Our fulfillment is not in our isolated human grandeur, but in our intimacy with the larger earth community, for this is also the larger dimension of our being.
Interpretation
Our true fulfillment comes from our connection to the larger community of life on Earth, rather than from individual achievements.
In this quote, Thomas Berry emphasizes the importance of recognizing our place within the broader tapestry of life on Earth. He suggests that true fulfillment and meaning in life are derived not from our isolated ego or personal accomplishments, but from our relationships and intimacy with the natural world and the diverse communities that exist within it. This perspective encourages a shift from individualism to a more collective understanding of existence, highlighting our interconnectedness with all living beings.
In practice
In a speech about environmental stewardship, one might say, 'As Thomas Berry reminds us, our fulfillment lies not in individual achievements but in our intimacy with the earth community.'
If the religious experience were simply some naive impression of the uninformed it would not have resulted in such intellectual insight, such spiritual exaltation, such spectacular religious ritual, or in the immense volume of song and poetry and literature and dance that humans have produced.
We might sometimes reflect and recall that the purpose of all our science, technology, industry, manufacturing, commerce, and finance is celebration, planetary celebration. This is what moves the stars through the heavens and the earth through its seasons. The final norm of judgment concerning the success or failure of our technologies is the extent to which they enable us to participate more fully in this grand festival.
Diversity is the magic. It is the first manifestation, the first beginning of the differentiation of a thing and of simple identity. The greater the diversity, the greater the perfection.
Both education and religion need to ground themselves within the story of the universe as we now understand this story through empirical knowledge. Within this functional cosmology, we can overcome our alienation and begin the renewal of life on a sustainable basis. This story is a numinous revelatory story that could evoke the vision and the energy required to bring not only ourselves but the entire planet into a new order of magnificence.
The historical mission of our times is to re-invent the humanβat the species level, with critical reflection, within the community of life-systems, in a time-developmental context, by means of story and shared dream experience.
If the outer world is diminished in its grandeur, then the emotional, imaginative, intellectual, and spiritual life of the human is diminished or extinguished. Without the soaring birds, the great forests, the sounds and coloration of the insects, the free-flowing streams, the flowering fields, the sight of clouds by day and the stars at night, we become impoverished in all that makes us human.
In religion and politics, people's belief's and convictions are in almost every case gotten at second hand, and without examination
Lord, grant that anger or other bitterness does not reign over us, but that your grace, genuine kindness, loyalty, and every kind of friendliness, generosity, and gentleness may reign in us. Amen
If I blow the conch and they don't come back; then we've had it. We shan't keep the fire going. We'll be like animals. We'll never be rescued." "If you don't blow, we'll soon be animals anyway.
The world is a kind of spiritual kindergarten where millions of bewildered infants are trying to spell "God" with the wrong blocks.
It's just what people do when they're getting old, when they're sick of themselves and their life; they think of money and take care of themselves.
Religion is as effectively destroyed by bigotry as by indifference.
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