Evolutionary Conscious...

Evolution - An Integrative Force

“We have to realize that evolution has leapt beyond the biological context,” says evolutionary philosopher Steve McIntosh in Integral Consciousness and the Future of Evolution.

In the last twenty years, not only Steve McIntosh but also philosopher Ken Wilber has focused on evolution happening in both the interior and exterior worlds of consciousness and matter (cosmos) while also examining the Individual and collective levels of consciousness and culture (shared values).

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, the French Jesuit priest and paleontologist, wrote in the early 1900’s, “Is evolution a theory, a system, or a hypothesis? It is much more: it is a general condition to which all theories, all hypotheses, all systems must bow and which they must satisfy henceforth if they are to be thinkable and true. Evolution is a light which illuminates all facts, a curve that all lines must follow.” (The Phenomenon of Man, 2008, p. 219) To learn more about Teihard’s ideas go to. This link contains a transcript only without slides, but is very comprehensive.

What does evolution in this large overarching sense have to do with us and with our world?

We know our planet, our cultures and institutions are experiencing profound dysfunction and breakdown. The need for a new vision, a new paradigm along with workable models for living has never been greater than now.

Evolution, as an all-pervasive process, seems to hold the promise. Entering into a deeper grasp of this all-pervasive process will challenge our old ways of seeing ourselves, culture, cosmos, and even God. We humans will know (urged from the Spirit of God within) that we are the consciousness of the cosmos, the universe. If this idea seems mind-blowing and radical – it is!

To learn more about this process YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SUMMER SYMPOSIUM 2014, ‘Becoming Agents of Evolutionary Change’.  Find out more HERE.

Science has established factually that we are 13.8 billion years old – going back to the “Big Bang” and the emergence of stars whose elements are found in our bodies. Tracing the evolutionary process from its beginning up to now is going on and has been for the last two hundred years. Only in the last twenty years have this research and knowledge gained rapid ground through authors and researchers already mentioned as well as many others.

The evolutionary way of understanding “everything” is now beginning to take deeper root. Unlike previous philosophical systems it is as yet unformed in mainstream societies.  This evolutionary understanding is in progress, and as Henri Bergson, evolutionary philosopher and Nobel laureate, wrote in Creative Evolution (1907), “…it [evolutionary thinking] will only be built by the collective and progressive effort of many thinkers, of many observers also, competing, correcting and improving one another.”

Each one of us is in process of becoming, of evolving. The question is, “Am I evolving consciously, with intent, with others similarly wanting something better for everyone?”

Hopefully in our search to make our world more “whole,” we will discover an evolutionary way of viewing ourselves, our culture and our cosmos and be in tune with the Source that originated the “Whole” of creation and of which we are an integral part.

Mary Vandersteen, csj

 

What inspires people to join in the common cause for a life-giving future?

What can inspire billions of people with very different worldviews to join in the common cause of a just and healthy, beautiful, and life-giving future?

Happening, right now, there is a fresh way of identifying who and what we are and why we are here in this universe as humans. This is a way that makes sense both scientifically and spiritually.

What is this new way or perspective? It is an evolutionary awareness that affects everything that exists within and around us from the personal to the cosmic.

David Sloan Wilson, evolutionary biologist and a pioneer in the evolution of religion, writes, “I look forward to the day when evolutionary theory becomes part of the basic training for all people who study and run our governments and economics”.

It is not only government and economic leaders but also all those who influence others in any capacity who are now becoming involved in this evolutionary (or integral) approach. Would you like to:

  • Deal differently with polarization?
  • Engage conflict in new ways?
  • Learn to live differently?

 THAT IS WHY YOU ARE INVITED TO PARTICIPATE IN THE SUMMER SYMPOSIUM 2014 CALLED

Becoming Agents of Evolutionary Change’

The Symposium, sponsored by the Sisters of St. Joseph in Canada, in partnership with King’s University College will be held July 4-6, 2014 at King’s, UWO, 266 Epworth Avenue, London ON. This event is planned to include a wide variety of participants such as teachers, school principals, chaplains, social workers, spiritual directors, Associates/Companions, community leaders etc.

The Keynote speaker, Carter Phipps, is author of the book Evolutionaries: Unlocking the Spiritual and Cultural Potential of Science’s Greatest Idea. He is also a journalist and leading voice in the emerging “evolutionary worldview” which combines the insights of Integral Philosophy, evolutionary science, developmental psychology, the social sciences, and evolutionary spirituality.

Our other presenter is Sue Wilson, csj. Sue is the Director of the Office for Systemic Justice for the Canadian Federation of the Sisters of St. Joseph where she is involved in research, advocacy, education and activism on a variety of justice issues. She has a Ph.D. in moral theology with a focus on social ethics.

To view a brochure, to register and to find out about accommodation possibilities please visit the Symposium 2014 webpage at http://www.etouches.com/ehome/79110.To follow us on Facebook connect at https://www.facebook.com/summersymposium2014.

We look forward to meeting and having you participate in this exciting new venture!

Mary Vandersteen, csj & Ann Steadman, Associate

 

 

Engaging Evolutionary Consciousness

What I find wonderful and hopeful, despite our current ‘natural’ and human-made disasters, is the basic reality that we live in an evolving cosmos. This is a scientific fact. The whole universe, some 13.7 billion years of it, is constantly moving and changing. The human species is also evolving, recently by means of technology more than by biology. Our cultures and our consciousness, individually and collectively, are continually developing. Both the fields of sociology and developmental psychology provide evidence that this is so.

God is constantly beckoning us forward! Ilia Delio, OSF, in her book The Emergent Christ states the following: “The God of evolution is the God of adventure, a God who loves to do new things and is always new.”

Letting go of tried, trusted concepts and then opening to new ideas, novel ways of thinking is a challenge for most of us. A group, in the London neighbourhood, which included Sisters, Associates and friends, has done just that!

Throughout a six session study group based on the Evolutionaries, by Carter Phipps, we have explored the emerging evolutionary worldview and engaged with the concept of “evolutionary consciousness”. We have been asked to break the “spell of solidity” (that everything will remain the same), to recognize that all of the universe is “moving”, “becoming” and that, as a human species, we are not only a part of this process, but also integral to it. And, as humans, at this point in the Great Story of “God’s evolving design”, we have a responsibility to make conscious choices that can positively affect the cosmic unfolding.

Wow! What a possibility and what a responsibility! Amen . . . Hebrew for “May it be so”