Richard Henry Tawney (1880-1962)

In a diary entry in 1912 Tawney wrote:

"If modern England and America are right in believing that the principle aim of man, what should be taught to children, what should serve as a rough standard of merit, what merits approbation and respect, is the attainment of a moderate - or even immoderate - standard of comfort, and that moral questions arise only after this has been attained; then they must be content to go without religion, literature, art and learning. These are not hard to find for those who really seek them, or who seek them first. But if they are sought second they are never found at all ..."

The choice we all face is not between less and more wealth, it is between less and more civilization.

"We assume that the greatest misfortune which can befall a man is poverty - and that conduct which leads to the sacrifice of income is unwise, impractical, etc; in short that a man's life should be judged by its yield of income, and a nation's life by its production of wealth ..."

Tawney was concerned with humankind's seemed obsession with the fallacy that the most important problems are economic problems. He thought the challenges go deeper, and what was (is) needed was (is) a reformation of the fundamental philosophy of life. It's not, as BillClinton famously once said, 'the economy, stupid!', according to Tawney it's moral philosophy, stupid!

He wrote in the 'Acquisitive Society' published in 1920:

"These are times which are not ordinary, and in such times it is not enough to follow the road. It is necessary to know where it leads and, if it leads nowhere, to follow another. The search for another involves reflection, which is uncongenial to the bustling people who describe themselves as practical .... But the practical thing for a traveler who is uncertain of his path is not to proceed with the utmost rapidity in the wrong direction: it is to consider how to find the right one." (p.2)

Tawney considered those who pursued economic productivity and growth as an end in itself as flawed. This approach has been tried and found wanting. Increased productivity alone will not dispel our social or environmental problems. To find the 'right path' Tawney turned to the writings of Ruskin who suggested the purpose of industry is to supply humankind with things that are 'necessary, useful or beautiful, and thus to bring life to body and spirit'. By making the pursuit of productivity the end-goal industry is left to produce goods and services with no other guiding principle than 'more is better'. In these circumstances factories manufacture goods which to some are seen as wealth and to others are seen as waste. It would be better not to produce unwanted goods. Instead of producing and consuming our way out of societal problems, it may serve us to take time to reflect, to simplify, to consume less. Dare it be said to consume what we need as opposed to what we think we want, or what the marketeers tell us we want. Could there be a higher guiding philosophy than consume more, produce more?

Lest it be forgotten Tawney reminded us when he wrote in 'Religion and the Rise of Capitalism' published in 1954, "even quite common men have souls, no increase in material wealth will compensate them for arrangements which insult their self-respect and impair their freedom." (p.233)

If productivity, growth and the accumulation of wealth is not the end-goal, what is? Tawney did not have a singular response to this other than to suggest that the standard applied to an assessment of the ideal is 'transcendental, religious or mystical'. An attempt to articulated an ideal in a definitive sense is impossible. The purpose of life is more likely to be found by first directing our attention towards spirituality, literature, poetry, art and learning before that of mammon.

For an expansion of these ideas read Gerald Alonzo Smith 'The Purpose of Wealth: A Historical Perspective', in Daly, H.E. & Townsend, K.N. (1996) Valuing the Earth: Economics, Ecology and Ethics, MIT Press, London.

We Are All Leaves On One Tree

Imagine being a fish in a bowl. You fall out with your fellow fish. You become so angry that you decide to foul the water, 'That'll teach them a lesson,' you think to yourself. But, of course, it is your water too. Hey ho. Welcome to Planet Earth. There's the human condition in a nutshell. We all imagine that we can pull a fast one over the people around us. They in turn, think the same about us. Yet we are all leaves on one tree, parts of one organism, aspects of one persona.

Mantra for 2008

Embrace

Peace

Love

Hope

Harmony

Joy

Acceptance

Compassion

Inspiration

Creativity

For All

The gift that keeps on giving ...

"The Indian giver understood a cardinal property of the gift; whatever we have been given is supposed to be given away again, not kept. Or, if it is kept, something of similar value should move on in its stead, the way a billiard ball may stop when it sends another scurrying across the felt, its momentum transferred. You may keep your Christmas present, but it ceases to be a gift in the true sense unless you have given something else away. As it is passed along, the gift maybe given back to the original donor, but this is not essential. In fact, it is better if the gift is not returned but is given instead to some new, third party. The only essential is this: the gift must always move."

Hyde, L. (2007) The Gift: How the creative spirit transforms the world, Canongate, Edinburgh, p.4.