Spirit and Nature
As Quakers we are called to a right relationship with Nature and all its sacredness. A right relationship requires that we learn and respect the ways in which Nature works and rediscover our sacred connections. A right relationship requires that humans share the Earth’s productivity and resources with one another and with other species. A right relationship requires us to be good stewards of our planet.
The Gunpowder community is guided by a Minute on Spirit and Nature. We are called to:
- develop a spiritual awareness of our oneness with Nature;
- pay attention to Nature; re-discover its beauty and complexity;
- develop gratitude and reverence for the organisms and systems that sustain us;
- learn the rules that govern natural systems and how to follow them within a sustainable economic system;
- explore the connection between our overconsumption and the suffering of humans and other organisms; and
- work together to protect and conserve Nature.
"It would go a great way to caution and direct people in their Use of the World, that they were better studied and known in the Creation of it. For how could Mankind find the confidence to abuse it, while they should see the Great Creator stare them in the Face, in all and every Part thereof? "
William Penn, from Some Fruits of Solitude, 1692
"The first peace, which is the most important, is that which comes within the souls of people when they realize their relationships, their oneness, with the universe and all its powers, and when they realize that at the center of the universe dwells the Great Spirit, and that this center is really everywhere, it is within each of us."
Black Elk. Oglala Sioux
"…be patterns, be examples, in all countries, places, islands, nations, wherever you come; that your carriage and life may preach among all sorts of people, and to them; then you will come to walk cheerfully over the world, answering that of God in every one."