A Message from the Co-Founders  

Recently, the Vatican's U.N. representative had this to say in an address on the environment:  "Our Earth speaks to us and we must listen if we want to survive... obedience to the voice of the Earth is necessary."

As we read about this address, we were preparing to present a workshop on five voices calling us to care for the Earth: Aldo Leopold, Arne Naess, Joanna Macy, Thomas Berry, and Viktor Frankl whose 1946 classic, Man's Search for Meaning, tells us that hope is essential.  This coincidence, as we reconnected with the five voices, rekindled hope that the time is near when disparate voices become a harmonious choir pulling humankind into a sustainable future.

But what might the common denominator be for people of good faith, from quite varied backgrounds, in responding to the call of the earth?  How can we reinvent the human, from a mammal that evolved to respond to immediate stimuli (like a rock falling from the slope above) to one that responds to threats that seem remote in time and space (such as destruction of the coral reefs)?

For Aldo Leopold, the key is what he called the "land ethic."  As a species we must come to grips with our ethical obligation to the land and its soils, waters, plants, and animals.  This inquiry is highlighted by the palpable plight of the salmon and the polar bear.

For Arne Naess, we must move from a posture of anthropocentrism, or human centeredness, to ecocentrism where ecosystem integrity becomes our guiding principle.

For Joanna Macy, the key is active participation in the Great Turning.  We have plenty of information, and there is plenty of good work to go around, so we need only find a niche for our good work and stick with it.

For Thomas Berry, we need a common creation story that invokes a sense of awe and gratitude.  With the help of the telescope and microscope, we now have a deepening understanding of the creation of the cosmos – 13.7 billion years of unlikely events that have resulted in our being on this privileged planet at this particular time.  This miraculous process has created a resilient, yet very fragile, biosphere that supports all life on earth.  As we come to appreciate the enormity of this legacy from the past, we will reorganize human activity around the uncompromising goal to preserve its integrity.

A tall order to be sure.  A possibility for certain.  And a growing hope for those who understand that there is no alternative for the long run.

Jeanne and Dick Roy
Co-Founders
Center for Earth Leadership