“It really boils down to this: that all life is interrelated.
We are all caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
Larry and John Crockett met the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on April 22, 1967 and have chosen to honor that meeting with this day of conversation exactly 50 years later.
On April 4, 1967, Dr. King delivered a speech forcefully condemning the Vietnam war in which he called for a moral revolution in America that would change its heart and soul.
Join us for a day of dialogue and conversation informed by John's work in contemplative ecology - a perspective rooted in attention to the natural world - and Larry's grounding in biblical faith traditions. We will consider the need for a spiritual revolution
in our own time, a change of
heart and mind required to restore balance in our relationships
with the Earth.
We will post additional information here as we develop the details of the day. We are currently planning the morning to be primarily a dialogue between Larry and John, a pubic version of a conversation we have been having for many years. In the early afternoon we plan to take solo time outside on the retreat center land, listening, reflecting, attending to the spring activity of the creatures. Then we will reconvene for an open conversation.
Several of John's essays are relevant to this conversation, including Repent!, Metanoia, In Wildness Is Our Salvation and Introduction to Contemplative Ecology.
All are welcome regardless of religious or spiritual background. We recommend comfort with sitting outside in silence and with addressing the challenging issues of ecological distress.
For directions, please visit the Hallelujah Farm website.
Participation is by donation.
Donations help cover the cost of lunch and use of this lovely space.
Please contribute on the day of the retreat at a level that is comfortable for you.
Please contact John at the address below if you have any questions.
info@naturalcontemplative.com
Presenters:
John Crockett
is a writer, musician, and nature sound recordist who is inspired
by the voices of the Earth. He began to develop contemplative ecology in 1995, when he had a close encounter with a fin whale in the Bay of Fundy. He has studied the vocal communication
of humpback whales, songbirds and gray seals. He and his partner,
Cynthia Hughes, formed the musical duo Coracle
in 2005, which blends Celtic harp, cello, Irish whistles and natural
soundscape recordings to create programs of Celtic and original
music inspired by the land and the sea and their creatures. He has been engaged with contemplative and meditative
practices for more than 35 years. John
has worked with the Whale Conservation Institute/Ocean Alliance,
the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, Massachusetts Audubon
Society and the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch University
New England. He lives in Westminster, Vermont
Larrimore Crockett will soon celebrate 60 years
as an ordained minister of the United Church of Christ. In addition to
having been a parish minister in Dummerston and Guilford, Vermont, he has been a
college chaplain, a biblical scholar and a professor of religion and
ethics. Over time, his religious faith has evolved, and today he is
seeking to understand it anew in the face of an urgent ecological
crisis. For many years he has enjoyed singing in several choruses and
living in a house on the side of Black Mountain where he can be in the
woods and bring in wood for the stove.