The opening ceremony for the World Leaders Summit of the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP26) featured a traditional Scottish song (18:40-20:36) followed by a short video (20:47-22:46) on the universe. In the video, the narrator suggests that humans “bring meaning to an otherwise meaningless universe.” According to this view, we must care for the planet to protect our unique status as meaning-making animals.
But what if the universe itself is charged with meaning?
This is the guiding ethic of the Journey of the Universe project. In Chapter 3 of the book, Brian Swimme and Mary Evelyn Tucker write,
In many cultures throughout history humans intuited that they descended from the stars, even before they had the empirical evidence from science that our bodies were formed by the elements forged by the stars. Humans felt something in the depths of the night as they contemplated the presence of the stars. They began to suspect that the meaning of their lives went far beyond what preoccupied them during the urgencies of the daytime world. They knew in their hearts that their journey and the radiance of the stars were interwoven.
If human life has meaning, so too do the stars that forge the elements of our bodies, the bacteria that metabolize our food, and the trees that exhale oxygen for us to breathe. Perhaps our participation in a meaningful universe can inspire a more expansive ecological vision in the wake of COP26.
Chrysalis Journal of the Center for Education, Imagination and the Natural World. Volume 18, Spring 2021.
Recent Events
“5th Annual Flaring Forth Celebration”
Celebrating Thomas Berry’s birthday and the 10th Anniversary of Journey of the Universe
With Brian Thomas Swimme, Mary Evelyn Tucker, Sam King, John Grim, Elizabeth McAnally, and Thomas Spiritbringer
November 9, 2021
“Thomas Berry’s Vision for the Earth Community”
Hosted by Gonzaga University’s Center for Climate, Society, and the Environment
With Mary Evelyn Tucker and Sam King
November 3, 2021
“Applying the New Cosmology”
Module 2: Deeptime Leadership & Personal Empowerment Program
Ten-Week Module: January 12 - March 25, 2022
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.
In Memoriam
We are sad to announce the recent passing of David Kennard, co-director and producer of the Journey of the Universe film. Read more about David’s life here.
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