art by Janaia 2009
Darkness deserves gratitude.
It is the alleluia point at which we learn to understand
that all growth does not take place in the sunlight.
~Joan Chittister, Uncommon Gratitude
This quote came from gratefulness.org. Their daily quotes feed my soul and counterbalance the dark news I encounter as a collapse-watcher. I also read the good news of people responding to reality, like you, dear reader, and our Peak Moment TV viewers and guests.
I woke up this morning thinking:
Here’s the good news: The American Empire is collapsing
Here’s the good news: Industrial Civilization is collapsing
Here’s the good news: There will be many fewer humans in the next century
Here’s the good news: Future humans will be living closer to the web of life and more sustainably
Here’s the bad news: There will be many fewer more-than-humans in the next century, many extinct forever
Here’s the good news: We are alive at this moment in Earth time to witness an unprecedented transformation, and to bring our best to the situation, on behalf of all of life.
We are not doomers, we are realists.
It is far easier to move forward when we know the reality of the situation we are in, than if we pretend otherwise. We who are awake now can be present for those who are coming awake.
The image is a collage I created in a workshop on coming full circle: facing our personal death and the opportunity for transformation within it. I began at the top, with young black woman’s piercing gaze of pain, perhaps accusation. At bottom, a white child is lifted aloft to his great delight. Pain and joy. Inequality: a deep system where much is taken from many to benefit the few. I am one of those beneficiaries. I am grateful, and increasingly I see the massive costs: the Gulf Oil Leak is evidence of that. It is not easy being awake.
The breeze at dawn
Has secrets to tell you
Don’t go back to sleep
You must ask
For what you really want
Don’t go back to sleep
People are going back and forth
Across the door sill
Where the two worlds touch
The door is round and open
Do not go back to sleep
Rumi
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