We so easily become disconnected from the world in which we live. Our responsibilities and desires so easily blind us to the beauty that surrounds us in every moment of every day.
We also so easily forget what our true purpose is, as well as how we are to view the wonderful God-given gifts we have been given. It is this disconnection that leads each of us to see these gifts as mere economic commodities to be exploited, and other people as mere economic commodities to further our individual ambitions.
In this post, written by prolific author, speaker, activist, and public theologian Brian McLaren, Brian shares his dream of a different kind of economic world. We share Brian's vision with you here. In part to offer you a better way. In part hoping you'll receive it as you move toward becoming reconnected.
Image Credit: Canva
This is my dream, and perhaps it is your dream, and our dream, together: that in this time of turbulence when worlds are falling apart, all of us with willing hearts can come together…together with one another, poor and rich, whatever our race or gender, wherever we live, whatever our religion or education. I dream that some of us, maybe even enough of us, will come together not only in a circle of shared humanity, but in a sphere as big as the whole Earth, to rediscover ourselves as Earth’s multi-colored multi-cultured children, members of Team Earth.
I dream that the wisdom of Indigenous people, the wisdom of St. Francis and St. Clare and the Buddha and Jesus, the wisdom of climate scientists and ecologists and spiritual visionaries from all faiths could be welcomed into every heart. Then, we would look across this planet and see not economic resources, but our sacred relations … brother dolphin and sister humpback whale, swimming in our majestic indigo oceans, with sister gull and brother frigate bird soaring above them beneath the blue sky. We would see all land as holy land, and walk reverently in the presence of sister meadow and brother forest, feeling our kinship with brother bald eagle and sister box turtle, sister song sparrow and brother swallowtail butterfly, all our relations.
In my dream, the reverence we feel when we enter the most beautiful cathedral we would feel equally among mountains in autumn, beside marshes in spring, surrounded by snow-covered prairies in winter, and along meandering streams in summer. In my dream, even in our cities, we would look up in wonder at the sky, and a marriage between science and spirit would allow us to marvel at the sacredness of sunlight, the wonder of wind, the refreshment of rain, the rhythm of seasons. At each meal, we would feel deep connection to the fields and orchards and rivers and farms where our food was grown, and we would feel deep connection to the farmers and farmworkers whose hands tended soil so we could eat this day with gratitude and joy.
In my dream, our life-giving connection to each other and to the living Earth would be fundamental, central, and sacred…and everything else, from economies to governments to schools to religions…would be renegotiated to flow from that fundamental connection. In my dream, we would know God not as separate from creation, but as the living light and holy energy we encounter in and through creation: embodied, incarnated, in the current and flow of past, present, and future, known most intimately in the energy of love. (Brian D. McLaren, Life after Doom: Wisdom and Courage for a World Falling Apart (New York: St. Martin’s Essentials, 2024), 248–249 (Emphasis here ours).
Brian's dream connects to the dreams of Better Capitalism. Might Brian's dream connect to your dream for a harmonious earth? How might our collective dream lead us to create harmonious economies - to create better forms of capitalism? Might you help create a better culture in your workplace? Might you help an organization that is moving the needle consistent with your dream? What simple step is your heart urging you to take right now toward helping create an economically harmonious earth? It's time for you to take that step!
Tired of "profit is evil" vs "maximize my profit by exploiting others," as if those are the only two options?
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"This book merits close, sustained attention as a compelling move beyond both careless thinking and easy ideology."—Walter Brueggemann, Columbia Theological Seminary
"Better Capitalism is a sincere search for a better world."—Cato Institute
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