Remembering September 11th
I began a serious in-depth reading of the great philosopher, Rudolf Steiner after living through the horrific day of September 11th in New York City. From the hundreds of lectures and books that he wrote, he held to the importance of the little word “interest.” He stressed that we must seek balance, in all ways of thinking, between two extremes. “Though apathy the world loses us, through blind passion we surrender ourselves to the world.” He emphasized that “Through healthy interest we keep firmly to the mean, the state of balance.” For Steiner, the little word “interest” contains a moral impulse.
In the midst of that awful chaos which was so strongly imprinted in my memory, I understood, more than ever before, that we need to stay interested in and protect what has been given to us as a gifts from a Creator. These gifts are in each “kingdom” of life, in the minerals, the plants, the animals and in the humans. To keep destroying these gifts is to lose interest in life. To be indifferent to their misuse, which often comes from our false sense of “ownership,” is to create situations that lets these gifts be violated. Either extreme demands that we eventually reach a healing for what we have done. We may say that there are no consequences for our actions, but we know better.
I remember September 11th as a reason to cherish all life. Extending ourselves to others, and to what is around us, extending our genuine interest to every facet of life is part of the lesson of September 11th.
I invite you to come and join us in Black River Park (off Dunkley Avenue) this coming Sunday, September 17th, in the Second Community Walk. It is a chance for us to come together, to walk together, and to talk together. The walk will go through the public lands we commonly own including part of the wetland nearby. Join us as we consider how our stewardship of the land might create a renewed interest in it while looking at how the land might be maintained as public lands in public hands.
I also invite you to the short CPA meeting tonight, at 6pm, at the South Haven Public library, if you can make it. As many want to attend the 7pm meeting on public safety at LMC, we will not run over 45 minutes so you’ll have enough time to get there too.
