There’s a reason it’s so hard to change — even when we know we must.
A reason why, in the face of a dying planet, we continue to make choices that harm.
A reason why the transformation we long for often feels just out of reach.
It’s not just about science or policy or awareness.
It’s something deeper.
It’s that we live inside Babylon.
The Illusion We’re Entangled In
In the Book of Revelation, Babylon is described as dazzling, powerful, wealthy — and utterly corrupt. She rides the beast of empire, seduces the nations, and grows fat on the suffering of others. And yet, people mourn her when she falls. Why?
Because Babylon is not just a city.
It is a system.
A mindset.
A way of life.
And it’s familiar.
It tells us that convenience is a virtue.
That comfort is a right.
That our value is measured by what we earn, own, and display.
We are so entangled in this system that to leave it behind — even partially — can feel like a kind of death.
A Climate Crisis Rooted in a Spiritual Crisis
This is why we struggle to act decisively on the climate emergency.
Not because we don’t care.
Not because we don’t understand.
But because saving the world would require letting Babylon fall.
We would have to give up the gods of progress and profit.
We would have to challenge the myth that more is always better.
We would have to relinquish the fantasy that we are somehow separate from the earth, rather than part of it.
The climate crisis is not just ecological.
It’s spiritual.
And Babylon is its liturgy.
The Call of Revelation
“Come out of her, my people.”
That’s the cry in Revelation 18:4.
Not a call to escapism, but to liberation.
A summons to step outside the lie —
to see clearly what we’re part of,
and to choose another way.
This isn’t easy.
Babylon is woven into our calendars, our identities, our aspirations.
Even when we want to change, we fear what we might lose.
But that fear is part of the trance.
It’s how Babylon keeps us compliant —
not by chains, but by illusions.
A Celtic Perspective: Remembering What We Belong To
The Celtic Christian tradition teaches that the earth is sacred, that God is present in all things, and that true wisdom comes from listening to creation — not exploiting it.
In this tradition, the call is not to conquer the world, but to live in communion with it.
To remember that we are not separate from the soil or the sea or the sky.
That the breath of God is in the wind and the warmth of the sun.
And that any system that destroys the earth is not of God.
Babylon disconnects.
But the Kingdom reconnects.
The Work Ahead
So what do we do?
We begin where we are.
We question the habits we’ve been taught are normal.
We simplify.
We choose differently, even when it’s inconvenient.
We speak truth, even when it costs.
We pray.
We lament.
We hope.
And slowly, courageously, we begin to loosen Babylon’s grip — first in ourselves, then in our world.
This isn’t about moral superiority.
It’s about waking up.
It’s about coming home.
A Final Reflection
To let Babylon fall is to make room for something better.
To allow the old illusions to crumble so that the real can rise.
To step outside the systems of death so we can walk the path of life.
It’s hard.
It feels like dying.
But it’s also the beginning of being truly alive.
Ancient Whispers 
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