Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. ~Robert Frost, 1920.
Everything conspires to tell us the story of life – the forest, the mountains, the birds, the salmon, the slug, the bear, the stars. Our own cultural story has, in the words of Thomas Berry, “become inadequate for meeting survival demands of the present situation” (1988, pg xii). So, how do we create an empowering new story while appreciating the distant past, present and near future?
It seems our society lives in a state of irony where organizations stumble along in disorganization, leaders seem rudderless, peace-keepers engage in war, over-consumption creates a culture of wanting and emptiness, ‘organic’ products ship in plastics, and not least of all, advanced communication technologies threaten to isolate and further disconnect us all. And the supreme irony is that the same systems that served to deliver mankind into industrial ‘progress’ now act as a powerful, disintegrational force. What can we learn from these paradoxes? What road shall we take to find our way through this dark and challenging wood?
There has never been in all of our history such a perfect time for us to start listening to and reviving our intimacy with the phenomenal, animate world returning to the primordial source of all that we are and ask, “What can we learn from the places we inhabit?” When we foster our human-earth relationships, engage in a discourse with the wider natural community and develop a deep and abiding sense of place and connection beyond the borders of the modern mind, we begin to hear the call of earth’s aliveness everywhere – a resounding “yes”, everywhere, instruction.
If we care to look, learning can be found codified in: ecological perspectives that value natural living systems as our primary teachers; the boundarylessness of the human smile; the perennial return of spring; the endless intuition of the river, the calm before the storm, the wellspring of knowing of the ancient traditions, the sweet triumphant life of the seed that grows in the sidewalk crack. Learning happens when we make the time to seek, listen, question, and wonder. And lifelong learning – that crosses multiple disciplines - can light the way on many new paths of possibility in an atmosphere of open participation, critical inquiry, creativity and curiosity, honour and care. A compelling invitation to live into the larger questions that are our lives.
Participate, rejuvenate, incubate, while contributing to cultivating a more sustainable, resilient, and peace-filled existence for all. Keep learning and be more responsible to what you know -and as the poet says- choose the path that will make all the difference.
Everything conspires to tell us the story of life – the forest, the mountains, the birds, the salmon, the slug, the bear, the stars. Our own cultural story has, in the words of Thomas Berry, “become inadequate for meeting survival demands of the present situation” (1988, pg xii). So, how do we create an empowering new story while appreciating the distant past, present and near future?
It seems our society lives in a state of irony where organizations stumble along in disorganization, leaders seem rudderless, peace-keepers engage in war, over-consumption creates a culture of wanting and emptiness, ‘organic’ products ship in plastics, and not least of all, advanced communication technologies threaten to isolate and further disconnect us all. And the supreme irony is that the same systems that served to deliver mankind into industrial ‘progress’ now act as a powerful, disintegrational force. What can we learn from these paradoxes? What road shall we take to find our way through this dark and challenging wood?
There has never been in all of our history such a perfect time for us to start listening to and reviving our intimacy with the phenomenal, animate world returning to the primordial source of all that we are and ask, “What can we learn from the places we inhabit?” When we foster our human-earth relationships, engage in a discourse with the wider natural community and develop a deep and abiding sense of place and connection beyond the borders of the modern mind, we begin to hear the call of earth’s aliveness everywhere – a resounding “yes”, everywhere, instruction.
If we care to look, learning can be found codified in: ecological perspectives that value natural living systems as our primary teachers; the boundarylessness of the human smile; the perennial return of spring; the endless intuition of the river, the calm before the storm, the wellspring of knowing of the ancient traditions, the sweet triumphant life of the seed that grows in the sidewalk crack. Learning happens when we make the time to seek, listen, question, and wonder. And lifelong learning – that crosses multiple disciplines - can light the way on many new paths of possibility in an atmosphere of open participation, critical inquiry, creativity and curiosity, honour and care. A compelling invitation to live into the larger questions that are our lives.
Participate, rejuvenate, incubate, while contributing to cultivating a more sustainable, resilient, and peace-filled existence for all. Keep learning and be more responsible to what you know -and as the poet says- choose the path that will make all the difference.
~We’ll meet you there…
Hilary Leighton, MEd
Director, Continuing Studies
first printed in 2008-09 CS Calendar
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