Awakening the Dreamer, Changing the Dream Symposium

Presenter

This past Sunday at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church in St. Paul I had the privilege of attending a symposium with an ambitious purpose...Bringing forth an Environmentally sustainable Spiritually fulfilling and Socially just human presence on the planet.  If successful participants would leave in a state of blessed unrest.

Symposium agenda

While a vast amount of information was presented at the conference, the most central point was that we are all "kin" to each other. This includes all the people groups from around the globe, animals, air, plants and water.  It was argued that we are all connected both at both the macro and micro level.  Thomas Berry's book "The Universe Story" was referenced, which suggests that all things evolved from the same source, hence we are all inter-related.  A video with the Buddhist monk, Tich Nhat Hanh, further elaborated this concept, suggesting that none of us can be ourselves alone, rather we are "inter-be" with the air, people, animals and all of creation.

A video, Global Wombat, highlights the world's interconnectedness.

Van Jones, author of "The Green Collar Economy" challenged the notion that more things will fix the huger in the human heart in another video. A number of unexamined assumptions were explored, which I'll address in another blog.

This conference was sponsored by Minnesota Interfaith Power and Light.

Conference participants discussing issues