This Week’s Quotation:
“The evolution of human consciousness has been taking place over millennia. That might create a picture in the mind of a slow, plodding, incremental change, bit by bit. Evolution might be seen as something that is happening to us, not something that is happening in and through us.But when it comes to changes in consciousness, that is not really how it happens. That is probably not how it has happened for you individually in your life, and it is not how it has happened for humanity.The evolution of human consciousness occurs when there is a new paradigm ushered in and nurtured behind the old paradigm that seems to work.”
~Becoming a Sun, p. 312
The Village Is Not Lost
What if the village is one of those new paradigms already being nurtured within and through us?
When I hear the word “village,” I imagine something ancient: elders gathered beneath a tree, children listening, artisans creating, healers tending, and each person offering what is uniquely theirs to bring. Yet, I wonder whether the village was ever primarily a place.
Perhaps it was a way of seeing. A way of remembering that my well-being is connected to yours. That my gift does not stand alone. That none of us was created to carry everything.
We have inherited a culture that often prizes independence, comparison, and personal accomplishment. We quietly exhaust ourselves trying to be the healer, the navigator, the teacher, and the provider all at once.
What if evolution is asking something different of us now?
Not that we abandon our individuality, but that we offer it more fully. Not that we return to an imagined past, but that we nurture a new way of belonging.
The village begins each time we choose curiosity instead of judgment, contribution instead of comparison, and presence instead of performance.
Perhaps the village is not something we have lost.
Perhaps it is something waiting to be remembered through us.
What does it mean to become a sun?
Every human being is already a sun on the inside—a being of intense love and light. The difference is that some people have the vision and courage to become a sun on the outside. This difference is our human destiny.
I like this a lot. “Village” seems to be limited by our communication capabilities — the group with whom we can share experiences and organize. In ancient days, we could talk to the people living right around us, and maybe a few settlements away. Now we can communicate to almost everyone on the planet, and so Earth is our village.
Here we are, even in this moment, building Global Community. Wonderful to BE doing this with you.
Keahi, I love how you describe the village with these words: The village begins each time we choose curiosity instead of judgment, contribution instead of comparison, and presence instead of performance. The village ultimately expands to include the whole body of humanity, and we are leading the way with our own Divine Presence.
Totally agree with what you are pointing to, Jerry. It starts with us and ultimately expands out.
Keahi,
You hit it out of the park! Six word placed in two groups of three, describing how we can be together in a village. Curiosity, contribution and presence or judgement , comparison and performance.
Sandy and I have lived in isolated villages in the NWT of Canada. These villages were places on the map, not always places of the heart.
Expressions of judgement, comparison and performance could sometimes get baked into the culture, more so in the long cold winters.
Curiosity, contribution and presence, if forgotten about, can just disappear like smoke through a hole in the sky.
You have described so clearly and economically the essence of a village. Thank you. Brian
Beautiful Brian. I really can relate. So important to just first recognize what is present Thank-you!
Keahi
I like the image of a village as I experience my family is as a sort of village and the people around me aswell , although everyone is living in different places, we talk we listen and sometimes not communicate very well- work to be done in facing issues. As is being said the House of the Lord has many mansions, and the world is a big House lots to do and to trust that all will be well.
In Love and Truth Irene
I choose curiosity contribution and presence and to acknowledge that in others when I see it and when it is not seemingly there to just allow my body, mind heart & spirit to align to this. To the creation of that village through my capacities to recognize the deepest love more and more deeply within me and bring this to the people in my world. I love this article and this consideration. The village is not lost it is ours to be found and be created through each of us. thank-you Keahi!