I love that this gathering is described as festival of Justice, Spirituality, Music & Art. As an attorney, I work in a world where my innate sense of justice daily collides with the system we’ve invented to try and serve Justice. Thus, I am drawn to this gathering by the inclusion of “Justice” in the circle of attention. I am also drawn by the wedding of Justice to Spirituality, Music & Art.
David Whyte has said, “A poet’s work is all about creating a language that is big enough to represent both the world you inhabit and the next, larger world that awaits you.” Music, Art and Spirituality also open doors and windows in our perceptions. They connect us experientially — often wordlessly — to one another and to our deeper sense of Justice, Truth, Wisdom and Love. What better way to approach the larger questions and the world of possibilities that await?
Great Questions And the Larger World That Awaits Us
What would you answer if asked for your working definition of ‘Justice’?
As with concepts like ‘Truth’ and ‘Love’ – we are at a loss to adequately define ‘Justice’ because the experience transcends words. If the question is unanswerable, then what is the point of asking it? The unanswerable questions are worth asking because considering them leads us to deeper understanding of our own, unexamined beliefs and assumptions.
Meaningful social change must be rooted in integrity and I believe that integrity grows from self-awareness, honesty and humility. It requires conscious attention to our underlying beliefs, to our assumptions about ourselves, about how the world works, and about our place in the world, and it requires clarity about what we desire and why we desire it. It requires deep and faithful questioning.
Spirituality, art, music, poetry and dance offer deeper language for our explorations. Our questioning becomes more robust and wholesome when it reaches beyond logical discourse into the mysterious realms of spiritual experience and artistic creation
The Call of the Wild Goose Festival
“Great questions never settle to sleep inside answers. The question can open and come alive at any moment . . .” – John O’Donohue*
I look forward eagerly to the Wild Goose Festival as a chance to gather in community and together expand our exploration of the urgent questions of Justice and Spirituality; to share our experiences as we walk the paths our questions illuminate; to examine our heretofore unexamined assumptions; and to challenge our beliefs about our world, our power, our contributions, our callings; and to go forth from there with greater integrity and courage.
* John O’Donohue, Towards a Poetics of Possiblity, Dublin Centre for the Study of the Platonic Tradition – Platonic Centre Pamphlets: 1 (2007)p. 13
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