Lead From the Heart

Perhaps it is fitting that I would take two weeks off before making my 100th blog posting. I will confess that these past two weeks have been an exciting and rewarding time for many reasons. Yet each day I have spent time looking within as I observe without. One story caught my attention the other day.

The BBC World Service ran a report on the Bonn Declaration of July 16, 2001. In that declaration the developed nations made a pledge, by 2005, to give developing nations $410M per year to help with climate change. However, according to the BBC report no trace as to how that money was spent was to be found as of 2009. Leaders and politicians 'claimed' they had spent this money. The UN Secretary General went so far as to suggest that trust had been damaged. And through it all no one seems to be able to agree on what exactly happened following this declaration.

One element that stood out for me was the speculation on the part of the reporter, with some fairly damning evidence, that the wording of the declaration had been so vague as to make it an un-enforceable agreement. Forget about the idea of any system of smart measurement, clear infrastructure on how to submit money to such a fund or to make payments. And obviously, any chance of accountability was, if history is any evidence, clearly left out.

I can't help but think that the answer to all such calamities lies in the human heart. As we come to exercise our power to reflect we must look about and see the magnificence of all that is, and stand meekly before it. We are not talking about "climate change" - we are really talking about the manner in which we respect mother earth and hold her precious in our hearts. And just maybe we will come to a place where the challenge is seeing where there are no miracles. With such a vision we will finally understand what it is to be responsible. We will view terms such as "climate change" as hollow, and our hearts will be drawn to know the truth of all that sustains our physical bodies.

I can only imagine that in the days leading up to July 16th 2001 that leaders and politicians sat in luxury hotel rooms in Bonn 'negotiating' climate change, wrestling with how to find a way forward that wouldn't leave them hamstrung by their opposition parties upon their return home. As it was once said, "a leader is a person who has an unusual degree of power to create the conditions under which other people must live and move and have their being - conditions that can either be as illuminating as heaven or as shadowy as hell."

In the end the only meaningful answer I can offer is to know that those that are called to lead do so from the heart: That they are called to project a spirit of light. But perhaps the bumper sticker, "Think globally, act locally" is more relevant to the rest of us. What are we doing individually? For my part, I no longer eat meat. Apparently, cows are the biggest contributors of methane (and greenhouse) gases on the planet. Both the cars we own are hybrids. We use LED lights where possible. I could go on, but even these words are meaningless if I do not carry a caring for the world, something bigger than me, in my heart.

In the end, the movement to think globally must be accompanied by actions locally that come from your heart. When was the last time you contemplated what the words "Climate Change" mean to you? How does your heart feel about this? What are you doing to contribute positively to the nurturing and caring of mother earth? Only when you have answered these questions will you be in a position to look to leaders and the weighty responsibilities they carry upon their shoulders, and offer them advice.

Lead From the Heart
The answer to any calamity,
lies within your heart.
Exercise power to reflect,
stand meekly, not apart.

See the magnificence,
let miracles flood your sight.
Understand what it is,
be responsible, and project light.

Look not to leaders,
or be transfixed by their spin.
Heed the whispers of what matters,
of your heart and what's within.


Copyright (c) 2009, Carmien Owen