Everyday brings me messages that the work of restoration is becoming increasingly urgent. But what exactly does restoration mean? Why restorative activism and restorative practices? Why bother with all that and not just get on with making the world a better place?

In the original Latin, restore means “to make firm again.” As I see it, we need firming up for two main reasons. The first is that we have all been wounded by industrial society and its life-denying worldview (which includes the belief in separateness). The second is that things are going to get more and more crazy and violent and those of us who care about creating life-affirming alternatives will need all the restoration and resilience we can get.

The issue of woundedness has much to do with the splits created by industrialized society – the mind from the body, the human from nature, humans from each other and from spirit. As the pioneering psychologist William James pointed out: “Most people live, whether physically, intellectually or morally, in a very restricted circle of their potential being. They make use of a very small portion of their possible consciousness…We all have reservoirs of life to draw upon, of which we do not dream.” And Freud famously noted that “man is not even master in his own house…his own mind.” If we think it’s otherwise it only serves to prove the point.

In this post I want to focus on the craziness and violence and why it shouts out for restoration. One of my main motivating factors for committing to the peacemaker path was the belief that as industrial society unravels the potential for serious and widespread violence and other forms of extremism will increase proportionally. Many books could be (and have been) written on this topic. I just want to say a few things here to emphasize the point.

In the past weeks much insanity has been reported. RightWingWatch reported on a column published in the newsletter of the Greene County Republican Committee in Virginia. The column from the newsletter’s editor, Ponch McPhee, warned of the dire consequences of not defeating Obama, and calls Obama an “ideologue unlike anything world history has ever witnessed or recognized.” McPhee concludes that “[fusion_builder_container hundred_percent=”yes” overflow=”visible”][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_size=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”no” center_content=”no” min_height=”none”][W]e shall not have any coarse [sic] but armed revolution should we fail with the power of the vote in November….This Republic cannot survive for 4 more years underneath this political socialist ideologue.”

Shortly after reading about this I was driving through the small Colorado town of Florence and saw a campaign banner for someone running for County commissioner. It read “Clinging to Our Guns and Bibles.” This is a reference to a comment then Senator Obama made on the campaign trail in 2008, referring to certain voters: “And it’s not surprising then that they get bitter, they cling to guns or religion or antipathy to people who aren’t like them or anti-immigrant sentiment or anti-trade sentiment as a way to explain their frustrations.” It’s not surprising because of the woundedness and immaturity that underlies such beliefs.

Then, even more recently, on the three-year anniversary of the murder of Dr. George Tiller (for providing abortions) in Wichita, Kansas, I heard about two recent attacks on women’s clinics along with the latest legislative assaults on women’s reproductive freedom. This was followed by a story about a blatant attempt at voter suppression in Florida. Of course, the list goes on and on.

As activists, as people who must not be afraid to face reality and the relentless stream of challenging situations it brings, we need restoration and restorative practices. We need mindfulness, nature-based practices, interpersonal skills, and ways to connect with purpose and meaning in our lives. The alternative is burn-out and becoming like those who lack life-affirming vision. The work we do to nourish and sustain ourselves is not self-indulgent. On the contrary, it’s increasingly essential.

Let’s face it, it just doesn’t help that much to run around screaming that we’re running out of time or telling everyone for the millionth time how bad things are. What’s needed now is the hard work of creating something different from the ground up, at the community level. In order to contribute productively to that, we need to show up as responsible adults, able to listen and share from the heart, able to “hold our seats” when the going gets tough. Restorative practices are a way to cultivate these qualities.

Keep it movin’

Scott