A Vision From Our Divine Source

by Jennie Ratcliffe.

Any and all of us who’ve held a vision of transformation grounded in what really sustains us—remembering that we don’t live by bread alone, but by the divine All That Is, that bread is sacred too, and there is no ultimate separation between them—are being called to stand up and hold to our witness and our deepest love during this turbulent time.

No one can pretend that we won’t continue to experience grief, struggle, and despair, that we won’t suffer along with all that is being destroyed and lost. The times are too hard to bear these alone without a spiritual ground and a loving community. Nor can we pretend that the work is easy; it requires collective spirit-led will and wisdom, courage, and endurance.

But it seems that as climate chaos accelerates, the awakening of our dependence on the planet and our kinship with all life is also accelerating.

I believe we are, albeit with much struggle, being led to the next stage of our spiritual and earthly evolution, in which glimpses of a more abundant life- are coming into deeper realization: of sufficiency, of unity and kinship with all, of the primacy of wisdom, joy, love, and peace, as well as bread.

As within, so without, and as our inner vision is clarified, and as we are open to the power and love from our divine Source, so too can our lives and the wider natural world around us be healed, restored, and transformed.

Jennie Ratcliffe wrote this reflection after QEW Communications Coordinator Hayley Hathaway’s workshop “A Vision from 2050” for Durham (NC) Friends Meeting. Jennie writes, “It evoked much of what so many of us yearn for now and in the future, in this age of climate crisis and pandemics and more.” See more at QuakerEarthcare.org/workshops.