An environment can be unhealthy.
A social environment can be unhealthy.
It may not be correct to call a social environment sick, but it is probable that it is possible for our social environment to sicken us. It may impair ones mental health.
It is probably impairing our physical and economic health right now.

Why is that?

Well, for a time, we did not listen to the people who were telling us that our society was making them sick.

Why is that?

We know that some people seek and benefit from psychiatric or psychological help. They make what might be called inner changes.
We know that a person may also make changes in his or her outer situation.

However, we associate with others with whom we may cooperate. We act in a society of others. We act within a social system. We note that the system may effect our well being. We have learned that sometimes systemic changes may be needed. We may be called upon to cooperate with one another to make this change.

How may we do that?

It calls for practice, skill, and understanding. We most have real knowledge of how we got where we are. That means we need a lot of knowledge about us and a good understanding of our present situation. We need to have communication skills that go way beyond 'fair fighting.'
We need to be realistically clear about where we find ourselves. We must a true and honest understanding of our past. We must dialogue in a way that helps us to listen to, hear, and understand the assumptions of others.

Who Are We?

How do we decide what our will is?
How does one decide?
How do we translate our will to action?
How can we cooperate more effectively?
How can we express our will. if 'we' don't have one?
How do we communicate amongst ourselves?
How do we carry on a dialogue?
How do we discuss our common problems?
How do we clarify a common problem?
How do we tell others what we think individually?
How do we discover what we think collectively?
How do we think collectively?
How do we discover our common will so that we may covern ourselves?
How useless are we if we are quiet?
How are we deciding carefully and in person?
How do we decide matters of life and death?
How do we consider what we might do to live better?
How do we reason together?
How do we understand one another?
How do we participate in our 'we-ness?'
How well can we survive?
How can we do it better?

Christian Thoughts?

Prophets; Christians seem to feel relief that their age has passed.

Our useful, though fallible, prophets might be insightful writers who arouse social resentment and resistance.

The biblical wise-man's present, is the moment in which past and future are balanced, the uncertainties of the future being minimized by the observance of the law that comes down from the past. With some variation in the nature of 'the law,' isn't that the nature of all wisdom?

Some have called repentance the beginning of Christian life. Many Christians seem even more confused about the nature of repentance than some of the Apostles seem to have been. I think that repentance is about the wondrous mystery of reality. Some suggest that it relates to to a spiritual metamorphosis. I've called it part of the pureficatory process. Some benefit by calling it an honest and insightful change of outlook. Others have called it a move toward or into the one of all. You might benefit by calling it an enlarged vision of the dimensions of human life.

Some saintly persons have not called the illegal or immoral sinful, but rather say that failure to cooperate with god is where sin lies. Some religions have called the righteous man, the one who cooperates with the way of things. You might benefit, and stay on 'the straight and narrow,' by acting in accord with reality and purifying yourself of ignorance. Some call ignorance the great lie. Of course, you will probably also benefit a lot by avoiding the illegal and the immoral.

Some Christians have trouble locating 'the kingdom.' they get lost in time and space. They are helped when they are reminded that the central point is here and now. I suggest that the kingdom is not there, rather it is here, among us and within us now.

Faith might be called a power to act informed y vision. Vision may be informed by experience. If one goes into his house at night whit the thought that the electrical system has gone to hell and there is now way the light switch is going to work, he may spend the night i the dark. With a bit of faith he is more likely to try the switch. He may spend the night in the dark anyway, but h has given himself a chance for light. with continued faith he may repair a malfunctioning switch or an electrical system that 'has gone to hell.'

Moralists of some religions have been a bit like many of our parents were... Telling us the 'no,nos.' Jesus was not that way. For example, he understood the Ten Commandments rather than than learn them by rote. He restated them as an enthusiasm for life, respect for the dignity of persons, delight in helping others, a nurturing and strengthening love.

Jesus, I believe, knew that ignorance is a major, perhaps the major, source of the hurtful and harmful in man's existence. He chose enlightenment as the cure for ignorance. The enlightenment he chose included prompt, here and now, action to right wrongs.

It has seemed to me that Jesus was also interested in unification and the knowledge of oneness. he seems to preach the healing in unification,in the move to oneness. He tells us that the way to healing is open. He tells us that the way to abundant life is open to us. He tells us that man has infinite energy behind him to help himself.

Let's Cooperate

Let's be a healthy people.
Let's consider public health care for a healthy public.
Let's support each other in our efforts to keep our families healthy.

What You Don't Know

What you don't know will hurt you.

What you don't know is hurting you and others this instant.

There is no love in willful ignorance.

You can cooperate to stop the hurt.

Like-Minded Men

The like-mindedness of like-minded men is a great part of that which enables them to cooperate powerfully. How do men come to be like-minded? Let us count the ways.

Today

We shall cooperate for beautiful sustainability.

Prepositions

A just government of the people, by the people, and for the people is a big deal.
A republican may believe that it is so big that it contains all the people.
A democrat may believe that it is best when all the people are welcome all the time.
A republican may believe hat it is best when each is truly represented.
A democrat may believe that it is best when each truly represents himself or herself.

In that just government of, by, and for you and the others you may negotiate how you cooperate with those others.
Ongoing communication is necessary for effective cooperation.

They?

It looks as though some took the money and ran.

Did they look at climate change and our refusal to act and decide that the best they could do was take the money and run?

