Enabling breathing

Whitsun is the festival of communication and of the proximity of the spirit. Whitsun reminds us that what lives in the heart can be understood in all languages.

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This year Whitsun was celebrated at a time when people across the world were troubled: about the earth and its climate, Covid-19 as a viral infection, the lockdown of society, but also about the suffering and anger provoked by the newly evident inhumanity and brutality of racism and discrimination. Environmental pollution, sickness, poverty and widespread violence make breathing impossible – even to the point of death.

Active interest in others

Where can we draw strength from so that we can communicate what lives in our hearts; so that spirit-presence can become the presence of humaneness, that the spirit can live in and open our hearts to nature, animals and to our fellow human beings?

But we also witness profound humanity everywhere in the world. The experience of others does not remain outside of us, it touches and concerns us. Where solidarity embraces the globe, a protective layer of warmth is generated that enables us to breathe again. Many people are busy helping their neighbours, helping those whom, even if they live on other continents and speak other languages, they understand due to their shared humanity. A concrete Whitsun experience is possible – in anthroposophical institutions and organizations, too, as we hear from members and friends in many places around the world. Comprehensibility, communication and active interest in others have become a daily necessity during this time – they enable a dignified life and allow us to breathe.

Awareness and exchange

In an endeavour to address some of the questions arising from the Corona crisis, the Goetheanum Leadership has collected thoughts and inspirations from the various Sections of the School of Spiritual Science and published them in a book of which an English edition is due in August 2020. We send warm greetings to the members from our June Leadership retreat and from the video conference with the country representatives on 8 June that made it possible for us to be aware of each other and share our thoughts on the current situation across the world.

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