As we surge through these last frantic days before Oct. 24, there have been moments when we’ve reconnected with the roots of this work. I had a couple of them this weekend, in the American state of Massachusetts where I grew up.
On Saturday, I gave a keynote address at the annual conference of the Schumacher Society in Stockbridge. The Society was built to carry on the work of that great ecological and economic pioneer, E.F. Schumacher of Small is Beautiful fame. They do amazing work–their Berkshares local currency has circulated more than 2.5 million dollars, for instance. And they work closely with the wonderful folks at the New Economics Foundation in London, who are coordinating one of the big actions along the Thames. Anyway, it felt good to feel E.F. Schumacher watching over our shoulder.
And on Sunday, I spoke at two of the oldest churches in North America–First Parish Congregational in Cambridge, and Memorial Church in Harvard Yard. A big gathering of clergy from many faith traditions came along–for singing, for prayer, for joyful organizing. It was just the kind of powerful push we needed to energize us for the final hectic week!