I left Covington Community Center in 1978, not out of disillusionment or for a better job; rather, I felt what we were doing did not reach the source of the problems we were treating. The poor were obviously suffering, but so were the staff and volunteers who came to serve the poor at this neighborhood center. From friends I had, acquaintances, through reading and from my own experiences, I concluded that the majority of people in our society are discontent. The question kept hitting me. Why? Why, in the wealthiest country in the world are people so discontent? Why do we have poverty, depression, loneliness, and isolation? Why do we have so many people, whether wealthy or poor, feeling so terribly insecure?
I’ve spent time since 1978 researching this problem and looking at ways it might be resolved.
One conclusion I reached in my research is that our discontent comes from a dichotomy in people’s lives, an almost schizophrenia of values. There is a deep commitment to family, friends and all people; but in our everyday lives we live in a society where the primary values are consumption, competition, individualism, and money, and not people. This pull between our inner values and societal values creates a contradiction in our lives and a major conflict. Our lack of awareness of this conflict creates a schizophrenia-type response, and makes it very difficult to sort out from whence the pain is coming.
Our family is experimenting with trying to live a life closer to the deep, inner commitment we have to family, friends, and all peoples. We have also come to see a great need to develop a sense of interconnectedness with the Earth if we are to deepen our connectedness to each other. We are trying to see if our actions can be based on a deep sense of value in people and in the Earth of which we are a part. We have found in many instances in which we are able to change. In others, we have not. Societal values have been very deeply rooted in us through our long exposure to them. Other areas we are unable to decide what the best way to proceed would be to coincide with the values we espouse. In following newsletters, I will share with you some of the things we have tried in our attempt to live a life more attuned to the Earth and the humans living in it – what Robert Gilman calls developing a Humane Sustainable Culture. We will cover such areas as “Spirituality”, “Work”, “Friendship/Community”, and “Security”. It will be a reflection on our thoughts and attempts at living such a life.
rjamesschenk.org 