« Last Night at the Catholic Worker House »

Last night I went to the Catholic Worker House in San Diego, not for a soup supper, but to give a presentation and lead conversation at their monthly Roundtable. These Roundtable discussions carry on the legacy of the Catholic Worker whose origins (dating to 1933, the Depression years) nclude, not only a welcoming hospitality for all comers, but also gatherings for intellectual conversation. “Hospitality” means food and lodging, but it also means welcoming edgy thinking. In these two emphases, founders Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin were most capable colleagues.

The Roundtables raise issues that bite into the stories and explanations given by society’s powers that be to justify what they do and their right to be in charge. Catholic Workers, inhabiting the world of those that come out on the short end of all that works for those in charge, have a consciousness well-honed to peer behind the well-spun scripts of the privileged.

Not surprising then that as I spoke about OneEarth consciousness, contrasting it to the ruling MultiEarth consciousness of human civilization, the ears, minds, and hearts of all attendees were open and engaged. As we were leaving, one man said, “I came empty-handed and I’m leaving the same way. Except that I’ve acquired knowledge.” Such a result fulfills the intentions of a Roundtable.

Catholic Workers everywhere have been practicing many OneEarth ways throughout their history without calling them that. Last night we talked about how to practice them today. The OneEarth worldview gives all of us a large, transformative view within which we can see our daily choices connected to the big movement for positive change. Having a big view assures us that our actions are never too small, never too local. Everyone of them is connected to the liberating transformation that the OneEarth view holds out for all of us to connect to.

When the Catholic Worker Movement has lived its mission well, the workers connect the dots effectively for transformation to the Earth-sized living we’re scrambling for today. Last night, I think we lived that mission.