The Shakertown Pledge – Are You in?
Author: Angela CraigAlmost forty years ago, a small group of people, moved my the global poverty-ecology crisis they saw around them, joined together at the site of a Shaker Village near Harrodsburg, Kentucky to make a covenant that they would share what they had with others and work towards a world of equality and one of social justice.
Here is the pledge in its entirety:
Recognizing that Earth and the fullness thereof is a gift from our gracious God, and that we are called to cherish, nurture, and provide loving stewardship for Earth’s resources, and recognizing that life itself is a gift, and a call to responsibility, joy, and celebration, I make the following declarations:
- I declare myself a world citizen.
- I commit myself to lead an ecologically sound life.
- I commit myself to lead a life of creative simplicity and to share my personal wealth with the world’s poor.
- I commit myself to join with others in the reshaping of institutions in order to bring about a more just global society in which all people have full access to the needed resources for their physical, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual growth.
- I commit myself to occupational accountability, and so doing I will seek to avoid the creation of products which cause harm to others.
- I affirm the gift of my body and commit myself to its proper nourishment and physical wellbeing.
- I commit myself to examine continually my relations with others and to attempt to relate honestly, morally, and lovingly to those around me.
- I commit myself to personal renewal through prayer, meditation, and study.
- I commit myself to responsible participation in a community of faith.
Imagine how different our world would be if every person who read this pledge would commit to it verbally and act upon it by whatever means God has given him or her?
I can envision this world, can’t you?