The other night, as my friend Sue and I waited for others to join us on a conference call, she was telling me about an organization she works with, Creativity Peace Camp in New Mexico, a summer leadership camp for young Palestinian and Israeli girls. Sue was talking about how much the work means to her and how she had recently been in touch with one young camper whose sisters had been killed by an Israeli bomb and how the young woman was already taking a leadership role.

 

She didn't go into too much detail, because we wanted to check to see if anyone else had come on line.

 

Yes, there was Claire, calling in from Dublin, Ireland. Claire and Sue have never met in person, but know one another through a project we all worked on. Disbelief in her voice, Claire told us that she had recently made contact with the father of this very same young Palestinian woman, because she had been so touched by his courage in the face of so immense a loss as the death of his daughters.

 

The three of us were stunned by the synchronicity.

 

These lightning bolt links strike all of us now and then. Three years ago, I met a woman at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Melbourne, Australia who had been driven to the Boston airport for her Melbourne flight by a woman who was one of my best friends when I was in my twenties.

 

Such tales always make me think that, if we had enough time and were willing to pursue all kinds of whimsical little threads with strangers, we would likely find out that we have connections with just about everyone on the planet.

 

When I consider how various people have come into my life, I realize that the person or event that brought us together has often vanished from the relationship. And I see that I, too, have been responsible for connecting others who now are journeying together through their lives without me.

 

We touch others and are touched by them in ways we cannot imagine. And we never know how or when a spark between any two of us will be ignited.

 

 

 PHOTO: FRANCESCO TOMASINELLI AND EMANUELE BIGGI, MIT 

 

On August 30, 2012, the Whanganui River in New Zealand was granted personhood.

 

This landmark court decision marks the first time a river has been granted the standing of a person, which means that its "rights and interests" must be protected. Under the agreement, the river, whose legal name is Te Awa Tupua, becomes a protected entity, with representatives of both the iwi, the Maori term for "people", and the New Zealand government collaborating to watch out for its interests.

 

"Today's agreement which recognises the status of the river as Te Awa Tupua (an integrated, living whole) and the inextricable relationship of iwi with the river is a major step towards the resolution of the historical grievances of Whanganui iwi and is important nationally," said Christoper Finlayson, New Zealand's Minister for Treaty for Waitangi Negotiations.

 

What is also significant about this decision is that the historic importance of the river to the Whanganui iwi is considered a legitimate and important factor in what happens to it. As people say, "Ko au te awa. Ko te awa ko au" (I am the river. The river is me).

 

Imagine how different the settlement of the United States would have been if the colonizers had recognized and respected the rights that the native people perceived as inherent to the rivers, mountains, and canyons of this land. Imagine how different our culture now would be.

 

(Thanks to Oliver Scheuvens for this story.)

 

PHOTO BY RON MERTENS 

The Global Earth Exchange in 2013 is Saturday, June 22.

Stay tuned to our Radical Joy for Hard Times website for details on how to join!

 

I live my life in widening circles

that reach out across the world.

I may not complete this last one

but I give myself to it.

 

I circle around God, around the primordial tower.

I've been circling for thousands of years

and I still don't know: am I a falcon,

a storm, or a great song?

     

 

What are you circling around right now?

 

NOTE: There is no right answer.

 

Someone who is reading this is circling these days around how to respond to a serious medical problem. Someone is circling around a troubling relationship with a loved one. Someone is circling round a project she cares about deeply and can't figure out how to complete. Someone is circling around a spiritual question, like, Is there a consciousness in the universe? Does it care about me? Is there life after death?

 

If we can truly claim what it is we are circling around, then we may become, in turns, a falcon, a storm, and a great song. 

 Schumacher College, Interview with Trebbe Johnson,  

 

Trebbe Johnson, "Reuniting with Wounded Places," The Ecologist, 1/21/13 

 

Grove Harris, "Winter Solstice 2012: Time for New Alignment," Huffington Post, 12/21/12

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Beloved, the universal symbol of your ecstatic bond with your own radiant self, invites you to say YES! to Life. The Beloved is an archetype who appears in the myths and legends of many lands, in the prayers of mystics, and in Jungian psychology as a symbol of the integrated Self. Elusive yet accessible, always beckoning you to step over limitations into your own greater adventure, loving you utterly as you are, yet perceiving how you can be more fully you, the Beloved invites you to step into the whole world as if into the arms of a waiting lover.

Facilitator: Trebbe Johnson

Registration and Cost info: Contact Rowe

Instructor: Trebbe Johnson

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~