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Atonement-Program Note
We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness…
What we most need to do is to hear, within us, the sound of the earth crying.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
At this point in human history, we are so plagued by our illusion of separateness that we have made it an emergency for the
whole planet. The scale of environmental catastrophe we have wrought is so vast that we cannot comprehend it without
great effort.
That effort, I believe, is required of us. If there is hope of salvaging the ecosystem (or even if all is already lost), we humans
must cut through denial and own our blind destruction. We must learn to hear the crying of the Earth, lament what we have
done, and find our atonement.
If only we could dance out the poison, and begin moving together in a new way. I find myself wishing for some fearsome
but purifying Tarantella that would sweep through our cities like a mass exorcism. Dancing manias (or mass “infections” by
involuntary movement) are common in times of extreme stress; there were many reports of these during the plague times
and after the Industrial Revolution. I imagine a desperate urge to freedom in such outbursts that might help us to expel the
toxic venom that has lodged deep in our technologically constrained lives.
Then, with clearer eyes, we might begin to live in a posture of reverence. We can turn and offer up a small prayer for the
waters that sustain us. After all, we are of the water; it is in us and we are made of it. It is above and below us, in all the air
that surrounds us. If you look for the river or the lake or the sea, you will find them everywhere, as the water only appears
to be separated from itself into bodies. In truth it is all one presence, and it touches everything. May each of us care for the
waters of the Earth as we would care for ourselves.
Evan Chambers
We are here to awaken from the illusion of our separateness…
What we most need to do is to hear, within us, the sound of the earth crying.
—Thich Nhat Hanh
At this point in human history, we are so plagued by our illusion of separateness that we have made it an emergency for the
whole planet. The scale of environmental catastrophe we have wrought is so vast that we cannot comprehend it without
great effort.
That effort, I believe, is required of us. If there is hope of salvaging the ecosystem (or even if all is already lost), we humans
must cut through denial and own our blind destruction. We must learn to hear the crying of the Earth, lament what we have
done, and find our atonement.
If only we could dance out the poison, and begin moving together in a new way. I find myself wishing for some fearsome
but purifying Tarantella that would sweep through our cities like a mass exorcism. Dancing manias (or mass “infections” by
involuntary movement) are common in times of extreme stress; there were many reports of these during the plague times
and after the Industrial Revolution. I imagine a desperate urge to freedom in such outbursts that might help us to expel the
toxic venom that has lodged deep in our technologically constrained lives.
Then, with clearer eyes, we might begin to live in a posture of reverence. We can turn and offer up a small prayer for the
waters that sustain us. After all, we are of the water; it is in us and we are made of it. It is above and below us, in all the air
that surrounds us. If you look for the river or the lake or the sea, you will find them everywhere, as the water only appears
to be separated from itself into bodies. In truth it is all one presence, and it touches everything. May each of us care for the
waters of the Earth as we would care for ourselves.
Evan Chambers