Our Causes: Humanity

The argument has been made by some that our modern world is suffering from a mental health crisis. As the late pastor Dr. Bob Moorehead wrote in 1995 (edited) "We spend more, but have less, we buy more, but enjoy less. We have bigger houses and smaller families, more conveniences, but less time. We have more degrees but less sense, more knowledge, but less judgment, more experts, yet more problems, more medicine, but less wellness...." Notably, this was written before the advent of 24/7 news cycles, hyper-partisan politics, an opiate epidemic, a global pandemic, further reduced attention spans, and the relentless firehose of social media.

First Light agrees that humanity has never before faced such a challenge to its sense of well-being and joy. And yet we disagree with the notion that the solution can be found by changing the external world first. As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. states above, darkness cannot be driven out by more darkness. The solution must come from light, and that light must come from inside each of us. This is the very definition of First Light.

We believe it is time for humans to focus less on spreading the darkness and more on discovering the light. It is time for each of us to go inwards and create a meaningful shift in consciousness. There are many modalities such a meditation, cultural rituals, and breathwork that can help each us succeed on this personal journey of transformation. Much of our current and future work in storytelling focuses on these practices and traditions. Once the internal change has been made, the external world follows.