What a pity that Rabbi Lerner's voice was not heard during the recent presidential campaign. I find his article strangely comforting. Not only does the good rabbi help me overcome some unhealthy judgmentalism by reassuring me that the motivation of the voters who put Bush back in the White House had something to do with seeking "value in life beyond success in the marketplace"--but he sparks my imagination! He inspires me to begin dreaming about how we whose moral values differ from the "Christian right" can begin to appeal to our common desire for "some sense of transcendent purpose."
Nancy Roth
The Snows of Kilimanjaro
2005 Fall | Nancy Roth
On Friday of the week the icecap of Mount Kilimanjaro melted, I entered a hospital for removal of part of my left breast. Although I was not nearly as well endowed as the African mountain, I suspected that our losses had similar causes. When I audited one of David Orr's environmental studies classes several years ago, I had scribbled in my notebook, "Human society is embedded in nature. When we abuse nature, we are compromising our own well-being as well."
Everyone agreed that I was an unlikely candidate for the disease. There was no family history of breast cancer, and I had eaten carefully and exercised vigorously all my life, had two pregnancies and had breast-fed my children. Cancer was an unbelievable and unwelcome surprise.
A Morning in the Life of Gabriel
2004 Fall | Nancy Roth
taking poetic license to be a spokesperson for her grandson
Gabriel Roth
Gabriel Roth
I am 16 months old, and my grandmother, Nana, is writing this for me. This week, Nana and Grandpa have been visiting. They say that watching me and listening to me is better than any television show could ever be. This must be true, because they have never turned on the television, just the way Mommy and Daddy never turn on the television when I am in the room. (They say it might do something to my brain.)
I thought you might like to read about a morning in my life. Small as I am, Nana thinks that I am an interesting example of a person who lives a sustainable life style, although, obviously, my parents and I need to make some compromises now and then. Who doesn't?
Mandala
2002 Winter | Nancy Roth
In the days since September 11, I have been comforted and strengthened by the many articulate emails forwarded to me daily by a network of thoughtful people. In trying to deal with my own visceral reaction to the tragedy of that day, I was reminded of a chapter in a book I wrote over ten years ago, during the months when the Persian Gulf crisis dominated the media. I decided to read it once again, and to try to take my own advice.
It comes from my book Organic Prayer, a kind of "gardening companion" to a spirituality connected with the earth. The chapter is part of a section devoted to "Pests"--those things which keep our planet from flourishing. From among the many possible candidates, I chose emptiness and greed, self-righteousness and guilt, and despair and burnout. I dealt with the last two in the following paragraphs, slightly altered here in the interests of inclusivity. These words are but one part of the truth, of course, but I hope that they are helpful to the reader.
Not Out of This World
2001 Fall | Nancy Roth
I sighed when I read the definitions of "spirituality" in the large American Heritage Dictionary that lies conveniently open on a shelf between my husband's study and my own on the second floor of our home: "(1) The state, quality, manner, or fact of being spiritual. (2) The clergy. (3) Something, such as property or revenue, that belongs to the church or to a cleric."
Although I myself confess to the title of "cleric," I recognize in these definitions--even the rather odd third item--the dualism so prevalent in our society, which suggests that "spirituality" is something separate from the material world around us. My life-experience, as well as my work in the realm of "spirituality," has taught me quite otherwise. It has taught me, for one thing, that everybody has a "spirituality," and, secondly, that the "church" often has little to do with it.
