Welcome to May 2017 issue

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by Molly Brown, editor

Welcome to the May 2017 issue of Deep Times: A Journal of the Work That Reconnects.

Spring is coming again to the Northern Hemisphere. The grass is turning the hills vibrant green and the wildflowers are showing off their beautiful selves. The urge arises to garden and plant new life. At the same time, spring may also open us up to deep grief for what is happening in the USA and across the planet. It is heartbreaking to see how humans in the Industrial Growth Society continue to mistreat one another and the natural world, even while Mother Earth generously offers us such bounty and loveliness.

Systemic greed and hunger for power are pushing us to the edge or perhaps beyond the edge of extinction as we face climate disruption, persistent racism, oppression, militarism, and political insanity. In these perilous times we need to reconnect to ourselves, to each other, and to the Earth. Allowing ourselves to feel and express our grief keeps our hearts open, and our love for life can help us move towards the more beautiful world we know is possible.

To help us reconnect to one another, and the truth of our interbeing within the web of life, this issue of Deep Times moves around the spiral of the Work That Reconnects, brings news from the Network around the world, and features articles from white folks who are working to liberate themselves and their communities from the colonial white supremacy mindset.

Special Issue in August

This issue was originally to be dedicated to the theme of social justice, addressing the brutal reality of systemic racism, intersectional oppression, and the white colonial mindset under which Indigenous People, People of Color, and other marginalized groups have suffered historically and in our world today–even within the Work That Reconnects.  To center voices of People of Color, I asked Patricia St. Onge, Anne Marie Davis, and Aravinda Ananda to form a team of guest editors.  They agreed and asked for more time to prepare the issue.  So now a special issue of Deep Times will come out in August dedicated to this broad theme.

In This Issue

In Evolving Edge and elsewhere, the current issue has several articles addressing social justice/anti-racism challenges, and the Resources section offers a list of videos, articles, and books centered on the colonization and oppression of the Indigenous People of Turtle Island over the last 525 years through today.

Other articles in this May issue report on how the Work That Reconnects is contributing to the Great Turning in Colombia, Italy, and Japan, and how the Work is being shaped by local cultures there.  In an engrossing interview, Lisa Siegel catches us up with Deep Ecologist John Seed in Australia.  You can also learn about Maori efforts in Aotearoa (New Zealand) for legal recognition of lands and rivers as living entities with equal value to that of humans.  There is a report on the Nuclear Guardianship project at the Rocky Flats Nuclear Site in Colorado. In the Resources section, Gretchen Sleicher shares how the gift of music enriches the Work That Reconnects, and you’ll find reviews of  Jim Tull’s Positive Thinking in a Dark Age, and Trebbe Johnson’s 101 Ways to Make Guerilla Beauty.

Essays of a philosophical nature explore gratitude, “ecopsychic energy,” the power of presence, our need today to dream “impossible dreams,” and the challenge of these “Kairos” times to our communities.  Reflections on the retreat that Joanna Macy led in New Mexico in January 2017, appear here and here.  Our Network section also offers the history of Interhelp (our fiscal sponsor and sibling Network on the East Coast), an appeal for financial support for the Russian organization Viola, and an announcement of two parallel Facilitator Development Programs in planning.

Throughout there is heart-felt poetry of beauty and wisdom.

In short, you will find great riches here to inspire and inform you. Enjoy!  Please consider how you might contribute to future issues of Deep Times, with articles, interviews, poetry, essays, photography and artwork.  Our next regular issue will come out in November; please submit material by the end of September to allow plenty of time for editing and publication.  Send all submissions to deeptimes@wtrjournal.wpenginepowered.com.