As 2015 draws to a close I have pondered a way to address the tension that lies beneath all the conflict we experience at present on the Earth.
Today we have insight into a way of living in harmony through the ways of those custodial people who see all life as being their ‘relations’. Aunty Elaine would say ‘we are all one’, or as His Holiness the Dalai Lama recognises ‘the interdependence between the living beings and nature’.
With the awareness that ‘we will not find solutions with the same thinking that created the problems’, our future, if there is to be one, requires some change in our collective perception, thinking, values and actions.
The question is: How do we create a sustainable future that is healthy for all life on Earth?
One fundamental thread in the tapestry that is the solution is (I believe), that we begin to value the wisdom of the custodial peoples of the Earth. If we share our first world knowledge and resources gained through our successes (and our mistakes) with these first peoples and they share their wisdom and knowledge of how to live sustainably with us, we just might find a way forward to a healthy future on planet Earth.
The next question is: How might we begin to do this?
Fundamental to whatever we come up with is ‘Respect’. Respect for the Earth. Respect for all life. Respect for the different ways of relating and of living. With deep respect in our minds and hearts and bodies we may begin to listen and learn how to begin living in relationship with all life, with land and waters of country.