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EarthLight Preface by Cindy Spring I invite you to cross the threshold with me from the planet we’re living on to an emerging planet—part dream, part reality. Are you searching for a world and a way of life that hold compassion and wisdom as core principles? So am I. This book contains guidance for the healing of our terribly fractured world. Its most basic teaching is to live in sacred relationship with all else. We’ve chosen some very fine thinkers, poets, artists and visionaries as guides. If our species survives this century, I’m convinced that the era we are living in today will be considered one of those "dark ages." During the European dark ages of the 6 th through 10th centuries, scribes were preserving the wisdom traditions of the past. During the dark times of the Middle Ages, scientific discoveries and revolutionary visions were squashed by authoritarian structures. But courageous thinkers were nurturing the seeds of a way of being that came to be called "The Enlightenment" in the 18th century. With that new dawn came the realization that an individual person had much more intelligence and potential than the institutions of the time allowed. So too, many of us are realizing that the Earth Community, as manifested through its ecosystems and myriad species, has much more intelligence and creativity than humans have appreciated. We sapiens are one species among many. What can we learn from each other’s survival strategies as we co-evolve on this small planet?The articles, poems and graphics in this anthology were chosen from 54 issues of EarthLight magazine plus many fine Quaker sources. We’ve done our best to sequence them within a matrix of seven principles drawn up by the EarthLight community in 2005. Letting each article or poem flow from one to the next, we’ve chosen to have you discover linkages between them, rather than provide written bridges. Temenos is a Greek word that describes a sanctuary, a sacred place and time within which to connect to the Source of Life. Ordinary surroundings and routines fade into the background. May you find temenos as you settle into these pages. May you move more deeply into that core of collective consciousness, shared by all beings, that continues to survive, dream and carry on. —Cindy Spring, October 2006 |