November 22, 2024

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Earth Ministry

This conference was the premiere of 'The Journey of the Universe' film. Speakers included faculty from Union Theological Seminary, Georgetown, Yale Divinity School, Tufts, Harvard, Dominican University, McGill, Oregon State, and Indiana University. Conference sessions included: Teaching the Epic of Evolution; Christianity, Ecology, and the Universe Story; and World Religions, Ecology, and the Universe Story.
By Bill Plotkin, psychologist, eco-therapist, and wilderness guide, brings forth a new model for the whole of human life and spirituality in our world in dire ecological need. 2008.
Noted cultural historian Thomas Berry provides nothing less than a new intellectual-ethical framework for the human community by positing planetary well-being as the measure of all human activity. "This volume quite possibly is one of the ten most important books of the twentieth century." -- Dr. Donald B. Conroy, President, North American Conference on Religion and Ecology.  1982.
Following the most recent scientific discoveries about the birth of the universe, cosmologist Brian Swimme (California Institute of Integral Studies) shows how these new insights replace outmoded ways of seeing the world, bridging the chasm between science and spirituality, the physical realm and the soul. 2009.
Author Brian Swimme explains how this book came about: “The idea to present the new creation story in the form of a conversation originated at the Broadway Diner in New York City. I was working my way through a Greek salad, when Thomas Berry suddenly said: ‘You scientists have this stupendous story of the universe. It breaks outside all previous cosmologies. But so long as you persist in understanding it solely from a quantitative mode you fail to appreciate its significance. You fail to hear its music. That’s what the spiritual traditions can provide. Tell the story, but tell it with a feel for its music.’"  1984.
Roman Catholic priest and influential environmental theologian. Wrote The Universe Story with Brian Swimme, The Great Work: Our Way into the Future, and The Sacred Universe: Earth, Spirituality, and Religion in the Twenty-first Century with Mary Evelyn Tucker.
Mary Oliver is a Pulitzer Prize-winning poet whose body of work is largely filled with imagery of the natural world — cats, opossums crossing the street, sunflowers and black oaks in the sunshine. In this audio NPR interview, Oliver says that her morning moments are a kind of prayer for her. "I think one thing is that prayer has become more useful, interesting, fruitful, and ... almost involuntary in my life," she says. "And when I talk about prayer, I mean really ... what Rumi says in that wonderful line, 'there are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground.' Oliver says her work has become more spiritual over the years, growing from her love of the poets who came before her and the natural world — but she feels a great sorrow over humanity's lack of care for that world. October 2012.
Evolutionary philosopher Brian Swimme and historian of religions Mary Evelyn Tucker collaborated on this film and book - an epic narrative of our wondrous connection to the cosmos. Their project was inspired by Thomas Berry’s work describing how humans are currently living 'in between' two very different stories of their origins – the creation stories of the world’s religions and the scientific story of the evolution of the universe. (2012)