We find HOPE when confronting our Environmental Emergency as we move from living separately to living in community with all of creation.  Albert Einstein wrote of this with clarity and eloquence.  Here are his words.

A human being is a part of the whole, called by us “Universe,” a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest—a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. (Albert Einstein, condolence letter to Norman Salit, March 4, 1950. Reprinted in The New York Times, March 29, 1972.)

As I say in my book, LOVING MOTHER EARTH, we live in a "holonic world" where everything is apart from, and a part of everything in creation.  Fact.  You are you, but you are a part of your family, community, country, world.  Same with butterflies, rocks, ideas... everything is apart from, and a part of the Universe. Note Einsteins use of a capital U.  You, too.

​Photo by Tomáš Malík from Pexels

Today, President Biden placed environmental justice into formal policy.  This is a big deal for those of us who seek to integrate environmentalism with spirituality.

Here is my assertion: To love is to actively advocate for justice.  

The Golden Rule is about Justice.  Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.  If we are to SHOW UP as effective environmentalists who advocates for a just treatment of MOTHER EARTH, then we will likely have evolved our consciousness beyond the ADULT worldview.  That's the stuff of Chapter 6 in my book. GROWING UP into an Enlightened Lover.  

To love is to have a relationship with creation that supports the just treatment of MOTHER EARTH.  And in doing so, we shave away our ego.  Bit by bit we let go of what gratifies me-my-mine, in support of what is good for that which we hold in common.  As I say, we make an effort to not live separately and greedily, and instead try to live in communion with all, and with reverence for life.

Justice requires personal growth, greater love, and a material recognition of our Oneness.

Justice is love made public.

​Have you heard this saying? "Hope is not a strategy."  Hoping can become a passive avoidance of responsibility.  If all we do is hope for our MOTHER EARTH to heal herself without our help, we will fail and she will expel us.  Hoping is not a strategy for curing what ails MOTHER EARTH.

It will take action. It will take big, robust, transformative action to get MOTHER EARTH to change her mind and to keep this earth of ours habitable.

Unless, of course, hope is attached to a dream and action.  If we dream of a vibrant and rich MOTHER EARTH, and hope earnestly and intentionally for her regeneration, and put all of that into real action, then goodness will be manifested.

Will it be enough? Will it be in time? I dream of a lush planet and hope for my dream to be realized.  And, I'm willing to act toward that end.

Please, take a step and integrate environmentalism and spirituality by reading LOVING MOTHER EARTH.  Then, let me know something of your experience.

Hoping can be deadly, unless, of course, it is wed to a viable dream and concrete action.

​After reading about Donut Economics yesterday I became really excited about the idea of upgrading Capitalism with this new model for sustaining a good life on this earth.'

Here is a paragraph from the article that fired me up.

In April 2020, during the first wave of COVID-19, Amsterdam’s city government announced it would recover from the crisis, and avoid future ones, by embracing the theory of “doughnut economics.” Laid out by British economist Kate Raworth in a 2017 book, the theory argues that 20th century economic thinking is not equipped to deal with the 21st century reality of a planet teetering on the edge of climate breakdown. Instead of equating a growing GDP with a successful society, our goal should be to fit all of human life into what Raworth calls the “sweet spot” between the “social foundation,” where everyone has what they need to live a good life, and the “environmental ceiling.” By and large, people in rich countries are living above the environmental ceiling. Those in poorer countries often fall below the social foundation. The space in between: that’s the doughnut.

This is a image of a 3' long board that hangs over my office desk.  THOU ART THAT. My brother hand carved this, among many other "Words in Wood".  Hindu in origin, these three words have immense meaning and allure.

THOU points to the deepest of essences, the Presence that is behind presence, the Tao that cannot be named, YHWH, Reiki, Isness itself by whatever name it is called.

ART is an interesting word.  Art has been defined as "the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual form such as a painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their beauty or emotional power."  In this case, the reference seems to be more about the recognition of the Isness, or the existence of something, created by THOU.  Consider it to be the creative existence of...

