Connections

"Drawn by the splendor of Douglas firs and the intricacy of dragonfly wings, by the beauty of animal consciousness and the tenderness of other people's feelings, we seek to be integrated in meaningful ways with the various presences we meet in our lives."
With Roots and Wings

Rooted in the Earth

"We can be more rooted in the Earth 1) by enjoying a sense of place with respect to our local habitats; 2) by revering individual animals as subjects in their own right; 3) by being respectful of and awed by the planet as a whole; 4) by enjoying openness to our own bodies; 5) by becoming inwardly silent, so that we might hear the Earth on its own terms; 6) by feeling the pain of the world, both human and nonhuman; 7) by coming to terms with our own inner violence, which is part of earthly existence; and 8) by recognizing our call from Holy Wisdom to overcome this violence and be peacemakers in a broken world. Each of these eight sensibilities can be part of the inner dimension of a Christianity with roots and wings."
With Roots and Wings

Holy Wisdom Prompts

"When we feel prompted to conserve land and protect wildlife, to be compassionate toward animals and conversant with plants, to be sensitive to landscapes and awestruck by sunsets, we are prompted by Holy Wisdom, whose very body is creation itself."
With Roots and Wings

Holy Icons

"Faces of God may include a grandfather and a lake, a mother and a garden, a sister a forest, a brother and a dog, a father and a farm, a cousin and a mountain, a friend and a cat, a lover and a star. Whatever our chosen channels, they are holy icons for us."
With Roots and Wings

Walking in Beauty

"In short, a walk in beauty can be facilitated not only by theology but also by the companionship of others, a recovery of felt bonds with the earth, a practice of spiritual disciplines, and service to others. In whatever way the walk emerges in our lives, it emerges not simply as an achievement but also as a gift: something that happens to us and in us, apart from our more willful ways of being in the world. . . . It is only with changes of attitude and awareness that people can become the peace that they so often commend to the world."
Gandhi’s Hope

The Many Dimensions of Peace

"Peace at its deepest level has a musical quality like that of an improvisational jazz concert. The music at such a concert consists of a creative and evolving harmony of sound produced by different musicians who have the material wherewithal to purchase their instruments and who are cooperatively responding to one another in an ongoing live performance, often in surprising and joyful ways. If the concert is to continue, the musicians must be willing to keep on playing even when things threaten to fall apart, and they must be willing to forgive one another for the mistakes they might make. Peace is like this. It can be unpredictable, filled with creative tensions, and it can have its sad and mournful moments. But it is cooperative and creative, surprising and sometimes joyful, and its competitive dimensions do not degenerate into violence."
Gandhi’s Hope

Consumerism's Church Is a Shopping Mall

"Consumerism is Confucianism-in-reverse. It is also a set of values, but it emphasizes youth over age, career over family, and pleasure over community. Its god is economic growth; its priests are politicians and economists who understand growth and promise access to it; its evangelists are advertisers who display the products of growth and insist that people cannot be happy without them; and its church is the shopping mall. It promises salvation, not by grace through faith as Christians claim or by a dropping away of the ego as Buddhists claim, but by appearance, affluence, and achievement."
Gandhi’s Hope

Reducing Violence

"If we wish to reduce violence in the world, people of different religions must do things together in bodily ways that serve the purposes of peace. In facilitating peace, kneeling together in prayer, sitting quietly together in silence, or working together to till an organic garden can be as effective as considering matters of doctrine."
Gandhi’s Hope

Call Worth Heeding

"We can flourish on our planet only if we learn to listen to the call of compassion, inviting us to seek resources for respect and care within our heritages; to the call of honesty, inviting us to acknowledge limitations within our traditions and to step forward by seeking new ways of thinking; to the call of frugality, beckoning us to live more simply so that others can simply live; and to the call of the earth, inviting us to accept our kinship with other creatures, for their sake and our own."
Gandhi’s Hope