I have spent the last while thinking quite a bit about groups of people moving from “I” language to “we” language. And not only language, but mindset and action. I understand the concept of this and the need, if the group has hope of moving in a common direction and that direction is forward, onward, hie-ing hence into the rising morrow. I get it. And want to be a part of it.
That said, I sometimes have a hard time with the imagery of moving from I to We. At least, the imagery in My head. As I mulled this the other day, I sent a text to a friend:
I totally get the I to We idea…but there is a part of me that keeps thinking about how any We I am a part of is composed of I’s. Before saying We want to be informed by this or that; We want to be inclusive of, learn from… I think the first question is Am I? Do I? How do I? How would others in my We know that I…? And the sum of I’s reflecting on that, moving toward/acting on/ making manifest that desire, creates a perceptible, authentic, more inclusive and open We.

The global sweep of We also makes me feel a bit nervous—as though the whole takes on a single voice irrespective of the compositional pieces thus leaving the pieces, the people, wondering where they are. Giving over to that sweep is a challenging thing for me. By no means do I need to be the only, the Rogue, the single, the correct… However, I need to feel in my “I.”
It was after this that my friend suggested language that she preferred: Moving from Ego to Eco. YES. Yes… Moving from being contained systems of thought, feeling, expression, productivity, breath, sustainability…to a system OF systems…far bigger, far more beautiful, more interconnected, more capable of sustaining each other and supporting/generating new life… Looking to bring facets together to be brilliant in the sun, to spin and turn together, delighting in coming together to make together a more nuanced, more diverse, piece of an infinitely larger whole—In this case, the love of God’s heart.

I took these musings with me as I went on a wander in the rain yesterday. Rain takes on colour depending on where it lands. Tuesday afternoon, it was brilliant pink and green; it was yellow and a different green that itself was a manifestation of chlorophyll’s choreography; it was intensely and simultaneously three shades of purple within the same flower. Each of these unique palettes held aspects of the infinite possibilities of rain. And these are each systems of beauty and pollen production, hosting and providing for unknown numbers of bees, bugs, and critters that nibble. Separately, they are unique and gorgeous. Together, the flowers are a part of the larger ecosystem that goes by the name of Halifax Public Gardens. All of life, bees, bugs, critters, humans, benefit from the good that they serve together.

One of the things that I love about the Gardens is the peace that settles over me when I step through the gate. I go there because it feels as though I am embraced by the totality I am able to take in…by the textures, the colours, the sounds, the life, the scents…all of integrity in and of themselves as well as contributing to the beckoning peace of the whole—a feeling which would not be as nuanced, as rich and deep, as full, without each facet being present and interacting with all others..
Peace has no limit and is as unique a feeling as our own experience of it; So too the Heart of God. What colour is the rain when it lands on me? How do I reveal the love of the Heart of God? How can I bring my unique palette and work together as part of a larger whole so that when someone enters in, when someone encounters the Society, what they meet with is a living, breathing ecosystem of Love.