Stories We Tell
#TheNewStory
The New Cosmology
The New Cosmology, the New Story and the Cosmic Story
These terms refer to the story of the emerging evolutionary universe. The universe story is our story. Thomas Berry says we are in trouble now because we do not have a good story. We are between stories. The old story of how the world came to be is not functioning properly, we are destroying Earth and we need a new story to help to live in right relationship with Earth and Cosmos. Learning this story places us in relationship to all of the more than human. “We cannot know ourselves in any adequate manner except through an account of the transformations of the universe and of the planet Earth through which we came into being. This new story of the universe is our personal story as well as our community story.
~ Thomas Berry, The Great Work
...
#EarthCharter
THE EARTH CHARTER
THE EARTH CHARTER
The Earth Charter was created by the independent Earth Charter Commission, which was convened as a follow-up to the 1992 Earth Summit in order to produce a global consensus statement of values and principles for a sustainable future. The document was developed over nearly a decade through an extensive process of international consultation, to which over five thousand people contributed. The Charter has been formally endorsed by thousands of organizations, including UNESCO and the IUCN (World Conservation Union). For more information, please visit:
#EarthSpirituality
Evolutionary Spirituality
Earth Spirituality / Science and theology / Evolutionary Consciousness & Interbeing
Evolutionary Spirituality comes from the understanding that spirituality is deeply connected to the unfolding process of cosmos/earth and our place within it. Evolutionary spirituality can engage with religions or not. It is the recognition that the scientific and historical story our origins actually present profound spiritual teachings.
Practices: Loving Earth our Mother practices, listening to nature, caring for Earth through dance, music, poetry, art, planting and stewarding, habitat & ecosystem preservation.
...
#WorkThatReconnects
The Work That Reconnects
Joanna Macy / Systems Thinking / Grieving / Living Systems
The work that reconnects is based on the teachings of Joanna Macy. It unfolds as a spiral journey through four stages: coming from gratitude, honouring our pain for the world, seeing with new or ancient eyes and going forth. The journey helps us to experience first-hand that we are larger, stronger, more creative and more deeply connected than we know.
Work that Reconnects http://www.workthatreconnects.org
Joanna Macy http://www.joannamacy.net
...
#Ecozoic
THE Ecozoic Era Ecosystem
Ecozoic Era Ecosystem | healthy–living within rights of nature
We are in the midst of the 6th largest extinction which is ending the Cenozoic era. In reflecting on these times Thomas Berry saw the Ecozoic Era as an emerging period where humans could recover their creative orientation to earth. One such orientation is one where humans would be present to the planet in a mutually beneficial manner. “That the universe is a communion of subjects rather than a collection of objects is the central commitment of the Ecozoic. Existence itself is derived from and sustained by this intimacy of each being with every other being of the universe.” (Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story, 243) “...we have so far had a human-centered language. We need an Earth-centered language.” (Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story, 258).
“What the Ecozoic era seeks ultimately is to bring the human activities on the Earth into alignment with the other forces functioning throughout the planet so that a creative balance will be achieved. When the curvature of the universe, the curvature of the Earth, and the curvature of the human are once more in their proper relation, then Earth will have arrived at the celebratory experience that is the fulfillment of earthly existence.” (Brian Swimme and Thomas Berry, The Universe Story, p. 261).
Thomas Berry,
The Great Work
...
#IndigenousKnowing
Indigenous Ways of Knowing
Indigenous Ways of Knowing | Indigenous Spirituality
There is no single Indigenous way of knowing. Several characteristics are considered common across many Indigenous peoples, cultures, histories and contexts. Together, these emphasize an approach to knowledge that is metaphysical, holistic, oral/symbolic, relational, and intergenerational. Indigenous ways of knowing rely heavily on many forms of intelligence, including interpersonal, kinesthetic [physical], and spiritual intelligences. Within Indigenous knowledge systems, land is often regarded as Mother Earth, who provides teachings that determine traditional values or ways of knowing. An important question in Indigenous knowledge is, “how am I fulfilling my role in this relationship?”
This description is taken from research paper called Learning across Indigenous and Western knowledge systems and intersectionality: Reconciling social science research approaches (2018) by L. Levac, L. McMurtry, D. Stienstra, G. Baikie, C. Hanson and D. Mucina. The fact sheets were authored by J. Stinson, designed by Ellyn Lusis and Tiffany Murphy, and formatted by B. Ryan. The fact sheets, full research paper, and related resources are available at
www.criaw-icref.ca
...
#ClimateCrisis
Climate Crisis
Climate Change & the Climate Crisis
Climate change describes a change in the average conditions — such as temperature and rainfall — in a region over a long period of time. For example, 20,000 years ago, much of the United States was covered in glaciers. In the United States today, we have a warmer climate and fewer glaciers.
Global climate change refers to the average long-term changes over the entire Earth. These include warming temperatures and changes in precipitation, as well as the effects of Earth’s warming, such as:
- Rising sea levels
- Shrinking mountain glaciers
- Polar Ice melting at a faster rate than usual
- Changes in flower and plant blooming times.
Earth’s climate has constantly been changing — even long before humans came into the picture. However, scientists have observed unusual changes recently. For example, Earth’s average temperature has been increasing much more quickly than expected over the past 150 years.
Today we find ourselves in a climate crisis. “We declare an unequivocally that planet Earth is facing a climate emergency. To secure a sustainable future, we must change how we live. This entails major transformation in the ways our global society functions and interacts with natural systems” (Journal Bioscience). The various aspects of climate crisis are part of the ongoing Earth Literacies programming as we recognize the destructive impact humans are having on our Earth home.
Many years ago, Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme spoke about our behaviour changing the very basic functioning of Earth as a living system. Thomas would say “We have gone stark raving mad; we don’t know who we are.” Both Thomas and Brian challenged us to learn who we are by returning to our roots, our beginning in the universe and to reinvent ourselves from a species level rather than seeing ourselves as separate from Earth.