Some Inspiring People

Ursula K. Le Guin (1929 -2018)

“The greatest religious problem today is how to be both a mystic and a militant; in other words how to combine the search for an expansion of inner awareness with effective social action, and how to feel one’s true identity in both.”

“The end justifies the means. But what if there never is an end? All we have is means.”

Ursula Le Guin honoured the sacredness of life, writing essays, poetry, novels and short stories that help us see beyond what we might think or expect. She was deeply inspired by the Tao Te Ching and pacifist anarchism, which she saw as remarkably similar. Her radical approach to gender, race, ecology and power is balanced by her deep compassion and profound spiritual presence.

Howard Thurman (1899 - 1981)

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

“There is something in every one of you that waits and listens for the sound of the genuine in yourself.”

Howard Thurman was a mentor to Martin Luther Kings and profoundly influential in the US Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. He was also a theologian, mystic, educator, philosopher, poet, meditator and a man who knew how to listen deeply from the stillness of the heart. He recognized how the teaching of Jesus applied directly to those with “backs against the wall”. A documentary on Thurman, with this as it’s title, was televised in the US in 2019.

Mokichi Okado (1882-1955)

"There is as connection between the simple acts of growing and consuming our food and the larger global problem of cultivating a more peaceful world."

Mokichi Okado was a founding figure in Japanese Natural Farming who recognised the essential importance of our physical, emotional and spiritual connection with the Earth. When modern Western methods of agriculture were brought to Japan, he worked tirelessly to preserve the long held traditions of honouring the sacredness of Nature, of working with the land and of nourishing all beings.

Saint Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179)

"Humankind, full of all creative possibilities, is God’s work. Humankind alone is called to assist God. Humankind is called to co-create. With nature’s help, humankind can set into creation all that is necessary and life-sustaining."

“Even in a world that’s being shipwrecked, remain brave and strong.”

“We shall awaken from our dullness and rise vigorously toward justice. If we fall in love with creation deeper and deeper, we will respond to its endangerment with passion.“

Hildegard of Bingen was an amazing woman of her time. Physician, philosopher, author, composer of music and plays, and visionary, she wasn’t afraid to speak up in response to injustice nor to walk away from a situation that wasn’t healthy. She is a great inspiration to modern day herbalists, ecological and feminist movements and to those of us who feel drawn to a deep connection with God as Nature.