We practice integrity by being genuine and true to ourselves,being honest and trustworthy in relations with others,
and being truthful in word and action in all circumstances.
From Paul Severance:
For me, integrity as an elder requires living in accord with the role of the elder that is so deeply needed for the wellbeing of our world and future generations: As Zalman Schachter-Shalomi put it in From Age-ing to Sage-ing:
“Then what are elders? They are wisdom keepers who have an ongoing responsibility for maintaining society’s well-being and safeguarding the health of our ailing planet Earth.”
I believe that our grandchildren and future generations are facing the greatest crisis in human history: Climate change, being brought about by the dumping of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere as a result of burning fossil fuels, threatens to disrupt life on this earth as we know it, through sea level rise which will drive hundreds of millions from their homes, massive agricultural disruption with a huge increase in world hunger, the spread of tropical diseases, increased weather disasters, and more.
And I believe it is my responsibility as an elder to do whatever I can toward protecting future generations from catastrophe. I am doing that by dedicating a great deal of time and effort to Elders Climate Action, a national movement of elders coming together to address this issue.
I do this in the hope and belief that elders could make a critical difference. The scientific evidence indicates that we have a narrow window of opportunity to turn this around in time to avert the most catastrophic consequences – perhaps the next couple of decades at the most.
Why do I think elders could make a difference? First, we have a longer term perspective, simply because of our years of life experience. Second, the demographics favor our influence: There are more and more of us, and we vote in higher percentages than other segments of the population. Third, our Congress is mired in gridlock on this issue. But elders can approach this matter from a direction outside of the ideological wars, but rather from the perspective of our responsibility for those who will follow us on this Earth.
So, elders, join us in doing our best to give the grandchildren and great grandchildren the same chance we have had to thrive on a hospitable planet: www.eldersclimateaction.org
