by Charles "Tom" Brown
copyright 2009
Currently, we're seeing an upheaval in the global economics and not only are we getting a good look at the changing whims of lady fortune, but we're also seeing clearly that the world runs on a deep elusion about what will truly offer satisfaction.
What is being revealed is that our lives are less individual than we thought; we behave as a collective organism. And like the fish in the ocean, we swim through history without noticing how its water shapes our movement. For instance, if we find ourselves feeling poor and unfortunate, let's stop thinking about how well of we were or how wealthy we could be. Instead, let's compare ourselves to all the people who have ever lived. When we do this, we're suddenly very rich. Just imagine all those who suffered through life with no electricity, no running water, no painkillers, no antibiotics, and none of the comforts we take for granted. Let's remember that just a few generations ago, most of our relatives were peasants.
Perhaps the current economic crisis is exactly the one we need right now to see that our way of life is unsustainable. It's hard to give up our cherished pleasures and comforts, but nature is beginning to foreclose on its loan. We're seeing this in polluted air and water, in soil erosion, in deforestation, and in global warming. Would we plunder the earth, pollute the water, puncture the protective ozone layer, level the rain forests, and drive whole species of animals to extinction if we truly acknowledged the beauty and the power of the natural world, our dependence on it, and its dependence on our good treatment? If together we respect our Mother Earth, will we not learn respect for one another and begin the work of peace? The ground we stand on is holy - and it is our common ground.
When we lose sight of the fat that we are all connected, when we lose a sense of common good, when we no longer feel the suffering of others, this is when we create a society of wanton excess, of conspicuous consumption, of environmental destruction, of gross injustice.
We need a vision of the common good, a vision grounded in a respect for human dignity, founded on the realization that we are all connected and interdependent. Our first task is to get in touch with what truly matters in our lives. We need to reach out to one another and support one another.
This is a wake-up call for us, an opportunity to come to our senses and to create something new and wonderful. We can create a world that is just and responsible and sustainable. We can create a different world.
Let's seize the moment and begin now.
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