Reflections from the third gathering of Becoming Eco-mystics
The focus of the third gathering of Becoming Eco-mystics included a group reflection on our current norm of feeling separate from the Earth. We are each one thread among many in the tapestry of the biosphere: interdependent, interconnected, impacted by and impacting everything. But we live as if this is not true, and that has consequences. The reflections from the participants around these themes may all already be a poem or perhaps they could be further choreographed.
Make a poem out of these truths —
Or perhaps make a soup, let the truths simmer.
Maybe one line will become a keyhole.
Or perhaps, like summer leaves crispy and crunchy
dump the whole bunch into a compost pile.
Try and make a poem out of these truths:
What has contributed to our sense of separateness from the Earth?
Heteropatriarchy…..
our busyness
consumer lifestyle
Colonization and the relationship with land as property
Christian Religion
a notion that money is the measure of success
our frentic lifestyle
fear
elevating the “human” above all else
electric garage door openers — we do not engage oiur neighbors or even nature around us out doors….
lack of awareness about our connection
getting our food from a store wrapped in plastic
Death has been removed from life — the sanitation of death
Move away from most of us farming or raising our food
English as my mother tongue.
Science
too busy to notice
Urbanization
Moe to urban from countryside
Illness and plagues
Believing we are not animals, that we are above animals.
“Go and subdue the earth: have dominion over it. Be masters.” (Genesis 1)
A very poor translation of be stewards, be gardeners, be caretakers.
Living in our head, forgetting our bodies that need to touch and intertwine with others and especially the ground we are on.
Dominion” theology
Not understanding the Hebrew meaning of ‘dominion’ and ‘subdue’
What is the result of this sense of separateness?
Damage to ecosystems and watersheds
climate change
apathy
Current climate crisis…
extinction of life
Loneliness
Missing out on opportunities for renewed strength, as we unite each part of creation.
loneliness
Loneliness and despair
Extinction of speciies
ignorance
Disbelief that Earth loves us.
Destruction of the life surrounding us.
Addiction to fossil fuels…. No sense of what’s best for future generations
disconnection from God and each other
Climate refugees
Disappearance of beauty
The most technologically savvy cultures, ever. and the possibility of the end of history
increased self-centeredness… solastalgia…
Depression, ecocide, genocide, extinction events, climate crisis, not caring for animals, eating food products instead of food.
Shredding of life-giving ecosystems that we and other species rely upon
no care for the common home
isolation
Diminishment of the human experience due to loss of understanding of interdependence…….
a world imagined in the left hemisphere of the male brain