Excerpt from sermon entitled “The Great Turning”, Sunday, May 20th, 2012  

(inspired by the work of Joana Macy)

Many of our most beloved stories were constructed around misunderstandings, misinterpretations or “wishful thinking” at best – if not conscious, strategized manipulations of power.

What I’m talking about is stories of humanity’s God-given dominion over the earth; or of one race or sex over another.  I’m talking about stories of endless resources; of manifest destiny; of rights over responsibilities; and of individual identity over collective identity.  I’m talking about the stories that have fueled the sufferings of multitudes; that have inspired war upon war and the rape of the earth; and justified ongoing indulgence in fear, on the one hand.  Or supernatural rescue, on the other.

It is becoming ever more clear to me that the perpetuation of those stories are the problem; the big evil.  And that the solution (the long-term solution:  the one for which our great, great grandchildren will BLESS us) is to let our lives tell – a different story.