Being Human in the 21st Century: Towards New Thinking

from being human - Winter 2011

by Anthroposophical Society in America

Poem: Thinking About Thinking

A Camphill Sponsored Symposium at Camphill Village Kimberton Hills April 26-29, 2011

What can we bring to the table when faced with the huge challenges 21st century life on earth present? Camphill recently celebrated its 50th anniversary in North America. A symposium, held in April in Camphill Village Kimberton Hills, incorporated short presentations from a range of speakers, conversation, and potent artistic activity. Camphills integrate three primary fields—disabilities, social renewal, and agriculture—but for this symposium the engaging question was how we need to understand and to be human in the 21st century.

Richard Neal introduced the symposium by noting three soul qualities that Rudolf Steiner said would be developing at this time: soul unease if there was suffering anywhere, the possibility to see the hidden divine in every human being, and developing capacities to reach spirit through thinking. And he reminded us that if we are not aware and working on developing these qualities, their shadow sides would challenge our humanity. Steven Usher urged us to recognize that we are still becoming human—not yet finished— and suggested ways to find our true humanity.

Three presenters, philosophers and social scientists, have had their lives changed and thinking deepened by relationshipswith family members with disabilities. Eva Kittay’s quest is to realign philosophy with the refined, subtle insights emanating from experiences of the heart. She challenges academic philosophers to come to know people whom they might categorize as “subhuman” in order to more fully grasp what it is to be human. Sophia Wong seeks as a philosopher to discover what our core values are and whether we are structuring our society to reflect them. If not, what would be new structures? She suggests our duties of justice to citizens with cognitive disabilities. Through the image of a “time capsule,” she brought an appreciation of silence and presence. Can we acknowledge to the inhabitants of the 22nd century that we “did as well as we could with what we knew”?

**Opening segments of the conference were from he top) Richard Neal of Camphill Association of North America, and**

**and Shelley Burtt of Camphill Foundation, and**

**Coleman Lyles of Camphill Communities California**

Shelley Burtt asked us to consider that we need our society to be fully inclusive—even before birth—of people with so-called disabilities. She asked us to challenge our ideas about what is “normal,” to develop a reluctance to “pathologize,” and to foster openness to human experience different from our own, all while making social, economic and political changes to enable care for those who need it and for their caregivers. She encouraged a culture of acceptance that can help us learn important lessons from those we sometimes now dismiss.

Judith Snow, herself completely dependent on caregivers, is a brilliant advocate for people whose needs are atypical. She urged us to choreograph our lives and tell and listen to the many stories we have. She said that what Camphill has to offer needs to be widely shared, and she acknowledged that the Christian metaphor gives her, personally, huge and important resources.

Eugene Schwartz asked us to recognize the challenges of this time. There is both the issue of good and evil, and the incarnation of many souls who have come to face these important challenges. Many of them may feel out of place (and perhaps mentally ill) because of incarnating out of their own time sequence, and many have helped develop the situation (and technologies) as they were coming to earth.

Environmentalist Barton Kirk (SEEDS) and activist businessman and community organizer Tom Sterns (High Mowing Seeds) brought perspectives on the essential cooperative human, social, and environmental changes we need now and can be inspired by. Their experiences as initiators of change—one in the inner city of Pittsburg, and the other in rural Vermont—gave examples both of the strength individuals need and the power of cooperative community. Their work in highlighting environmental needs and issues resonated with work being done in Camphill. Both stressed “starting local” and encouraging youth involvement.

**10 • being humanCamphill Village Kimberton Hills, site of the conference.**

**Camphill Café: organic, local, and delicious!**

Dan McKanan brought forward the history of challenges to dignity in our civilization: concentrated power, unequal progress, and ecological collapse. He spoke of how the Camphill impulse has worked to address these through sharing power, working to transcend categories, and placing ourselves in nature rather than in opposition to it. He encouraged us to follow through on commitments to diversity, social renewal, and a spirit-imbued relationship with nature.

