Some of us are called by our spirit to be sustaining spiritual archetypes. The primary purpose of a sustaining spirit is to create partnerships with other human beings, our environment, our society and our world. Partnering is the mode of action for this spiritual archetype. First, let me describe a spiritual archetype. It is a concept. It is an idea expressing your spiritual voice. It identifies, describes and helps you to better understand who and what you truly are.

In January President Obama announced his new green revolution policy to cut greenhouse gas emissions from cars and light trucks in order to help reduce Americas dependence on foreign oil in addition to raising the national fuel-efficiency standards to 35.5 miles per gallon by the year 2016. More importantly the auto industry, environmentalists, union workers, and politicians on both sides of the isle seem to welcome the policy. Their reasons for support are all quite different however.

The tightening of emissions and the standards of fuel economy is a healthy change for environmentalists after decades of inaction. The policy will also provide the auto-industry with a national standard on efficiency and the workable timeline needed to meet production schedules. The question remains: Can these different, historically opposing special interests work to reach both national and individual goals within these new guidelines after decades of discord? Maybe more importantly, is there any possibility of a production line creating a new and exciting product that appeases both the appetite of big business and the cleanliness of Mother Nature?

With the stakes so high and the outcome so important for both sides, a new type of relationship must be established. Traditional relationships leaving one group with all the power is not an option. There must be a partnering relationship that inspires creative and practical changes. This partnering quality is that of the sustaining spirit. It is not about team building. In fact, the sustaining spirit searches beneath every economic, political, and social process and calls people to learn the most important part of partnering. Only if the automobile industry and the environmentalists can listen to their sustaining spirit will President Obamas initiative, indeed their own survival, have any hope.

There are three characteristics of the sustaining spirit that make partnering possible. The first is intentioning. Intentioning is mindful actions as opposed to unthoughtful behavior. Intentions must be the same so partnering can happen. Too much human behavior is unintentional. We often act out of our past rather than towards an open future where we can imagine new possibilities. When the auto industry fell apart economically, the framework of their social biography disintegrated, leaving them directionless. The security of a lifelong job disappeared. The auto industry continued to cling to a social biography that no longer worked. Members of the auto industry must start using a partnering relationship, which includes intentioning, if they are going to go forward towards a prosperous future.

The second avenue use to establish partnering relationships is parity. When all sides of a relationship realize that each offers something of value to that relationship, parity has been achieved. Both the auto workers and the environmentalists must recognize that both have something of value that is needed to achieve their goals. The sustaining spirit does not call for sameness, but instead calls for equivalency yet individuality.

The third quality is learning itself. Partnering is conditioned by a mutual and reciprocal learning environment. Reciprocal learning between nature, the human mind, modern technology, and all living creatures is necessary for partnering to succeed. Both the auto industry and environmentalists must commit to learning from each other. The sustaining spirit calls for reciprocity. Can both industries develop ways to go about their daily lives giving sustenance to each other while receiving it back? The sustaining spirit says, Yes!

The future of the automobile industry and in the environmental industry will require necessary examination of the past. Letting go of certain habits is fundamental and cannot be forced. Difficult inner work is essential. Partnering lies beneath every instance of the sustaining archetype. Humanity, the auto industry and environmentalists alike, must learn to partner with each other and with our Earth so that each and everyone of us is sustained. If not, we are lost.

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