THAT.  Whatever is the object in our consciousness. Be it a material or immaterial object, a physical or metaphysical object.  

Essence Is That before me.  That before me Is Essence.

THOU ART THAT is troublesome in that it is still dualistic.  There is a Thou and a That. Yet, contemplating THOU ART THAT brings one closer to Oneness with all that Is.  And that is the integration of Environmentalism and Spirituality.

In my book, LOVING MOTHER EARTH, I’m working at the task of integrating Environmentalism and Spirituality.  In this Blog Post I want to refer you to an article published by Senator Chris Murphy in which he advocates for five structural or political actions that our country should take going forward.  You will find them culled from his article, and noted below.
 
As Father Richard Rohr reminds us daily, it is about action and contemplation.  There is a journey outward that is integrated with the journey inward.  Years ago I participated in a day-long seminar with then Dominican Mathew Fox, who spoke to all of us about how a deep mysticism eventuates in a deep prophetic life, and a deep prophetic life, if it is to be healthy, must come from a deep mysticism.
 
Let us LOVE MOTHER EARTH, inward and outward.
 
From Sen. Murphy:
 
First, Congress can restore the United States’ commitment to the Green Climate Fund, providing the funding to meet the nation’s original 2014 pledge of $3 billion, and then putting us on a schedule to double that amount by the end of the administration
 
Second, Congress should ensure that, from now on, foreign policy is climate policy. 
 
Third, economic statecraft needs to be as green as our assistance. 
 
Fourth, in the wake of Trump’s counterproductive trade wars, we need to move in the opposite direction when it comes to clean energy technology.
 
The fifth and final thing we must do is lead by example every step of the way.

In my book, LOVING MOTHER EARTH, I make it clear that "this book is a work in process." Given that I am a thief, stealing always from another's artful means, I am constantly revising my ideas.  New insights emerge all the time and work to integrate them into my map of reality.

And so it is with HOPE.  One from whom I have stolen is Deb Ozarko and her book, Beyond Hope: letting go of a world in collapse.  I'm re-reading it.  A difficult book to read for its brutal truth telling.  The emotional pain I felt while working through the first half was real.  She isn't the only one to stimulate my ideas on hope, but she has been uniquely relevant when dealing with our Environmental Emergency.

Hope, I believe today, is the energy that draws us toward what we love.

Without hope, I slip into depression, or anger, or apathy.  I die without hope.  Literally.

So I hope for a better world where life is sustained, community enjoyed, and where goodness, truth, and beauty prevail.  I have the energy to keep striving for something.  I have the energy to act now so that we all can realize a healthy and whole future.

Hope is the energy that draws us toward what we love.

Please LOVE MOTHER EARTH.
​

"You do not need to know precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going. What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment, and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."

So writes Thomas Merton.  I subscribe to DailyGood.org - good news every day!  Merton's quote arrived this morning.

"To be clear, the main problem is not population growth.... It is one of three main problems – the other two are our greedy lifestyle, our reckless burning of fossil fuels, the demand for meat, poverty – and, of course, we must also tackle corruption."

So writes Jane Goodall.  Population growth + Greedy lifestyle + Corruption.  Those are the three be challenges that present us with opportunities for growth.

This morning I read, as I so often do, the daily meditation that comes from Richard Rohr. Here is a section: The Daily Meditations theme for 2021 is “A Time of Unveiling.” I’m convinced we are living in such a time—when reality is being revealed as it is. Systems of evil have become both more brazen and banal, our sense of “normal” has been upended, and yet in the midst of it, God continues to invite us to deeper transformation. 

Putting these two messages together, I arrive at the need for the integration of environmentalism and spirituality.  The challenge is being unveiled.  We have to tackle the problems of population growth, and that will be very difficult to do. Greedy lifestyles?  Yes.  Corruption?  Tied right to greed.  Yes, all three have to be unveiled as we transform from living separately and greedily, to living in communion and with reverence or life.  How? Take a look at LOVING MOTHER EARTH, my book.