The thoughts swirling throughout the conference were warmed by the atmosphere of Camphill Kimberton Hills and deepened through the arts, as small groups of participants, including the presenters, became painters, poets, speakers, eurythmists, musicians, and, yes, clowns.

What was developed during the Symposium? We could recognize that we have been “born to face” our challenges and it enhanced our longing to give this time on earth its significance. It gave us experiences that would continue to add insight: the warm and transforming power of community, active endeavors to create enlightening human experiences through the arts, and a living fabric woven by diverse human experiences and thought.

From the final plenum session

“I think we can rest assured that in the stream of time what we have done here will make a difference, the thought that we have thought, the process that we have been through.” Coleman Lyles

“Exploring the choreography of storytelling... The power of the will can be released through exploration of rhythm...so that the person has the power without being told what to do... I don’t think you know how resourceful you can be with each other.” Judith Snow

“The practice of taking care of one another. If there is something to being human [one observation is] that we are the only great ape capable of shared care-giving... Finding new ways of caring for each other, caring for the Earth... The possibility of finding our full humanity...is in this practice of caring for one another in imaginative and innovative ways. That’s what I came to.” Eva Kittay

“I had prepared very carefully for the other remarks I made here. But I think because of taking the clowning workshop, I realized that sometimes it is interesting just to come and see what happens... So what came to me is a song that I love, and you can join in if you like. ‘What wondrous love is this, in my soul, in my soul?’” Sophia Wong

“Most intentional communities turn to compost by the time they are fifty or seventy-five years old... Those like Camphill that don’t pull together and tell their stories... When the Shakers were about fifty years old, they started listening to their young people in a new way. Spirit messengers began coming to the young people... and that generated new life and new vitality... Karl Koenig said that he was trying to preserve a kernel of that true European spirit that was so buffeted by fascism and by war. And you’ve done that. And now it might be time to go to the places that have been asking, how can the true American spirit be preserved after sloughing off empire, the oil economy, all the things that have dampened down the true mission of America.” Dan McKanan

“Understanding that what has been so successful about the Camphill community here is the interdependency, the acceptance, I guess the flow that occurs between acknowledging the need, and the sharing that occurs across [so many levels]... On a human level here there has been such great success sharing that interdependency. What perhaps Dan was suggesting was moving that to a broader community level.” Barton Kirk

“I’ve had many remarkable conversations and heard many remarkable stories... Judith told me, you must share this... these three stories” of encounters of human beings in despair with the etheric Christ. Steve Usher

“I understand that Rudolf Steiner said that after 72 years... an organization, a corporation, like a human being, dies in a certain way... There is something that changes profoundly... every new friendship, every new experience we have after 72 is already moving into a new lifetime.” Eugene Schwartz

“Our biggest export is inspiration... Stories need to be told because the inspiration then leads to action. If we know that there is something wrong but we aren’t hearing stories about bringing a solution to that, at least an inklin of hope, then the inspiration that leads to action is a lot harder to manifest... Camphill is a seed... Be that seed that makes 10,000, 50,000, 100,000 more of yourself. Don’t be so quiet.” Tom Stearns

Comments on the Symposium

Ruth Tchannan: “It is the individual, the human being, which shone through in every contribution... On a personal note: ‘I have felt Karl Koenig closer than ever. I feel he is knocking on the hearts and doors of all of us to be open minded and ready to face new tasks coming towards us.’”

Dan McKanan: “It was exciting to see thoughtful, intelligent people encountering Camphill for the first time, and also exciting to be in dialogue with people who have decades of experience with Camphill. I am grateful for this model of the right way to engage the whole person in a conference.”

Steven Usher: “The diversity of speakers and moral tenor of all the presentations moved me deeply. The audience was remarkably receptive and in tune with the theme.”

Professor P. Cushing: “I thought what you crafted in this gathering was brave and thoughtful.”

Sophia Wong: “Meeting the residents of Camphill Kimberton Hills, I noticed people’s personalities and was able to interact with everyone without stumbling over the presence (or lack) of developmental disabilities. This is a rare and valuable experience that I wish urban residents could experience somehow.”