“We must seek a new kind of vision in the soul. We must begin to pursue again what it takes to be fully human. We must review the ages when it meant to be humane was the question of the day. It was the subject matter of philosophy. It was the central issue of faith.” ~ Benedictine Sister Joan Chittister
Each year, with support of ITRI, Japan, GPIW brings a delegation of spiritual leaders to the UN Climate Summits. This year in Katowice, Poland at COP24, political leaders met to finalize the ways in which countries will measure and report the carbon reductions to which they committed in the Paris Agreement. While it is necessary to address this outer picture, it is also vital to understand the spiritual dimension of this crisis — the root causes that have led to such environmental degradation.
This year in Poland our delegation spoke on shifting the dominant cultural narrative from a commodified world and anthropocentric view to a more connected, lived and felt relationship with Nature and Mother Earth.
“It is the softest language I know — is to speak Lakota. There is no word for lack. Everything is abundance, generosity and everything is gratitude…I often go out to a place in the morning, any patch of ground and I ask Mother Earth what message do you want me to carry for you, for obviously you are the biggest message now, not my point of view, not my political concern, not my recycling – did I recycle today? Mother Earth does not lie to me.” ~ Tiokasin Ghosthorse