When values collide

My values have changed a LOT throughout my life time.  Prior to 2001, my values dictated that it was okay to walk over people for money, power and ego.  But that value did not serve me and nearly destroyed me in the process.  That recovery process involved changing my thoughts, way of seeing life and relationships.  But what it did is fundamentally changed my value system.  

I no longer value money, power or ego.  Instead I value relationships, peace and love.  That shift in my internal value structure had a foundational impact on the way I value others in my life.  I want to drag an idea that I shared in my last post when I was talking about trees.

I find a tree.  As it stands there it has value to me as it is a spiritual being working in a symbiotic relationship with me and its environment.  It provides me with air to breath and other intrinsic benefits by it being alive.  I also have needs which requires that I look within my environment for things that will meet those needs.  If I honour the tree, ask it for permission and provide an offering, I may be able to cut down that tree, haul it to my yard, cut it up to make lumber and firewood.  The work that I did added value to me as now I can use that wood to heat my home or build other things that I need like furniture, shelter, etc.  My effort and work is added to the original value of the tree to compensate the loss of value that resulted in me taking its life in a honourable, respectful way. 

To me, the value of that tree is complex and vast.  While the tree is alive, I can also harvest its leaves as they fall to the ground so that I have carbon for our compost humanure pail.  Its leaves also have certain medicinal properties depending on the type of tree.  Its bark also has benefits as well or perhaps I can tap into the tree to harvest its sap in the spring.  The tree also has complex relationships with everything around it, including all the animals that also depend on it.  Those plants and animals have values too and they are very different from ours.

But there are others that only see the economic value of the tree.  They see how much money they can get by harvesting that tree.  So they go into the commons to harvest as much trees as they can.  They clear cut vast swaths of forest in order to fill their trucks and process all those raw materials.  They don't value anything else on the land.  They fail to see the relationships, connections and dependencies with all the other life forms.  These people value jobs and the economy which symbolizes just how dependent they are on their feudal master to provide for their own needs, wants and desires.  If they cannot make money off of anything else, it holds no value and can be destroyed.

What happens when these two values collide?  Those who value economics and jobs also value the use of coercion and force to ensure that they get their way.  We see this time and again when we explore our news feeds and see the struggle between the indigenous peoples and the corporate empire.  The polarity of values is vast and wide between these groups of people.  Millions more are stuck sitting on the fence, afraid to commit to one value system over another.  They work hard to support both but end up serving their own master to have their needs met.

The world is struggling between two fundamental value systems.  On one side is where relationships with ALL life, peace and love is value.  On the other side, money, power and control are valued, with little regard for the impacts their actions have on others.  Their justification is jobs, economy, finances and other constructs of their fictional domain.

If we are going to save this planet and ourselves, we must focus on helping to heal those who have wandered off the path of spirit, peace and love.  Yes, I am blatantly stating that those who rape and pillage Mother Earth AND those who support them through purchasing of their products and consumerism, are themselves, far off the path.  

All life on this planet is our brothers and sisters.  They all are formed from spirit and have a spirit of their own.  Some of them even have conscious awareness.  They are self aware and we treat them like commodities, to be harvested, exploited and discarded.  

When I shifted my value system, my new values demanded that I change how I live, how I interact with other people and how I step gently on Mother Earth.  My value system demands that I not remain silent or else I am complicit in the actions or inaction of others.  

"It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." - Matthew 19:24  

This war between value systems is best reflected with this one passage.  We are not here on Mother Earth to learn how to harvest with ultimate efficiency, to gain wealth, power or control over others.  We are here on Mother Earth to learn how to interact, integrate and learn how to steward that which is not ours.  We are here to heal ourselves in the process, to love and care for others and self.  

We are being confronted with a choice.  What we choose will determine whether we find our way back home or return for another journey here on this physical realm.  - White Walking Feather

The consequences of that choice are profound and life altering.  My wife and I decided that this is our last trip on this physical realm.  We decided that we would forgo the colonial value system and do everything we can to embrace a value system that supports life and healthy relationships instead.  We both work hard to decolonize our minds and heart so that we can embrace the Great Spirit, our own Spirit and the Spirit of others, no matter what form they may take.  

We recognize and acknowledge that our value system frustrates the value systems of others as our value system is rooted in a duty to protect all Spiritual beings on this planet, while their value system does not recognize any of that and they just see money.  Those with the colonial value system will soon experience heart ache and pain as their system will soon collapse and when it does, those that value life will be there to help. But that help won't be what they expect.  That help will demand that they heal from their old, destructive, colonial ways and embrace a value system that can sustain itself for thousands upon thousands of years.  

So the choice is yours.  You can start the transition now and do it on your own terms, or you can wait until the colonial system comes crashing down and do it on somebody else terms.  

Changing value systems

I will admit, that this is most likely the most difficult thing anybody could ever do.  To make a leap like this requires a complete surrender to the old values and an openness to explore a new set of values.  I refused to do this for many years and it required a life and death crises in order for me to choose change.  I was confronted with a choice:

Change or die!

I chose change and it saved my life.  I believe that the world as a whole will go through a similar choice.  Yes, that will require that the world as a whole enter into a situation where they all face the same choice.  Imagine 7+ billion people facing that choice at the same time?  Wow, talk about energy shifting!

The majority will need that type of incentive to consider the errors of how we live on this planet and with each other.  I stand prepared to be in service to those who decide to work on shifting their value system.  The value system I chose was love and the implications of that choice ring throughout all aspects of my life.  I grounded that value system in a simple commandment.

love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. - Matthew 22:37

 love thy neighbour as thyself. - Matthew 22:39

This physical realm is formed by spirit and as such I must find a way to love, cherish, appreciate, honour and learn about all that is physical.  I must also recognize that my neighbour does not necessarily mean just other humans.  Every plant, animal, stone, rain drop and breeze is also my neighbour.  How can I denigrate, rape, pillage, disrespect, belittle, dismiss or engage in profit at the cost of my neighbour?  To do so requires a colonial value system, something I will share in my next post.  

Shifting value systems is one of the core reasons why we are here.  Shifting value systems is also the most difficult things any of us can possibly accomplish.  The good news is that there are people on this planet that can help facilitate that process.  

I am involved with several groups of people who have found ways to help facilitate that shift in values.  It is done through spiritually guided retreats where we challenge participants to explore their own heart and spirit mind.  If you are indeed interested in digging deep, then feel free to visit the Goddesses Lair and Lion's Den on Facebook or the new group TribeUp we created in Athabasca.   

These groups of elders and facilitators have found powerful ways of helping people shift through the changes to embrace a new value system.  It requires a lot of work and can only be done with those who are willing and able to do the work.  We have a retreat coming up on March 1-3rd, one for the men and another for the women.  We also hold monthly sacred circles to help support those during their transition.  

Yes, this work does completely turn ones life upside down.  Perhaps a better way to put it:

We help guide people through the process of turning their life right side up again!