Old Testament dogma notwithstanding, humanity is inseparably connected to this planet careening through space. Our collective footprint upon the Earth has been a heavy one in recent generations. Our stewardship has been found wanting. More ancient paths wove the threads of a more interconnected understanding into their spiritual engagement with the world in which they lived. Some avenues into their understanding can be found by exploring The Old Ways.

As the spiritual bankruptcy of materialism confronts the industrialized nations, we are given the opportunity to assess carefully and compassionately our collective impact upon our fellow creatures, redirect our energies into sustainable, environmentally sensitive, humane industries and institutions. Deep ecology invites us to embrace this profound awareness.

They were benighted men Heraclitus, the white haired nibblers
After you, that once and for all time divided subject and
Object, intellects who broke their bread into infinitesimal pieces
Lest they choke on the enormity of what fed them.

The left hand washes the right. There is no deal.
Ignorance has one consequence, denial another.
A butterfly spawns hurricanes a hemisphere away.
We leave our children to pay the price of rapine.

No gift those vivisecting Greeks. In these times
We eat the bitter bread of their separation, sleeping fitfully
In soiled beds, never dreaming that alpha and omega
Are at once the dreamer and the dream.

~©1999  michael s. queen
all rights reserved