Lifeways

"...those lifeways that are most destructive of the world often turn out to be exactly those lifeways that are most destructive of the spirit."

--Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson, Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril

The full expression of Absolute Spirit

"Our goal is unreachable because we have always been where we long to be. As the philosopher Hegel once told his classes, in essence, the only thing that keeps us from seeing the world as the full expression of Absolute Spirit is our belief that this has yet to be accomplished."

--Michael Steinberg, A New Biology of Religion

A poem by Hafiz

I am

a hole in a flute

that the Christ's breath moves

through--

listen to this

music!

--Hafiz

"One with the One"

"Gnomic"

--a poem by St. John's College tutor Charles G. Bell (1916-2010)

The night each plows

A furrow of death

In the field of stars

Who calls?

I am nothing

But one with the one

That makes the nothing

All.

"In love with places"

"What ... does it mean to love a place? We do fall in love with places, there is no doubt. The crest of a mountain, the childhood shelter behind the hedge, the rockwrack shore of the sea, the lilac in bloom by the bus stop--each of us has a place that makes us feel whole and happy and alive. Sometimes we fall in love with the entirety of these, the global home so beautiful from space, with its glowing blue skin and soft clouds. Loving a place is a way of feeling, connected and at peace. But loving a place is also a way of acting. Can we claim to love a place if we skim it for our own gain, or slash it and leave it to die? Just as in loving a person, loving a place means being kind to it, protecting it, caring about its well-being as much as your own."

From Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson (Trinity University Press, 2010).

"Choose one virtue."

"To be the sort of person who helps move the world toward shared, sustainable flourishing will require a strong set of virtues:

"A sense of wonder, to perceive and value the extraordinary beauty and mystery of the thriving world.

"Compassion, to feel the suffering of both human and nonhuman animals caused by climate change and ecological collapse.

"Imagination, to envision new and sustainable ways to provide for human needs without plundering the planet.

"Independence of mind, to distinguish true from false, to distinguish real needs from created markets, to understand how to make good moral decisions under conditions of uncertainty.

"Integrity, to do what one thinks is right, even if it means making decisions that are radically different from the decisions one's friends and neighbors make, decisions contrary to what is well-advertised or easy.

"Justice, to honor the needs of other people and other species as highly as one's own, and to respect in others the rights one claims for oneself.

"Courage, to do what needs to be done even if the lonely odds are against you."

"...Choose one virtue. Make a decision ... that embodies that virtue. Now choose another virtue. Make a decision that embodies both of them. Continue. Virtues are habits of the mind and heart. Habits are developed by practice, over time."

From Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson. (Trinity University Press, 2010)

"You are what you do."

"Ask not, What shall I do? Ask, What kind of person do I want to be? Then act as that person would act. You are what you do."

From Moral Ground: Ethical Action for a Planet in Peril, edited by Kathleen Dean Moore and Michael P. Nelson. (Trinity University Press, 2010)