via “He who allows oppression shares the crime.” — Art of Quotation
Gigi shared a wonderful quote from Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus (known as Erasmus) who was a Catholic priest during the Reformation. He is a humanist and spent little time as a priest and is considered to be a reformer who remained in the church , questioning its abuses. In some ways, he was Thomas Merton (the link is to an article by James Martin, SJ) some 300 years in advance.
I had not read Erasmus before last fall. His works were part of my syllabus for an educational foundations class I taught. I have since purchased a book with his essays and find him refreshing in many ways in today’s context.
When we ignore things that are improper and inhumane, we become complicit. This includes my place in Nature. It is hard to speak in today’s world without fear of being attacked. How I undersgtand the world and my presence in it, is less in terms of polarities and in continous emergence. Even the past holds uncertainties. When I sit and reflect/meditate, I often find phenomena emerge I did not experience in previous moments of reflection/meditation.
It is the same in my reading. I am re-reading Wendell Berry and find so much about how he speaks about Nature can be applied to teaching. We are stewards in this world and this includes stewards for our children and grandchildren. We are not seperate from Nature, even in urban settings. How do we preserve and conserve Nature for our children and grandchildren? Economy comes from the Greek word oikos, meaning household. How do we keep our household in order?
I took this picture in the river valley here in Edmonton. It is a beautiful place to walk and a historic, cultural, and natural gathering place for people and animals as demonstrated by the terns. Not in the picture are the people who gather to walk and sit along the river.
ivonprefontaine
Teacher as Transformer 
Stunning picture.
Thank you Laleh.
My pleasure.
Coming back to thoughtful writings is always valuable. We change and evolve along with the environment we find ourselves in. Thanks Ivon 🙏
You are welcome Val. We change and the environment changes as we interact with it.
Amen. Just published a poem of the same thought!!!
I will go a back to look. I seemed to miss that. It is timely to think about our place in the world.
Timely and beautiful post, Ivon.
Thank you Carrie.
I agree completely. Wonderful post.
Thank you Gigi. It was a wonderful post to build on.
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I reblogged this. Thank you very much.
You are welcome Gigi. When I began to read Erasumus, I was drawn in by his desire to do what is proper, which many in large organizations seem to avoid. It is about self-preservation, as opposed to what is right.
an enjoyable post and definitely a good read
Thank you Matthew.
The university in Rotterdam is called Erasmus University, with good reason.
His work needs to be carried on.
Reblogged this on By the Mighty Mumford and commented:
AND WHOM DO WE TAG AS ALLOWING IT–?
enjoying this reflection
of your inspirational friends 🙂
Thank you
Thank you for this important post, Ivon. I hear you and appreciate what you have written here. Being an earth steward is important to me.There is so so much that worries me about the natural legacy we will leave for our descendants: the enormity of it is scary.
So I find myself rereading the Serenity Prayer and reviewing where I can make an impact: what I can change. Some things depend on governments and industrial leaders. We must find more effective ways of pressuring them significantly while we individuals do our own part.
I agree Cynthia. Some things do depend on governments and corporate leaders in industry and evironmental movement. Making every little difference we can at the local level is essential to perhaps shaming them into doing more and doing what is necessary.
Absolutely agreed on complicity. Also remaining open in the context of understanding … anything at all. Love this. Aloha, Ivon. 🙏🏽
Thank you Bela. When we stand by and tolerate wrong-doing it is wrong.
It is against our own principles, for sure. We are not walking our talk if we stand by or turn our face to the wall.
Great post
Thank you for sharing
Thank you Luisa and you are welcome.