← First thoughts . . .
Spiritual practices are often deeply related to stories of religious figures. Christian contemplatives engage in lectio divina or holy reading of the Bible and thus are thoroughly familiar with its many narratives from the foundational creation stories to the four Gospels and Paul’s letters. Buddhist meditators know the story of Prince Siddhārtha Gautama of the Shakya clan who became known as the Buddha. Hindus revere the Bhagavad Gita and other stories found in the Mahabharata, the Ramayana, and the Puranas. Jews and Muslims also have their sacred narratives, many of which are shared with Christians.
We need something that will supply in our times what was supplied formerly by our traditional religious story. If we are to achieve this purpose, we must begin where everything begins in human affairs – with the basic story, our narrative of how things came to be, how they came to be as they are, and how the future can be given some satisfying direction. We need a story that will educate us, a story that will heal, guide, and discipline us.
I see the terrifying spaces of the universe that enclose me, and I find myself attached to a corner of this vast expanse, without knowing why I am more in this place than in another, nor why this little time that is given me to live is assigned me at this point more than another out of all the eternity that has preceded me and out of all that will follow me.
These numbers confirm what I’ve found to be the case during my involvement in theological research over the past four decades. The writings of Rachel Carson, Aldo Leopold, and others as well as climate change data being gathered by the scientific community, have had a significant impact on theologians and other religious writers, causing them to regard the natural world as a major focus of their work.
Berry argues that until quite recently we’ve had two narratives, a redemption story based on scripture and a creation story based on scientific research. Despite many worthwhile efforts to reconcile religion and science, the lack of a unifying vision led to the formation of two significant but intellectually separate segments in our society, a redemption community (most prominently evangelical Christians) and a creation community (secular scientists). I hope that we are beginning to see greater collaboration between the two groups.
For anyone wishing to read Berry’s essay, it is available on the web as a PDF.
This entry was posted in Beginnings and tagged The New Story, Thomas Berry. Bookmark the permalink.