Spaceship Earth

Earth - "The Blue Marble" is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft en route to the Moon at a distance of about 18,300 mi.

"In the second Axial Age, if the shift in consciousness does occur, it will apparently not happen this time through the return of a Jesus or a Buddha or a Mohammed but rather through the commitment of their followers to bring about the return of their presence by reflecting the mind, consciousness, and actions of the founders of their religions. Those of us who grasp the reality of our situation are faced with a stark choice: transform or die!" ~ Harvey Honig

Harvey H. Honig's 2022 book, A People's Guide to An Interfaith Christian Theology in a Time of Transformation, uses the metaphor of Spaceship Earth careening toward destruction. Honig tells an evolutionary story, [very abreviated] below:

"Over billions of years, one cluster of matter formed, the third planet from the sun, and as it orbited the sun, an atmosphere was created that allowed the development of life, originally as particles that coalesced into atoms, then into primitive single-celled life forms...

Over long periods of time, through evolutionary shifts involving the processes of complexification and emergence, this Spaceship Earth developed an amazing proliferation of plant and animal life forms...

Eventually, these early life forms developed the ability to use a form of adaptive intelligence to begin to shape and influence the nature of their experience on this spaceship and thereby increase their chances of survival...."

Adaptive intelligence "fostered the evolution of an interactive dynamic of cooperative synthesis in which systems of plant and animal life fed on each other and supported each other.

One chain of animal species eventually evolved into a species that utilized a relatively large and complex brain to improve its capacity for survival through toolmaking and cooperation. This species eventually developed an offshoot that we know as the hominoid branch. Over millions of years, descendants of this branch developed a brain that was capable of consciousness, curiosity, self-reflection, emotional intelligence, and altruism..."

"For most of its journey, the beings in this spaceship depended on nature as they found it. The more complex life forms developed the ability to move around to increase their access to food and other resources, and the hominoid species developed a symbiotic relationship of domestication with several animal species. The humans fed and took care of the animals, and the animals fed the humans. Most of these animals also fed on plant life. [Pre-Axial] life in the spaceship was not yet seen as something to be controlled and managed, but rather as an evolving, interactive synthesis of mutual survival...."

[During the first Axial Age (800-200 BCE), human consciousness shifted to a new level due to a complexity of factors, including technology, socialization, urbanization, politicization, and economics. This reflected a new sense of self in relation to the cosmos. Settlements and city-states formed.]

The cost of this development of individuality and culture/technology was the loss of the primal connection with nature and with the collective. It was a loss of connection with the Metákuye Oyás'in, as the Lakota describe that connection, in which all beings are interrelated within a cosmic order.

Instead of living off the land, people began to stake out territory they called “their” land, and the concept of individual ownership developed. This development eventuated in increasing conflicts over land, property, and power.

Eventually, city-states became nations, and the wars and conflicts over property continued. Initially, these conflicts were skirmishes, but as they intensified and became wars, the collateral impact and loss of life among noncombatants increased...

Written language accentuated the development of the left brain (the rational/logical/individual control aspect of the brain) at the expense of the right brain (holistic control of the brain) view of the spaceship journey.

It also accelerated the development of a view of the relationship of masculine/feminine into one of dominance and control rather than a partnership of equality and division of labor.

These developments paralleled the shift in the view of nature from knowing it as our source, the milieu in which we all live, to a view of nature that required humans to be dominating and controlling it for our own use..."

A Faustian bargain evolved whereby "written language facilitated the expansion and storage of information and technology, as well as food and other resources, that furthered our mastery and control of nature.

These developments also led to the ability to exercise mastery and control over others through the accumulation of power, wealth, and resources. Unfortunately, this process of mastery and accumulation required ever greater growth and expansion.

A cycle developed in which people acquired more and more, but were never satisfied. Individuals amassed great wealth, and empires were built out of this insatiable drive for possession and control. Indigenous people who lived in harmony with the land were often exterminated as a threat and obstacle to this development..."

"By the time of these developments, the spaceship had been orbiting for billions of years, but the evolution of life and individual consciousness was a relatively recent development. It led to the result that some groups within the spaceship attained the ability to significantly alter conditions for others and to destroy each other on a larger scale. Also, for these groups, religion was increasingly in service of the nation/empire, and the religious caste supported control and domination over other people rather than connection with the divine and with others.

"Eventually, after a relatively short period of the total voyage, these empires had developed the need for domination to the point where wars became constant, and the insatiable ambition of the rulers led them to eliminate any threat to their power, including from members of their own families. In this culture, fathers raised their sons to be tough warriors and discouraged compassion or nurturing qualities. Boys were taught to subdue any natural compassion for the feminine or for nature. This harsh training led to great suffering, but it was thought that this suffering made them into tougher and stronger men, more prepared to fight. In this culture, life often became a survival of the fittest, which came to mean the strongest and most ruthless, leading to such an imbalance that this dominance imperative threatened constant war and destruction for the “civilized” part of the spaceship..."

"In a parallel development during this period, the political powers became adept at using both religion and science to further their attempts to control and dominate more and more of the spaceship. Consequently, the period of the journey experienced by the inhabitants as the nineteenth and twentieth centuries was marked by endless wars and empire building among the major powers.

Neither religion nor science was very successful in containing these destructive wars and, in fact, often became tools in support of their own nation and its political ambitions. Once again, the unchecked ambition of the powerful elites was threatening to destroy the viability of the life forms aboard the spaceship."

Neither religion nor science was very effective in slowing or preventing this imminent approaching destruction. Much of religion was involved in total denial that the threat was even happening. These elements became more and more allied with the zealous elements of religion. According to their belief, only the ritually and religiously pure, who acted and believed in the way their interpretation of this divine being required, would be saved.

Within the dominant empire of that time, the United States, this “true believer” faction united with the dominant political and economic powers to further their own control and power, even while they were themselves being used by these ruling powers to further their own interests. This “true believer” religious faction supported the economic megaliths in helping to create distrust of the scientists and engineers on the spaceship who were demonstrating that the ship’s atmosphere was rapidly moving out of control. Unfortunately, science was no more effective because it was just as corrupted by the dominant powers."

There is an emerging awareness of the need for a second Axial Age. "It began to be clear to the more conscious members of both the scientific and religious communities that unless we transitioned from our narrow survival of the fittest/domination strategy, advanced life within the spaceship was doomed. Even though the spaceship itself would survive with primitive life forms, another long period of evolution would be required to re-create advanced life systems."

"We stand at an important divide in our history. On one level, this crisis is manifested in the physical, material world as the inevitable result of our wars and our plundering of nature. It is a proven reality that our world and our quality of life is rapidly deteriorating. To people who look at the larger picture, it makes no sense to fight over who is in control of the spaceship Titanic, or who is right or wrong. