Something that’s on my mind a lot is the desire for one-and-done. I want the magic pill, the silver bullet, the “do this once and everything is fixed” solution. I see this in myself but I also see it in the rhetoric we use when talking about the world writ large. “Save the world,” we say, as if the planet is in need of rescuing. That’s what “saving” means, by the way, to rescue from impending danger. Here’s the thing, though: When in human history have we as a species not been in impending danger? Seriously, when?

Our ancestors were in danger on a smaller scale but no less threatening – danger from food scarcity, warring tribes, diseases, and more. As we edged toward globalization, the threats became even larger and more climactic, literally. We still have danger from food scarcity, war, and diseases, but now we also have danger from things like extreme weather. And as we’re seeing, we’re all connected. A storm in the northeast can affect people in the southwest.

We talk about saving the world as if we haven’t had to confront these issues a million times in the past. As if we haven’t already had to deal with government-sanctioned murder. As if we haven’t already faced extreme exploitation or inequality. As if we haven’t already dealt with harsh weather conditions. The circumstances, the specifics, they are all different, yes, absolutely. But the heart? The themes? Practically timeless.

Maybe it’s more about relationality. Photo by Alin Andersen on Unsplash

So what I keep wondering is, can the world be saved? Is there a silver bullet that fixes everything? Very clearly, the answer is “no.” When we talk about “saving the world,” we couch it not only as a one-time fix, but we also subtly create this individualist burden. Doing so makes “saving the world” your personal responsibility. But it’s not. We are in relationship with this planet and each other. No one person can “save” the world and nor should they.

Something my spiritual teacher talks about frequently is “coordinated cooperation.” It’s when cooperation is between free human beings, each with equal rights, mutual respect for each other, and they are working for the welfare of the other. What we see more frequently is subordinated cooperation, which is the traditional power structure whereby power is top-down. It’s someone, or a group of someones, imposing their will. But it never works.

To quote my spiritual teacher, “Only the cooperative system can ensure the healthy, integrated progress of humanity, and establish complete and everlasting unity among the human race. People should work to enjoy sweeter fruits by establishing the cooperative system.”

A cooperative system cannot exist if one group is considered inferior to another. Nor can coordinated cooperation exist if it’s imposed upon the group. I believe the same is true with the planet as a whole. We humans think we know what the planet needs, but how can we possibly know if we don’t have a relationship with it yet? That’s like us diverting a river and then being surprised when there are unintended consequences.

I don’t think the world needs to be “saved,” I think it, and we, need empowerment via mutuality and relationality. The planet as a whole needs tending, serving, stewarding, not domineering. Not imposing power over, but power with as an equal player, an active participant. And part of being an active participant means recognizing there is no “one-and-done.” There is no magic pill or silver bullet. If we want to serve the world, if we want to shepherd it into a more harmonious place, we do that over and over again, one day at a time.

I dream of a world where we recognize we aren’t saviors, we’re stewards. A world where we recognize no one person has the power to solve everything all at once. A world where instead of creating power over, we create power with. A world where we understand if we really want to support people and the planet, it requires an ongoing, mutual relationship, not a white knight.

Another world is not only possible, it’s probable.