Probably, I thought, as I patiently began the task of chiseling into the stone around the skull, I would never again excavate a fossil under conditions which led to so vivid an impression that I was already one myself. The truth is that we are all potential fossils still carrying within our bodies the crudities of former existences, the marks of a world in which living creatures flow with little more consistency than clouds from age to age.
Loren Eiseley, The Immense Journey, p. 5
Welcome to our ongoing journey!
One of the most stunning insights from Journey is about the Earth’s climate. Over the past 4 billion years, the Earth has preserved a relatively stable band of temperature while the sun has grown about 25% hotter.
How has the Earth evolved to become such an intimate partner of life?
That is the driving question behind a recent study in Nature, which analyzed sediments from around the world to reveal how the evolution of oceanic and terrestrial plants has led to profound changes in the Earth’s capacity to store carbon. According to Dr. Noah Planavsky, “The result was a substantial decrease in carbon dioxide levels, which kept pace with the increasing luminosity of the sun as it aged, helping to ensure that the Earth remained persistently habitable to both simple and complex life forms.”
We now know how delicate these processes are. The recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) details how the “climate system is rapidly changing, overwhelmingly due to human influence,” and that global warming will intensify over the next 30 years (TS-11). But there is still a short window to act, the report suggests, in order to prevent the most dire planetary future.
How can we align ourselves with the life-sustaining dynamics of the Earth? Our answers to that question will be the Great Work of our time.
New Episodes with Brian Thomas Swimme
More videos from Brian's new series, Story of the Noosphere, are now available on YouTube via the Human Energy YouTube page. Some recent episode include:
“Celebrating Old Growth: A Conversation with Robin Wall Kimmerer, Robert Macfarlane, and David Haskell”
We hope you can join us for an exciting webinar!
September 18, 2021
1:00pm to 2:15pm EDT
Moderator: Mary Evelyn Tucker
Hosted by Orion Magazine, The Forest School at the Yale School of the Environment, Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and Yale Environmental Humanities.
If you are unable to watch the live webinar, you can watch the recording later on the event page.
On July 19, 2021, Executive Producers Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim attended a screening of Journey of the Universe for the Capital Institute's Lighthouse Lecture Series held on Native Mashantucket Pequot land in Stonington, Connecticut. The film provided a cosmological context at the outset of the conference that helped inspire the wide-ranging discussions of regenerative economics over the following days.
Mary Evelyn Tucker and John Grim address attendees at the
Capital Institute’s Lighthouse Lecture Series
Left to Right: John Grim, Sam King, Mary Evelyn Tucker,
Nakai Clearwater Northup, EunYoung Choi
“Deeptime Leadership & Personal Empowerment”
Nine-month online program beginning September 22, 2021, hosted by Deeptime Network
Presenters include Stephan Martin, Brian Swimme, Ursula Goodenough, Coleen & Duane Elgin, Gail Worcelo, Herman Greene, Robert Athickal, Yona Frenchhawk, Matt Cobb, Mary Evelyn Tucker, and many others.
September 16, 2021 - November 3, 2021 “Sustainable Development and Human Prosperity”
Online course by the Wilmette Institute
Faculty: Laurent Mesbah, Arthur Dahl, Christine Muller, and Rebecca Teclemariam-Mesbah
September 18 – October 2, 2021 “Living in an Icon: Online Course”
Course Instructor: Robin Gottfried, Center Director
Hosted by the Center for Religion and Environment at the University of the South
September 16, 2021 “Launching Conference: Interfaith call for Ecocide Law”
Online event hosted by End Ecocide Sweden in cooperation with Stop Ecocide Foundation, Christian Council of Sweden, Sigtuna Foundation, Centre for Environment and Development Studies at Uppsala University, and The Catholic Diocese of Stockholm.
Speakers: Mary Evelyn Tucker, Valerie Cabanes, Cardinal Anders Arborelius, Hanna Soldal, Erena Rangimarie Rereomaki Rhöse, Azza Karam, Alexandra Masako Goossens-Ishii, Henrik Grape, Pella Thiel, and others.
September 20 – November 29, 2021 “Weather Reports: The Climate of Now”
A series of online events with Terry Tempest Williams and Brian Kirbis
Hosted by the Constellation Project, the Center of the Study of World Religions, Religion & Public Life, and The Planetary Health Alliance
September 22, 2021 “An Online Dialogue about Faith For Earth: A Call For Action”
Webinar hosted by the Catholic Association of Diocesan Ecumenical and Interreligious Officers
Speakers: Iyad Abumoghli, David Hales, Kusumita P. Pedersen, and Mary Evelyn Tucker. Facilitated by Fr. Michael Lynch. Faith for Earth: A Call for Action is a publication by the United Nations Environment Programme’s Faith for Earth Initiative and the Parliament of the World’s Religions.
September 25, 2021 “Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul”
With John Philip Newell
Livestream event at Stillpoint at Beckside, Bellingham, WA, USA
September 27 – October 1, 2021 “Awakening Creativity Summit”
The being & doing conference (online)
Mary Evelyn Tucker will be speaking on Journey of the Universe.
September 29 – October 1, 2021 “9th Annual Rising Voices Workshop”
Virtual event hosted by the Rising Voices Center for Indigenous and Earth Science
Keynote speakers: Robin Wall Kimmerer, Orville Huntington, Jr., and Dominique M. David-Chavez
Registration deadline: September 10.
October 1, 2021 “Your God Is Too Small”
Webinar with Guy J. Consolmagno, SJ
Hosted by the Center for Advanced Study in Religion and Science (CASIRAS) and Lutheran School of Theology at Chicago (LSTC)
Inspired by the awesome creative powers of our Universe? Forward this newsletter to your friends, colleagues, and family members. They can sign up to receive the newsletter using the button below.
We hope you can join us for an exciting webinar! 
