Living Between the No Longer and the Not Yet
Peter Berry
Editor’s Note: Peter Berry lives in Washington State. He is one of forty-five nephews and nieces of Thomas Berry. The following is an excerpt from the article he wrote entitled “Uncle Brother and the Celts,” which appeared in the recently published “Living Legacy of Thomas Berry,” the sixth issue of CES’s Ecozoic Journal.
Based on a combination of Thomas’s vision for the reinvention of the human presence on the Earth for a mutually enhancing relationship with other life forms and life systems and my Uncle Jim Berry’s circulars from the Center for Reflection on the Second Law (of Thermodynamics), I for the past decade have led a study group called “Seedbearers: Living between the No Longer and the Not Yet.”
Here is how I have described this group to potentially interested newcomers:
- Signs of the decline of our western industrial civilization are apparent everywhere. What is the optimum mode of human presence on the planet that we can envision to replace the outmoded one as it falls away? Guided by cosmologist Thomas Berry’s statement that “The Universe is a communion of subjects, not a collection of objects,” we’ll spend the monthly sessions looking at diverse sources of inspiration and guidance. These will include ancient Egyptian examples and insights of humans living in a civilization based on communion with the divine. I’ve been deeply inspired by two trips to Egypt I’ve taken in recent years. We’ll also consider modern practical experiences and spiritual approaches to connecting with the consciousness of the natural world in order to reinvent the human presence on the planet for the future . . . a future in which we have a mutually enhancing presence with the other life forms and life systems of Earth.
- The course will draw upon sources of information and inspiration from science (astronomy and physics), cosmology, mystical poetry, and the works of a variety of contemporary authors focused on the transformations humanity is experiencing. Reading lists will be provided for both required and suggested (optional) reading, but the class sessions will have an experiential focus, and our priority will be exploring consciousness connections together through meditation and mediation.
- We will use meditation and other simple practices taught to me by R.J. Stewart and Anastacia Nutt to come into communion with the spiritual powers within the heart of all things. We’ll attune to specific primal energies and consciousness in shared responsibility and collaboration. We will learn and use effective techniques that anyone can use in daily life to deepen their personal attunement to Divinity. This work is ongoing, and the participants report deep value in participating.
