At the age of 96, Joanna Macy, a great soul, left this world, having served as a guide and teacher for many. I was fortunate to attend a one-day workshop with her years ago at a Quaker center in Philadelphia, but I knew her mostly from books and videos, and from experiences shaped by her philosophy, called The Work That Reconnects.

Macy’s beautiful memoir, Widening Circles, begins with trees. On her grandparents’ farm there was a tree out back in which she and her brother played wild games. And in the front yard was a tall maple in which she would sit alone, in silence, hidden by leaves but present to the world.

In college Macy had prepared for a vocation in Christian ministry, but immersion in the intellectual debates of the early church fathers caused her to leave that path. Her husband worked for the Peace Corps and while they were stationed in India in 1965, Macy came in contact with the Tibetan Buddhist refugees who lived there. They and their teachings made a big impact on her and she became seriously engaged with Buddhism.

The Macys raised three children and lived for years in Africa as well as India. Around 1969 they moved to New York, so that Joanna could study world religions at the University of Syracuse. There she encountered systems theory, which is based on the premise that the universe is not made up of separate objects, but a network of interconnected systems. She wept while reading Ervin Laszlo’s Introduction to Systems Philosophy, because it resonated so deeply with a “whole-body knowing” she felt inside, as though she already possessed the insights and principles he described. She decided to focus her Ph.D. thesis on mutual causation, combining Buddhist thought and systems theory.

After reading a paper written by her son about the thermal pollution caused by nuclear power plants, she participated in protests against the Seabrook reactor in New Hampshire and other nuclear power plants. Then she became aware of the long-term radioactive contamination caused by both nuclear power and weapons production and was horrified to realize that radioactive waste will affect future generations, possibly for thousands or millions of years. Understanding that these consequences stretched into geological time, she turned her attention to the concept of nuclear guardianship, which emphasizes community responsibility for the monitoring of radioactive waste, rather than simply burying it and forgetting about it. However, she found widespread apathy about the dangers of nuclear energy.

Macy saw that disconnection from the earth and from our deep emotions are causes of humanity’s collective inaction about existential threats. She recognized that power for action can be released by allowing ourselves to feel our love for the world, as well as our grief and despair for the harm being done to the web on life. She wrote that suffering with our world, “enables us to recognize our profound interconnectedness with all beings. Don’t ever apologize for crying for the trees burning in the Amazon or over the waters polluted from mines in the Rockies. Don’t apologize for the sorrow, grief, and rage you feel. It is a measure of your humanity and your maturity. It is a measure of your open heart, and as your heart breaks open there will be room for the world to heal. That is what is happening as we see people honestly confronting the sorrows of our time.” In 1978 Macy began offering “despair and empowerment workshops.” Some of the first were offered in Quaker settings.

Methods and rituals were developed in Macy’s workshops, and a training developed that was eventually called “The Work That Reconnects.” Macy’s 1998 guidebook, Coming Back to Life, co-authored with Molly Brown, provides a comprehensive explanation of it and describes a multitude of group practices that were helpful. Victoria Loorz, author of Church of the Wild, writes that Macy’s work revealed that “real, lasting action must be rooted not in urgency or fear, but in fierce, devotional love—the kind that grieves fully and acts anyway.” Workshops on The Work That Reconnects have been offered at both Pendle Hill and Ben Lomond retreat centers, and today several Quakers travel to lead workshops related to Macy’s work. Quaker Environmental Witness (QEW) helps meetings find facilitators.

Macy’s teaching has had a significant impact on me. In 2007 I was part of the teams that created the nine-month Way of Ministry program at Pendle Hill and then the three offerings of the Nurturing Faithfulness program in New England Yearly Meeting, starting in 2017. When we wanted to find experiential ways to help participants open up to the embodied and emotional work that is an essential part of awakening to prophetic ministry, we adapted some of the practices Macy and her colleagues had developed. For many participants of The Way of Ministry and Nurturing Faithfulness, these embodied group experiences, involving the big emotions connected to love of the world, fear, anger, and grief, were helpful and even transforming.

