The stairway to recovery. An emerging worldview uncovers God's wisdom in nature

What is lacking for the renewal of the earth is not so much ethical consensus as political will. The myth of "man" as the self-sufficient and autonomous master of "inanimate" nature has been ingrained for centuries, and it will take a powerful force to dislodge it. However, we are in a unique period of convergence--a time when we might be transformed by the truth if we only seek it. This new spiritual awakening represents a conscious commitment to a common cause that lies beyond individual self-interest. The commitment has been kindled by a perception that we are creatures intimately connected with the rest of creation and to the power that has called us into being. And it is a commitment carried out in action through a disciplined way of life. If we want to heal the earth, we have to get better ourselves, because it is the way we think and live and act that is harming the earth. We have much to learn from participants in Alcoholics Anonymous, who have learned the secret of proclaiming the good news by doing it, one step at a time, by living it, day by day. The first step is acknowledgment that, as a society--indeed, as the human race-we are at the bottom and cannot get back up. Once we admit we have hit the bottom, there is hope for the environment because we have taken the first step to recovery.