At a certain
point you say
to the woods, to the sea,
to the mountains,
the world,
Now I am ready.
Now I will stop and be wholly attentive.
You empty yourself and wait,
listening...
Annie Dillard
Now that a dollar value has been placed on
global warming, political leaders around the world are beginning to take notice
of a life-threatening problem that scientists have been warning us about for
years. Ken Wilber, an American writer, says that the Earth’s “main problem is
not exterior pollution but interior development, which alone can end exterior
pollution.”
In our schools our understanding of
“interior development” would be captured in our Fifth Goal; Personal Growth
in an Atmosphere of Wise Freedom. This is a life long undertaking for which
RSCJ wish to offer their support wherever they can. Adult spiritual development
was dear to the heart of Madeleine Sophie Barat, it is enshrined in our 1815
Constitutions as the work of retreats.
One hundred and twenty-five years after the first five RSCJ arrived on the shores of Australia, all of us are involved in some way in passing on the spirituality that was their legacy to us. The Dalai Lama’s definition that “Spirituality is something that produces interior transformation in the human being” captures the breadth of our understanding of this term today and echoes the Society’s Constitutions which say - “The Spirit dwelling within us gradually transforms us.”
It is our hope that our alumnae, colleagues and friends will help us to form communities where we can share with each other our journeys of “inner transformation” as we all struggle to find meaning in an increasingly complex world.
Rita H. Carroll rscJ