Thomas Berry

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The Dream of Earth (1988) and The Universe Story (1992, written with cosmologist Brian Swimme) reflect on the interdependence of all life and call for nothing less than a new epoch of earth history, the 'Ecozoic,' in which humankind accepts the unprecedented magnitude of its current impact on nature and then undertakes a change of heart and mind that goes far beyond recycling. 'The remedy for our dilemma is a deep cultural therapy,' says Berry. 'We must come to see the natural world not as a collection of objects, but a communion of subjects; and subjects have rights.'

This vision, which looks back to the great French scientist-priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, also looks forward to the transformation of contemporary society; and one of Berry's current concerns is working out the terms of the transformation of the 'establishments'--university, government, church, and business. 'We must transform all four,' Berry insists, 'because all four operate on the basis of disconnection between the natural and human worlds.'

Where does this scholarly prophet go for precedent and hope in this immense enterprise? To the Middle Ages, among other times and places. 'People in the 11th, 12th, and 13th centuries felt that they were engaged in what they called a Great Work--the establishment of a finer civilization after the chaos of the Dark Ages,' says Berry. 'There is a Great Work for us to do too, and as we do it, it will not only give us a better world--it will give us a reason to live.'

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