Sustainability Minute
Approved August 11, 2007
We of Adelphi Monthly Meeting of the Religious
Society of Friends recognize that the earth
community is in an increasingly visible crisis.
There is a decline of world resources and
biological diversity, and an increase of
toxic contaminants in our soil, air, and
water. Human induced climate change is having
catastrophic consequences for many species
of life and threatens the future capacity
of some of the most populated areas of earth
to support human life. Irresponsible and
short-sighted patterns of energy consumption
for homes, transportation, commerce, and
food production are rampant. These practices
are not in accord with good stewardship,
which calls for us to care for, protect,
and preserve the earth. Industrial production,
over-consumption, and wasteful living patterns
are at dangerous and unsustainable levels.
These are not in accord with our testimony
of simplicity. The disparity in right sharing
among people continues to grow. This is not
in accord with our testimony of equality.
Overuse and misuse of world resources is
an increasing cause of war which is not in
accord with our testimony of peace. These
and other practices are urgently in need
of re-examination and change. As we search
for the root of these problems, we recognize
that living in harmony with creation is first
and foremost a spiritual issue.
- As a first step, we affirm that all beings
and elements, beyond humans alone, are a
part of the web of life. We further observe
that all of our actions resonate throughout
the symphony of creation, flowing through
space and time. We affirm that our spiritual
lives are enriched when we experience ourselves
as being an integral part of creation.
- With this spiritual grounding, we are called
to walk more gently on this earth and to
live more sustainably. This involves using
resources wisely, increasing biological diversity,
health and wellness, finding balance between
human and other life, farming for current
and future generations, and designing our
human culture to support life on earth. At
a minimum, sustainability requires our using
renewable resources no faster than they can
be replaced, replacing the use of non-renewable
resources with renewable alternatives, and
releasing pollutants no faster than they
can be recycled by nature.
- We minute our commitment to live more sustainably
personally, in our families and neighborhoods,
at our workplaces, and within our Meeting
community. We will learn, speak, and act
as individuals, families, and as a religious
community, for the cause of sustainability.
- We will work individually and through our
committees to find ways that our Meeting's
spiritual life, pastoral life, educational
life, and physical life can increasingly
reflect awareness of and respect for the
spiritual interconnectedness of all beings
in the web of creation.
- We will develop a greater "sense of
place" where we live, travel, work,
play, and worship by strengthening our local
communities and economies, and by becoming
more familiar with our local natural areas
and history.
- We will stay informed about the effects of
climate change and overuse of world resources
and will seek policies and programs that
promote right sharing of resources. We will
seek to prevent suffering on the part of
people and other earth mates affected by
climate change and destructive human practices.
- We will encourage and join with other spiritual
and social groups outside of Adelphi in similar
action, and we will strive for policy changes
and deep structural changes in our communities,
corporations, and governments.
We take these first steps toward speaking
truth to power, even when it is to ourselves.
We trust that Spirit will lead the way. We
will strive for sustainable lives in order
that all of creation might flourish both
now and long into the future.
(Adapted and revised from a Sustainability
Minute Approved by Ohio Valley Yearly Meeting
August 2, 2002)
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Updated: 09/26/2007