With the celebration of the Declaration of Independence, America celebrated its deepest values - Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. At the time America declared its independence from England, it faced formidable odds. The colonists had no organized militia, no monetary system, no established country,-- and no conveniences as electricity or cell phones. They were ordinary people, -- farmers with turkey muskets, facing the English military -- at that time, the strongest in the world. Still, they rose to victoroy.
Today we have gone much further than the colonists. Indeed, Paul Hawken, has identified a whole new movement - the largest the world has ever seen. He describes it in his book, Blessed Unrest (2007). This movement is very different from a typical movement because it has no single leader or ideology. Instead, it is coming from a multitude of caring people -- doctors without borders, mothers, peasants, teenagers, children, and businesspeople, to name a few. Large as it is, no one knows its true size.
Fiercely independent and aware, these people are facing and working on the most pressing issues of the day: Global warming, poverty, peace, hunger, conservation, human rights, and many more. They work quietly behind the scenes, getting the job done, providing hope, support, and meaning to people around the world. Hawken believes the clout behind this emergence resides in idea, not in force. "Rather than dominance, it strives to disperse concentrations of power. Rather than control, it seeks connection."
What we have today, is more than independence. It is an interdependence where we can be have our own individual views and yet be quickly connected through our higher values and technology for the highest good of all. What is the energy behind it? I think it is our deeper values and the Creator who loves us all. Take time to renew your enthusiasm for the deep spirit of life, liberty, and happiness.
Hawken, Paul. Blessed Unrest New York: Penguin Press, 2007.
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