The New Story
“Although as yet unrealized, the scientific account of the universe is the greatest religious, moral, and spiritual event that has taken place in these centuries. It is the supreme humanistic and spiritual as well as the supreme scientific event. The sublime mission of modern education is to reveal the true importance of this story for the total range of human and earthly affairs. The greatest single need at present is the completion of the story, as told in its physical dimensions by science, by the more integral account that includes the numinous and consciousness dimensions of the emergent universe from its primordial moment. Once that is done, a meaningful universe, a functional cosmology, is available as a foundation for the total range of human activities in the ecological age.” ~ Thomas Berry
Until very recently, human beings have always had some sort of relevant story that we told each other to make some sense of the world we live in, and to give it meaning. Right now we are in between stories, or more accurately, the stories that have served us well for a long time are no longer accurate in light of the discoveries we have made over the last hundred years or so. But most of us haven’t learned or been told the new story, or haven’t taken the time to digest what it really means if we do know the story. Coined by Thomas Berry, the term “The Great Story” has come to symbolize this continually evolving expression of the living creation mythology for our times.
A handful of authors, poets, musicians, and artists have had the vision to embrace the new story, and are learning how to share this new story with the rest of us through their creations. The Gaia Community College is primarily concerned with the discovery of The Great Story in all of it’s guises, and spreading the new story as widely as possible so that we may begin the journey of healing ourselves and the community that we are a part of.
Numerous examples of the forms that The Great Story has taken so far can be found in our Recommended Reading section. We are also extraordinarily excited about the Global MindShift multimedia library and community along these lines. They are definitely surfing the zuvuya of contemporary awareness. If you discover or are aware of other contributions in this vein, please let us know to include within these pages. Together we will reinvent a healthy human, and give birth to the new earth.
“Our scientific understanding of the universe, when recounted as story, takes on the role formerly fulfilled by the mythic stories of creation. The time has come to lower our voices, to cease imposing our mechanistic patterns on the biological processes of the earth, to resist the impulse to control, to command, to force, to oppress, and to begin quite humbly to follow the guidance of the larger community on which all life depends.” ~ Thomas Berry
