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The Wilderness
Way Community seeks a world wherein sharing and sustainability are
the norm and where poverty, violence, and oppression have no
place. This is a world where all living things are set free to
become fully themselves, and at the same time transformed
to be in life-giving relationship with one another. This vision
manifests in many traditions, in many sacred writings. One version
of this vision occurs in the writings of the Hebrew prophet
Isaiah, chapter 11:
Then the wolf will dwell with the lamb,
And
the leopard will like down with the young goat;
The
calf and the lion cub will graze together,
And
a little child will lead them…
There
will be no harm, no destruction
Anywhere
in my holy mountain.
The
Wilderness Way Community seeks to embody the mission of Enough For
Everyone. This mission statement is left intentionally short
and general. “Enough” implies enough of everything needful for
abundant life: food, clothing, rest, work, security, money, time,
solitude, community, and much more. “Everyone” implies human
beings as well as the more-than-human world that surrounds us:
plants and animals, mountains and rivers, the oceans and the
atmosphere and the land itself. This mission has its source in the
natural world and is realized in human life through science,
philosophy, religion, economics, and many other vocational paths.
One story of Enough For Everyone comes
from the Christian Gospel according to the apostle Mark, chapter
6:
When
Jesus went ashore, there was a large crowd waiting for him, and he
felt compassion for them because they were like sheep without a
shepherd. His disciples said, “Dismiss them so they can go and
buy something to eat.”
Jesus
replied, “Give them something to eat yourselves.”
They
answered, “You want us to spend a half a year’s wages on bread
for them to eat?”
“How
many loaves do you have?” Jesus asked.
They
reported back, “Five, and two
fish.”
Jesus
broke the loaves and handed them to the disciples to distribute
among the people. He also passed out the two fish. They all ate
until they had their fill. The disciples gathered up the leftovers
and filled twelve baskets. In all, five thousand families ate that
day.
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