Hello, it’s the Sage in Sue Blythe speaking. I bring breathings of the Sages of the Ages about the story of life on Earth. We draw from the Wisdom Well of the human family, where we always seem to get just what we need when we need it. Through the millennia, we have expressed the well-being of the world in many ways.
For each of the 7 Days of Rest and Radiant Diversity, January 1 – 7, we reflect on the words of the Earth Charter.
Day One: ESSENCE
Meeting and greeting the essence of Life-enriching diversity
We stand at a critical moment in Earth’s history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are one human family and one Earth community with a common destiny.
Day Two: EXPERIENCE
Experiencing diversity through our different senses and intelligences
Everyone shares responsibility for the present and future well-being of the human family and the larger living world. The spirit of human solidarity and kinship with all life is strengthened when we live with reverence for the mystery of being, gratitude for the gift of life, and humility regarding the human place in nature.
Day Three: ENCOUNTER
Befriending diverse human and nonhuman perspectives
Humanity is part of a vast evolving universe. Earth, our home, is alive with a unique community of life. The forces of nature make existence a demanding and uncertain adventure, but Earth has provided the conditions essential to life’s evolution.
Day Four: EMPATHY
Nourishing empathy for all of Life
Recognize that all beings are interdependent and every form of life has value regardless of its worth to human beings.
Day Five: EXPRESSION
Co-creating the conditions for diversity to flourish
Life often involves tensions between important values. This can mean difficult choices. However, we must find ways to harmonize diversity with unity, the exercise of freedom with the common good, short-term objectives with long-term goals.
Day Six: ENVISION
Learning the wisdom of Life-enriching diversity
The resilience of the community of life and the well-being of humanity depend upon preserving a healthy biosphere with all its ecological systems, a rich variety of plants and animals, fertile soils, pure waters, and clean air.
Day Seven: EVOLUTION
Honoring and celebrating the natural laws of harmony in diversity
Let ours be a time remembered for the awakening of a new reverence for life, the firm resolve to achieve sustainability, the quickening of the struggle for justice and peace, and the joyful celebration of life.
The Earth Charter, launched in the year 2000 at the Peace Palace in the Hague, is an ethical framework for building a just, sustainable, and peaceful global society in the 21st century. It seeks to inspire in all people a new sense of global interdependence and shared responsibility for the well-being of the whole human family, the greater community of life, and future generations. It is a vision of hope and a call to action.