Changes Coming in CES
When we begin our CES Service Group meetings we begin by reciting
We are about the Great Work . . . the Work of moving on from a terminal Cenozoic, to an emerging Ecozoic era in the history of the planet Earth . . . which is the Great Work!
We firmly believe this is the Great Work of our time. It guides us, inspires us, and gives meaning and purpose to our lives. As a group, we of CES devote ourselves to understanding the Great Work and sharing what we have learned, and enabling others to share what they have learned, with others.
CES is about providing space for deeper reflection and enabling community transformation. We play two primary roles:
- “Companioning” (sharing the journey with) people in the Great Work. The Great Work is difficult, and humanity will likely face increasingly difficult circumstances.
- Being a place for developing and sharing visions, ideas, and applications for the Great Work.
What makes CES distinctive is that we apply Thomas Berry’s principles in a real world context—that of an urbanized, globalized, technology- and energy-dependent world—with the intent to realize an ecozoic future. We also consider it distinctive that we strive to push beyond meliorism (incremental progress toward an ever-receding goal) to what is really required for a viable future.
With this as background, this summer will be a transitional time for CES. This will be the last issue of CES Musings. We began publishing Musings in January 2007, ten years ago. In its place, beginning not later than September, we will begin publishing a new online magazine, one that will likely come out 10 times a year—once a month except for the summer issue (July-August) and the holiday issue (November-December). We have not decided the format or name. We will be emailing you and asking what you would like to see and how you would like to participate in this publication.
Our other publication is The Ecozoic. We will shortly be publishing our next issue. It will contain papers delivered at the 2014 CES Colloquium on “Thomas Berry’s Work: Development, Difference, Importance, Applications.” In the fall we will publish another issue which will contain CES’s “Foundational Papers.” We may or may not change the name of this publication.
In regard to events and educational programs, going forward we will target programs intended to inform and guide people engaged in the Great Work.
On the “collaborations” side, we will continue to work with EcoCiv and many other groups.
On the constituent services side, we will send out an email to you with a request for feedback in this area. We have several things in mind.
Finally, on the administrative side we will continue our long journey of improving our operations and services.
These are the areas in which we do, and will continue to do, our work:
- Publications
- Events
- Educational programs
- Research
- Collaborations
- Constituent Services
- Administration
We are looking forward to this next leg of the journey.