I can't believe that. Change just is. We can talk about the weather, but we can't do anything about it. What can we do? The few can't take that much from the many.

Signs and portents? Prophets are just crazy old guys. Who can understand or believe the community of scientists. Who has the time to understand our founding fathers?
Who has time or will to cooperate and organize?

Aren't they responsible?

A 'We' Story

It begins at he far southern tip of South America in the early days of Spanish Exploration. Certain sailors and explorers for Spain have such difficulties with their ship that they feel the need to stay in that place for a time. They see the place as cold, bare, and windy, but there is just enough wood and water for their needs.

In this land they find people. They find men, women, and children living together there. The explorers see a very poor people, an impoverished people. The seem to have no towns, crops, or industries. It appears that they may be godless. Rather than houses the have low windbreaks and they are nearly naked. The men of the ship wonder how these people can live in this hard land. Yet the people of the land seem well formed and healthy.

Soon the people from the ship find that they can barter with these lowly people for food-stuff. They also begin to see the land people as lazy. They spend much of their day sitting around and talking or listening to each other. The people of the ship say to each other that there is no wonder that the land people have so little. They say that the people of the land sit around talking, Rather than working to better themselves. In their hearts some of the people of the ship feel envy of the others' ability to sit and talk.

The ship people believe that if they have to stay in this land they will surely die before their time. Most of the ship people have always worked and they were working hard now to end their suffering in this land. How did the land people live here and spend their time talking while they, the ship people, worked hard all day and feared they would die here ir they did not.

In time, the sailors made their ship ready and sailed away. Somehow, two of their number were left in the land. Of these two one learned to speak with the people. He joined in their talk. The other despised them and their talk. The later died.

In more time, another ship came. Some of the sailors on that ship knew of the two who had been left. There were a few who knew even the towns and families of the two who had been left. They were sad to hear of the death of and pleased and surprised at the life of the other. The one with life was pleased to be with those of the ship and also seem much at home among those of the land.

In the company of his countrymen and comrades, the one alive left the land. They noted tears in his eyes as they left. The shipmates of the live one asked him how he had managed to live among those despicable poor and lazy people. They asked him if it were true that the people of the land were poor because they were so lazy that they sat around and talked instead of working to better themselves. They wanted to know if he were able to trick them or become their king.

The live one seemed unable to answer. But finally he did say that he had come to love and respect the people of that land and that there was a wonderful power in their listening and talk. They had a powerful way of talking that had a gentility in it he tried to explain. His shipmates looked sad and shook their heads a bit. They said that he had had a terrible ordeal, but would get over it in time.

The live one later tried to tell those aboard who knew him best that the people of the land did not feel themselves to be poor or despicable, rather they were quietly proud of themselves and abilities. He told them that their talk enabled them to cooperate in powerful ways. His friends looked at him with large eyes and said, "Those, poor, ignorant, lazy, godless, savages!" "No,' said the live one, "they are powerful, kind people who speak of godly things!" His friends thought it best to speak no more, or to speak of other things.

When the live one left the sea to stay mostly by his home-fires, he sometimes spoke a bit of people in a far land who spoke to excellent effect. He tried to explain the power in their way of conversing, but was seldom understood.

He explained that their talk enabled them to easily share the location of food gathering sites and do so completely, frankly, without jealousy. They told each other not only the location of these places, but also of their size and the state of the life within them. So, they all knew when to gather and the sustainable amount to gather. Their talk enabled them to trust each other and to nurture the life around them to their mutual benefit. Their listening led them to an understanding of each other's needs. He would tell his listeners that those people were able to live in their land in happy health because of their talk. Some few listeners began to ask questions and gradually to learn some of what they called 'ways-of-nurturing-power-talk.'

It is a lot like the "we" forming dialogue I speak of.

Organize

To learn.
Cooperate to learn.
Organize to learn.
Learn to organize.
Learn to cooperate.
Organize to learn.

What Does Eating Have to do With Me?

You and I have received gifts. We have been grateful, but not always grateful enough to use our gifts well. For example, we have been provided with energetic minds and we have heard that "God helps those who help themselves. We have been told to "get understanding." We have been told that "knowledge is power" and yet we cry, "I don't know. I don't know." "I don't know" may be a good cry of humility and a good first step toward understanding, but we are not cry babies.

You have spoken of responsibility; me too. What is the nature of responsibility? Who has it? Who is responsible for our understanding? Who is responsible for our power?

My questions may seem a bit extreme, but I have often found them empowering. For example: Who do you think has the greatest power to keep me from eating poison? Who is best able to be responsible to keep me from eating poison? Who is most likely to take on that responsibility? I, for one, am willing to take prime responsibility for y eating.

Even though I seem willing to take some responsibility, I am often rather lazy and unfocused. As lazy and unfocused as I may be, I still have the power to cooperate. I have some ability to cooperate with the way of things, or God. I have some ability to cooperate with you.

I am not sure what it means to say, "You are what you eat." Still I have heard it often, occasionally from a person who seems wise. Even on my foolish level I know that if the baby has been given poison to eat, we may say she is poisoned.

I don't know anyone who wants to poison a the baby, but is the baby the only one responsible for its eating? Who is responsible for a baby's eating?

When it comes to making sure that food is safe to eat, knowledge is power.

www.foodandwaterwatch.org