Jericho

The time has come, for me – I see
Emerging now as part of me,
To be involved in basic growth
Of culture here, for what it’s worth.

As Geddes said – three layer cake
All cultures are – and years it takes
To change their basic structure, but
The key is bottom layer – tough –

It is when bottom layer shifts –
Like Scottish lands in Highland mists,
When fabric of old life’s ripped up,
And shepherds come where once was Croft.

Or native base of Buffalo,
Replaced by trapping beaver – though
That fell to pioneering days,
Which fell to agri-business ways.

And so on ’round the world it seems,
The interface – what culture means
To those caught up in turbulence,
Confused they are by circumstance.

But Geddes’ model helps a lot;
At base, three layer-cake has got
The key to how it hangs today,
And helps us see our yesterdays.

Extraction from the earth, resource
To live is base, and that’s the force
That drives the upper-layer parts;
So with that concept, make a start.

The middle layer’s work at that;
Today it’s complex, cost’s a fact
Which was not there in days of yore
(Go whack a beaver – not much more).

Third layer’s where the culture comes –
How people organize the fun
Of pulling resource from the earth;
Such complex social ways have worth.

’Till now my focus had its view
In culture-shifts – what people do
When they’re uprooted, boundary cross,
And economic base is lost.

’Till now I lived within one “home”,
Then found, as TCK, I’d roamed
Across some culture’s boundaries,
And felt their sting affecting me.

The sense of “other” in this range
Of life, through all this time of change,
Was strong – my culture had just one –
A mix of freedom, pain, and fun.

But now a shift is taking place –
I’ve settled down from changes faced;
And now I sense a larger scene
Which captures me by what it means.

We’re in a time of turbulence;
It may last long – as circumstance
Can shift for any one of us,
Come slow or in tsunamic rush.

The question I found facing me,
Was how to re-build world to be
A place to live both now, and then,
When all has settled down again.

When culture’s ripped beneath our feet,
We get upset, and cannot see
How best to grow a new one up;
But Geddes’ insight (though quite rough) –

Gives clues on how to start again,
Once we’ve recovered from our pain;
The base is “resource life still needs,
From dug-up ore to harvest-seeds”.

And all the other tasks today,
Supportive are to base which stays
As bottom layer of the cake,
With culture based on work it takes –

To pull resources from the ground,
Or atmosphere, or water ’round
Us as we live here on this globe
Together – as we share the load.

Of culture past we get no choice;
It’s given us, it shapes our voice;
But we can build a culture new,
For those who follow me and you.

The shift? I see now where to start –
The bottom layer’s base, imparts
A stable question for our minds –
It’s “resource-based” – first thing I find.

The second shift? “Out there to in” –
That culture-building, though we’ve been
In diverse cultures in our pasts,
And parts will flavor, parts will last –

For us, at least; we all can play
A part in building for today,
A way of making life worthwhile –
New culture’s ways with zip and style.

Not all will choose to enter in
Such enterprise, but since I’ve been
Afloat, adrift, these many years,
I want to land, and end the tears.

Enough of drifting on the seas
Alone, cut off from life that frees
Us up to live – community,
For one and all – yet lets me be –

The person I turned out to be
In God, with cultured part I see –
To live, let live, yet enter in
The world today – not one that’s been –

Turned upside down for most of us;
That’s gone today, left us with fuss
We did not choose all by ourselves,
But is for many, living hell.

For me, the shift then’s I’m engaged
Again, as now I turn the page,
And start to build community
Right where I live – now I can be –

Back at the forefront of our age,
And with this challenge be engaged;
The choice is ours – where pick it up –
Seven times ’round Jericho’s enough.

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