In tune with the earth - an antidote to rioting?

Two phrases stood out for me of all the words that have been offered about the riots in England this week. They were ‘instant gratification’ and ‘rampant consumerism’. Underneath the shocking outbreak of looting and violence lie deep questions about the society in which this is occurring. There is an enormous challenge looming regarding the relationship of human beings with the earth, yet many live in a meaningless void. Could it be that beginning to live more in tune with the earth could reinvigorate our culture and our community and begin to address the emptiness?

It begins with the little child who never learns to wait. Taking the waiting out of wanting has reached out into almost every aspect of our society. All our needs are now capable of instant gratification. Are you hungry? No need to wait for meal time, just get some fast food. Do you want that new gadget? No need to save up, do it on easy terms. See that lush person over there, no need to court, or romance, you could have them tonight. Want to communicate? No need to write a letter and wait for a reply, send the email or the text and you can do it now. In so many realms of life, instant gratification is now normal. And it means that we never learn to wait.

This cultural development is, of course, no coincidence, nor is it a simple matter of technological advance. It is an inevitable outworking of an economic and political system based on consumerism. Government require us to consume ever more goods and one way to do that is to lift all the constraints around our behaviour and make everything move faster. They want us to borrow and to spend, to buy now and not to wait, because that gets the economy going and allows banks to charge interest on the money they create.

Yet, of course, for us as human beings, and for the planet as a whole this direction is disastrous. We have to reduce consumption dramatically if we are to live at peace with the earth. We have to learn to wait if we are to find peace for our souls. Delayed gratification is one of the keys to the development of good character. As human beings we need some restraint, some waiting, so that we can develop settled behaviour patterns that are not knocked out of kilter by every set back, so that we can learn to empathise with others, so that we can find space to reflect on life.

I am impressed by the simple affect of the seasons on my life now that I am growing much of our own food. Contact with the soil and the sun and the cycle of the seasons gives a rootedness to my soul which might otherwise be off in some hyper-real, screen-based existence. I wonder if contact with the earth, making stuff with our hands, and becoming truly aware of others are not all inextricably linked.

Shalom
Chris

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