A Climate Reflection, by Karen Ribeiro
This morning during meditation with my regular weekly sangha, we read an excerpt of For a Future to be Possible by Thich Nhat Hanh. A couple of key things Thay writes stood out: (1) the honest expression of not knowing solutions to the very difficult challenges we face, but always willing to “learn ways” together (as part of the practice of following the Five Mindfulness Trainings, and (2) the reality that we are all “leaky vessels” (as part of an explanation of how meditation training, concentration, and insight bring stability to the mind-body-spirit).
Because Mothers Out Front has been working on the gas leaks campaign this sense of being leaky really spoke to me today. We have a recent “win” to celebrate, which is that National Grid executives have “enthusiastically agreed to join our coalition with Eversource and Columbia Gas to identify and fix super emitters—gusher gas leaks that are emitting the most methane. Here we are “learning ways” together.
But what stands out most to me today, is the collaborative spirit that has been growing over the past few years with Mothers Out Front in the Pioneer Valley — it is so rich and alive! We have a Green Buildings team working on enthusiastically raising awareness among Amherst planners and developers; We have a KidPower team working on climate education and an upcoming toy swap; We are building a Light Up the Map campaign to engage bottleneck districts in Massachusetts; and We are enthusiastically rallying together to help facilitate a variety of climate-action discussion groups at the upcoming Climate Action in a Time of Crisis forum on January 28th.
If anyone is interested in getting involved, we are on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/groups/MothersOutFront.PV/ and Twitter @MOFpv , we Blog https://mothersoutfront.wordpress.com/, and have a Light Up the Map www.lightupthemap.com and a main web page mofpioneervalley.nationbuilder.com/.
Wishing all peace and continuation into the future.