Perhaps the most astounding thing for me thus far, however, is the realization that the official languages may vary from country to country but the native language of rural life and ministry spans across the globe with astonishing similarities. The impact of NIMBY (not in my backyard) strikes so many of us across the developed and developing world. Further, the value of rural life in terms of tradition, family and community is a common song of joy for so many of us attending the session.
The sacrifice of material wealth is more than offset by the choice—yes the choice—to live where the pace is slower, the family is at the center of life, and the value of community remains intact. If only the NIMBY principle did not mean that those industries and practices that are the most devastating to the visual, mental and physical health of people were not always destined for rural locales. Not only are the rural locales the locations for nuclear plants, alternative energy testing, and the mining of energy sources that keep the world “running,” but we rural dwellers are also the most dependent on the products of these efforts, with limited access to public and lost-cost transportation. Not to mention the fact that it is our land, water and air that tends to be the most subject to violation by corporations .
But the humility and confident choice to choose the rural life ring through the songs of my sisters and brothers here at the CSW meetings, echoing much of what I hear and see through my sisters and brothers back home, in Western Maryland. Funny that I had to travel all the way to the United Nations to find myself “back home” with people just like me!
Theresa
