Ethos
Spirit of the Land is premised on the notion that our external ecological crises, from climate change to global inequity, are symptoms of a deeper spiritual and cultural need; an absence due to human separation from each other, our places and our inner-beings. Each of us is caught in a globalizing way of life that depends upon this separation of neighbor against neighbor, country against country, religion against religion, relation against relation. Each of us are both agents of and sufferers of disconnection.
Yet, herein lies reason for hope. If today’s crises have arisen because of our collective acts of disconnection, then the opposite may true too: that our collective actions of re-connection give rise to a kinder world. We are all capable of being agents of peace and justice.
Whether we are of Indigenous, Immigrant or Settler story, spiritual, religious, or not: we all care deeply. Some of us see economic growth as the engine through which to do so. Others see this engine as the very fuel of injustice. Some of us have caused great hurt. Some of us have suffered greatly. As suffering around the world and around the corner increases, the temptation to oppose each other is strong. In seeking to protect that which we hold dear, we oppose each other. Yet this only increases our great alienation. At its core, Spirit of the Land does not see our crises as the fault of one group, or one era, or one idea. Rather, that we are all members of the same commonplace; all brothers and sisters of each other. There are no enemies in this worldview, even those with whom we most vehemently disagree, for we are of each other and the world.
Each of us, in our particular places and communities, in our unique and particular ways, can transform the
whole world through small acts of great love. Through presence, we come into the awareness of our true interconnectedness. When we commit ourselves to this awareness, love leads us to live in such a way that is responsible and care-full for all. We embody the world we wish for.
Today’s crises require us to something harder than fighting for something; it requires us to love something: each other and our world.
All are welcome, all are needed, for this radically ordinary work. Together, we can create the peaceful vision about which we all dream. Just as nature teaches us, our diversity is our strength.
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