In 1985, Joanna Macy and John Seed, inspired by indigenous wisdom, developed the Council of All Beings, a communal practice to help individuals transcend their human-centered perspective and connect more deeply with the rest of the world. Some participants choose to represent a particular kind of animal, plant, or element of the ecosystem (such as a river) and in a circle speak on its behalf, sharing their experiences, challenges, and how human behaviors have impacted them. The non-human beings also offer their wisdom, providing insight into possible ways forward. Some in the Circle remain in their human identity, listening to the perspectives of the others. The experience cultivates a deeper sense of interconnectedness, inspiring participants to take action on behalf of the Earth.

We are living in a time Macy called the Great Unraveling. Our extractive global economy is destroying the earth’s ecosystems. She holds out hope that we are heading into The Great Turning, a long-term movement toward a sustainable way of living embedded harmoniously in the web of life. The Great Turning requires a multitude of efforts. She names three necessary roles. 1) Resisting and protesting the harms being done and minimizing them as much as possible. 2) Building new systems and relationships, and creating sustainable ways of life for the future. 3) Working to change consciousness and values. Macy’s life work supported all three kinds of efforts.

Her book Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience and Creative Power, written with Chris Johnstone, “serves as a trustworthy guide to these perilous times,” writes Pamela Haines in a Friends Journal book review of the 2022 revision. According to Haines, the book invites readers to see life as an adventure story in which we are the main characters:

“protagonists always face obstacles that seem overwhelming but, nevertheless, set off to discover the allies, tools, and wisdom that will help them succeed. What if this is the essential adventure of our time, and we are its protagonists? We are propelled forward not just by information about problems and solutions, nor by our fears alone, but by a deeply rooted sense of connection: the essence of our very identity as part of the web of life is under attack, and our vision of what it means to be alive and whole is too palpable and compelling to ignore.”

Joanna Macy found encouragement in a Buddhist prophesy from twelve centuries ago, about a time when humanity would face a terrible crisis and great danger. The Shambhala warriors, who were ordinary people, would take action everywhere, in the center of the danger, and meet the challenges from within. Their “weapons” would be compassion and wisdom.

We don’t know how or whether the challenges and dangers of our time will be met. Will we bring forth a Great Turning to a sustainable way of life? Will human beings collectively learn how to live again in harmony with the world that is our home? In order to act, we don’t have to know how it will turn out. We can be grateful for the breath we are breathing right now and for the gift of being alive. Then we offer our gifts, our love, our efforts, and join together in the collective adventure.

Joanna Macy: Living For the Sake of the World: What helps you experience your belonging to the world and your interconnectedness with the web of life? What inspires you to offer your gifts to the world?

© 2025 Marcelle Martin

To learn more about Joanna Macy and The Work That Reconnects, visit https://www.joannamacy.net/main.

Upcoming Opportunities with Marcelle Martin:

A Guide to Faithfulness Groups explains what faithfulness is and how it can be cultivated by small groups that practice ways to listen inwardly together for divine guidance, a practice that holds great potential for supporting individuals of any faith in allowing the work of the Spirit to become manifest through them and their communities.

Our Life is Love: The Quaker Spiritual Journey describes the transformational spiritual journey of the first Quakers, who were inwardly guided by God to work and witness for radical changes in their society. Focusing on ten elements of the spiritual journey, this book is a guide to a Spirit-filled life, designed to be a resource for both individuals and groups to explore their spiritual experiences. It describes the journey of faithfulness that leads people to actively engage in God’s work of making this world a better place for all. Our Life is Love has been reviewed by Marty Grundy in Friends Journal, by Carole Spencer in Quaker Religious Thought, and by Stuart Masters on A Quaker Stew.

Both books are available from Barclay Press in hardback and paperback.

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