Faith in Our Future
Rewilding the Quaker Journey for
Climate Discernment & Action
Climate Discernment & Action
Faith in our Future: Rewilding the Quaker Journey
"Our planetary crisis is calling us to spiritual rebirth and rewilding. It is a call to center ourselves and journey together with Spirit, becoming seeds of hope and co-creating a new reality."
~ Leoma Scott, Santa Cruz Friends Meeting
Few in our world now doubt that a planetary crisis is upon us; what we doubt is our power to do anything meaningful about it.
It isn't that we don't know what needs to happen. It has been more than 30 years since the The United Nations held its first international summit on climate change, known as the Rio Earth Summit, and the basic objectives have remained the same. We know that as a global community we must:
- Reduce the carbon and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere;
- Nurture the biosphere and protect biodiversity; and
- Work together to make, in fairness and justice, the lifestyle and infrastructure changes that can no longer be avoided.
But if we step back to view the whole, we can see that the planetary crisis is intertwined with our lives at every level from the private to the global. The problem is too huge and complex for any solitary person to grasp. And in the face of such overwhelm, many of us turn away, avoid news feeds, seek meaning or distraction elsewhere, or just numb out, unable to talk about our concerns--let alone act on them. Many, especially younger people, find themselves in outright despair, their own futures now perilously uncertain.
It is here, in this crisis of faith, that we as Quakers are called to reimagine ourselves. As we rewild our ecosystems, we must, together, rewild our faith.
This site is for sharing and support as we seek to answer that of God in everyone. We of the Unity With Nature Committee of the Pacific Yearly Meeting have created these pages in the hopes of helping us all discern how we as as Quakers may best respond to the climate crisis with courage and compassion and in the fullness of faith. On this website we have included information and best practices to:
Rewilding means unleashing our souls so that God can help us co-create a world newly alive with Spirit. Together we can discern the best practices to move forward. Together we can stand up to the powerful forces still working against these possibilities.
May our efforts be strengthened not only by determination, but also by humility as we take our next steps, keeping open the way even in the darkest hour.
Click here to learn more about how to use this site
- Prepare and nurture ourselves and our Meetings for the work ahead;
- Find the resources we need that can call forth that livable future;
- Help each other find and live the faith to act and to discern what it is that we each are called to do, bringing our traditional processes of clearness into the service of others in our communities and networks;
- Better understand how what we are already doing or are called to do, such as our work for justice, our work to protect wildlife and our work to end war can be part of an emerging livable future;
- Become aware of and connect with some of the many others Friends and other faith communities who are bringing forth solutions and possibilities;
- Engage with some of the complex dynamic systems of our world.
Rewilding means unleashing our souls so that God can help us co-create a world newly alive with Spirit. Together we can discern the best practices to move forward. Together we can stand up to the powerful forces still working against these possibilities.
May our efforts be strengthened not only by determination, but also by humility as we take our next steps, keeping open the way even in the darkest hour.
Click here to learn more about how to use this site
Connections, inspiration and solutions
Deepening the Movement
Starting conversations to connect people, sectors, and campaigns; developing the needed attitudes and skills, focusing the "power of the people" on the best solutions to get us out of the mess and headed into a livable future. |
Resilience & Adaptation
Resilience starts when we connect in care for one another. Readiness, rescue, and recovery grow from this, enabling us to redesign local systems, or to relocate and thus survive, save lives, move eco-systems to safety, and find ways to meet the needs of all. |
Solutions & Strategies
Target key leverage points, specifying the requirements for what is needed and create or find, then test and take to scale the answers needed. Ultimately we must advocate for changing social and economic systems in order to yield the conditions that define a livable future.
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