Finding higher meaning in crisis times
I share the belief that there’s a spiritual crisis at the heart of the climate crisis and related issues. Our lives are under threat, and this calls us to look for some higher meaning and purpose which serves the greater good, and goes beyond personal desires.
A sense of meaning and purpose is one of the most basic human needs for wellbeing and even survival (for example, see Victor Frankl’s story). Belief in material progress, technology, benign government, are looking hollow these days, so what could replace them?
I’m aware that the word spiritual alarms some people, perhaps because they think it means organised religion. For me, the spiritual dimension is what unites all forms of life on Earth with each other, and with non-material dimensions (which could be called angelic, fairy, devic…) within divine unity.
So what is divine unity? You could call it love, prana, life force, yin and yang. You could call it Great Mother, Great Spirit, or Allah, God, Yahweh: but here we meet the distortions that patriarchal religions have imposed on original teachings which were egalitarian. I’m simply suggesting that there’s a spiritual energy in all forms of life which connects us and transcends personal wants.
You may wonder how spiritual beliefs help me. I have a sense of solidarity with all life which motivates me to action: I feel that I’m here to be of service to the highest good, and I pray regularly to know how; I have a sense of connection and support with divine presence; I pray for blessings and relief of suffering around the world. For more about my beliefs, plus resources, see www.soulresilience.net.
There’s a view which I share with a lot of my contacts that many people feel a deep spiritual thirst, although most wouldn’t use that language. This may be especially true among young people. The Climate Psychology Alliance helped commission a large international study among 16-25-year-olds which showed that most of them, in a range of cultures across the world, felt despairing about the future, and unheard in their despair.
Spiritual community
The circumstances we all live in are getting rapidly more unstable: they will exceed the capacity of individuals and nuclear households to cope with them. One of my current projects is exploring the creation of a small spiritual community in mid-Wales, helping visitors to find meaning, purpose, and soul resilience: see more here.
I’m not advocating for mass adoption of some spiritual creed, but I do believe that if individuals and small groups deepen their spiritual exploration, and can name hopes and goals for the higher good that many can share, this will strengthen our collective capacity to adapt and grow through the crisis of our times.
Rebecca Solnit’s excellent book, A Paradise Built in Hell, shows how people in emergencies like Hurricane Katrina or 9/11 spontaneously act as caring communities, and not as the looting mobs portrayed in disaster movies. One reason I hope that communities can strengthen now, both spiritually and materially, is in preparation for the emergencies which may well lie ahead for all of us (see my UK Risks Review 2030).
One form of spiritual community where you can explore this idea is intentional, place-based communities. To see more about some of these which have inspired me, read my blog, Nourishing body and soul, reinventing spiritual community, via this link.
See more in the Projects section of this website.