This is an excerpt of this morning's talk: In the World, Of the World and For the World. This topic arose as we all processed recent global catastrophes and threats of climate change over this summer of 2023. On one hand, processing these events even as spectators, becomes overwhelming, but in another way, disaster fatigue sets in and we can't react. Yet, the underlying issue of climate change, linked to weather disasters is pressing on everyone, I thought, how can I approach this spiritually, and the phrase that pressed on me was "be in the world but not of the world", coming out of the New Testament. I have used that quote in talks and classes, but what pressed on me in September was NO-- this is about being IN the world and OF the world and, FOR the world.
Our concern this morning is the world of planet earth, our globe. We are far more sophisticated when it comes to our capacity to consider a global process than previous generations. The turning point in collective consciousness was technology that allowed that first picture, the blue marble, taken in 1972, 21,000 miles from earth, by the crew of Apollo 17 on the way to the Moon. No one on this planet had ever seen such a photo of the Earth until then. (Now we have a entire field of astrophotography.) So when I say "IN the World", this is the world. Yet, it is not so easy to absorb what that means in terms of a changing Earth. For some, the Blue Marble spurred tales and technological dreams of escaping a dying planet to find a new home somewhere else, when we've trashed this one. Most of us though, continue to breakdown the meaning of world, into smaller bits that impact us directly: Our locality, our weather, our community, friends, family--Our health--Our spirituality as our interior world....
A spiritual perspective on the world, often assumes cultural values of accumulation, as well as the struggles or desire for personal power and status. Realistically, we are OF that world, we are born into it and our world's beliefs, rules, behaviors, social order shape us. Even if we are raised outside of cultural values, we have to learn to navigate the world of culture all around us. We are stuck in it and shaped in it in ways we don't always realize, including our ideas about the planet, and our own mortality. The things and people of the world are subject to mortality, sooner or later we go, and apparently earth will go too, in time, although we really can't grasp the 1-1.5 billion years that science offers as the projected continued life of our planet. In the face of impermanence, people find comfort in "NOT being of the world," belonging "elsewhere", defined in varying ways.
Yet, we are IN the world, OF the world; the world supports us. What are we doing FOR the world? This is not just about social consciousness, nor activism in the sense of a cause; it may mean that for some, but not for every one. Doing for the world is most likely to have real meaning when you have come to grips with being FOR the world. Being FOR the world is a commitment to showing up and caring. Ultimately it is about embracing life. Here. On Earth. (Susan Nettleton)
Poems from this morning: