What aspects does an organization need to possess in order to remain sustainable? This was a question Karen, founder and director of EPES, asked all of us during a meeting this morning. Founded 28 years ago, EPES was created with the vision of Six Pillars of Sustainability, which serve as the foundation of its mission. The pillars are: a theological vision, clarity of mission, leadership/ governance, institutional development, relationship with the community and funding. Although there are many struggles with remaining funded and maintaining supporters, EPES has remained very sustainable and today is affecting more and more lives. For me, the most powerful aspect of their sustainability mission is the idea of forming relationships with the community and allowing the people to collectively be part of defining the actions and making decisions.
If we really want to create change in the world, we must start with the people. Empowerment, empowerment, empowerment. It is wonderful to go into these poor communities of the world for a week and do mission work for the people, but when the missioners leave the problems still remain. It is more important to go to these rural communities and work with the people. Teach them to identify and solve the problems on their own. Otherwise, there will never be change. Everyone in the world must learn to recognize one another as equal and learn that everyone is a dignified being that matters and has worth. This is a theme that keeps arising in everything that I have been involved with thus far, that everyone is truly Divine. Now, it’s even present in the very mission that EPES stands for, that all people are deserving, equally, of healthcare and empowerment. We must work to make this idea a world vision, so that the rich do not continue to have control and power over the poor at every intersection in society. Being part of the workshop for paramedics last week in La Serena really opened me up to this idea, too. Its much more affective to start with what the people already know and encourage them to brainstorm and critique the issues, rather than just telling them what to do. Some of the paramedics came from very rural towns where telephones and flushing toilets are not a common luxury. However, it was amazing to witness these health workers come together, despite their significantly apparent lack of resources, with the desire to become leaders and learn ways to change the situations and issues they face. People do not learn when they are simply lectured to. Learning is about interaction, it is about experiencing. Learning involves taking action. Every person has this right, the right to learn and have power for themselves.
The theme of us as equal and humanly divine creatures was also part of the Eco-spirituality retreat I attended this weekend in Vilches. It has been so interesting to look at all of these ideas from a entirely new angle. Our connectedness to the Earth, our belonging to one another and the giving spirit of nature makes one realize, “what a wonderful world” we really do live in. I have never listened to that song, “what a wonderful world” by Louis Armstrong, with such a sense of awe. It really does speak so much truth. All of the ordinary miracles we encounter everyday (“bright blessed days, dark sacred nights, skies of blue, clouds of white, friends shaking hands”) are wonderful and extraordinary. Creation and relationships, ah, what wonders they are.
Nature is our heaven. Nature is ours.
Watch its mystery with clarity and understanding.
Feel its power in your soul, the roar of a tiger and strength of a mountain.
Taste its goodness on your tongue, the deliciousness of honey and the saltiness of the sea.
Listen to the sweet melody singing in your ear, the heartbeat of the river and the song of the bird.
Experience it. Love it. Be it.
No matter what God one may believe in,
there is no doubting the spirituality of being in nature.
The entire experience of the weekend was beautiful. At times I was taken out of my comfort zone, but it really was opening. Life is a beautiful thing even though it is incredibly and utterly short, especially when looking at in the perspective of the Universe and how it came to be billions and billions of years ago. But, it is important to remember, that even though our lives may be just a bleep in the timeline of the Cosmos, that does not mean we are insignificant. We are all sacred. We are all miracles. We are on our journey through life with a certain purpose and meaning. We are. Now.
May we all spend our “bright, blessed days and dark, sacred nights” with joy and and a sense of consciousness for our sisters and brothers. That we may work to form, not only sustainable institutions, but also sustainable relationships and selves, holding one another and ourselves accountable. May we always be aware of the many less fortunate, to recognize them as divine and equal, to empower them and allow them to become part of the greater vision.
