Whether we choose to contribute to our world's healing through our conversations with others, through writing, theater, public speaking, civil disobedience - at the root of all revolutionary and sustainable change is a change in consciousness.

What we are moving toward is beyond our usual frame of reference and intellectual understanding. We have no precedent, no set of rules, no structure. Indeed, attempts to impose these hinder us. We need to open into the wisdom immanent within the very fiber of our bodies, the wisdom that glows in the stillness of our hearts, the center from which we connect with the essence of our being, our connectedness to life. Facing life from a place of reverence and surrender leaves no room for negativity or separativeness, but propels us gently into the future, as we become conscious co-creators with the Goddess-/God-force within.

Commitment and Courage

Images and visions can move us beyond the life-denying rules and language of our culture. They can offer inspiration, guidance and nourishment in a way that words cannot. But alone, they are not enough. We also need commitment and courage to do what needs be done in the service of life. We need to develop our will to focus our energies and manifest action. And always, we need to balance our commitment to our best understanding of what is needed, with our remaining open to new directions, gleaned from ever-deepening understandings.

Somehow, along the way, we have forgotten the intricacy and wonder of our connections with each other and the earth. We have forgotten how very precious life is. We have forgotten that life is sacred. Yet none of this has been lost. We have not fallen from the pulsating web of life. Life continues to be as mysterious, as precious, as sacred, as it ever was. What we must do is re-member - or failing this, invent.

We see clearly where we are now, and we know that it is winter. And suddenly, through this shocking cold, we remember the beauty of the forest lying under this whiteness. And that we will survive this snow if we are aware, if we continue. And now we are shouting with all our strength to the other sleepers, now we are laboring in earnest, to awaken them. —Susan Griffin, Women and Nature

---