Spirituality and Sustainable Development

I've looked through a portion of the e-dialogue on Spirituality and Sustainable Development from June of 2002. Separately, these are topics that I not only find intriguing but necessary. Together, they ask me to think about what is necessary for SD.
Dr. Dale begins the dialogue by asking the participants to comment on what spirituality is, these are a few "definitions" that spoke to me:

1. related to 'wonder and awe' or marveling at existence, and a recognition of sacredness in all life and thus a protection of existence - which translates into justice.

2. To me the spiritual is beyond "good" and"bad". In fact I suspect that it is beyond all binary opposites. It simply IS. Therefore of course impossible to use the normal scientific method to know. Hence it's bad scientific press.

3. To me spirituality is the deep connection we possess with our Mother the Earth and all of her children. It is felt in our respect of all our brothers and sisters of creation, of our ancestors and of the faces yet to come.

4. I believe spirituality is mine and everyone else's connectedness to all that exists, even that which we do not recognize or that is beyond our consciousness. This includes an intangible (an Energy, a Creator, a Sustainer, a Great Mystery....) which exists within and without all of us and creation, which is immeasurable and ultimately greater than the sum of its parts. What name we put to that, or however many names, we still are one. Only our quest divides or joins us.

My own definition of spirituality is the understanding that as individuals we are connected to the "whole," we are not separate. My God therefore, is the "whole." I do not believe in a being that reigns from on high, but I do believe in a common energy that links everything in the universe and beyond. My spiritual practice, the latihan, links me to God in a personal context that I can feel any time I am quiet. I believe that part of my dedication to trying to live "sustainably" is because I know what it feels like to be connected to the "whole." And like I said, I cannot separate myself, or anything, from the "whole." I don't want to say that having a sense of spirituality is necessary for SD, but when people can see themselves as part of something beyond their own lives, I think there is a greater chance that they will care. And I think caring is a big part of the equation.