By Nancy Myers
The human future is up for grabs, a fifty-fifty proposition at best. I wonder if we are going to change our ways fast enough to make a difference?
I’ve been on the edges of activism long enough (30 years) to know the limits of scaring people into change. Some people scare well; others shut [...]
By Carolyn Raffensperger
Over the past year I’ve been Exhibit A in the case of Sustainability vs. U.S. Law. Sustainability is not winning. Yet. My predicament is particularly ironic since I have devoted years of my life to lobbying for changes in environmental law.
Here’s the story. A year ago this week I [...]
By Nancy Myers
I will write occasionally about what happens to our psyches and our behavior when we take our obligations to future generations seriously. About why it may be hard and how we might do it anyhow.
Today two emails arrived in my inbox almost simultaneously. One, from my congregation’s listserv, was an appeal to gather [...]
By Carolyn Raffensperger
In an essay about the theologian Abraham Heschel, environmental writer Ben Webb described the spiritual state presumed by the Christian church calendar in the fall and early winter as “morally mature”. Not spiritually mature, morally mature. What, I wondered in response, does the Earth require of a culture at this time [...]
By Nancy Myers
I have my own favorite essay by the Jungian psychologist James Hillman: “The Practice of Beauty.” In it Hillman elaborates on what he says, in the essay Carolyn cites, about the body’s aesthetic radar.
Beauty is no frill, says Hillman. It is essential because it ties us to the natural world, which, in its [...]
By Carolyn Raffensperger
A few years ago I wrote a letter to James Hillman, the Jungian psychologist, asking him for help with the precautionary principle. I specifically wanted help understanding the archetypes in our culture that either block or enable us to implement the principle.
Hillman was gracious enough to invite me and colleagues to New York [...]
By Nancy Myers
We hope! And we are starting to try to make it so. For instance, there is this USA Today article, “When It Pays to Go Green.” It shows how going green is good for your personal economy and how you can make it pay even more.
There are a lot more articles and studies [...]
By Carolyn Raffensperger
If it’s good for the land it’s good for the body.
If it’s good for future generations it’s good for this generation.
If it’s good for the Earth it’s good for the economy.
If it’s good for other species it’s good for humans.
Since my dad is a doctor he is often stopped by people on the [...]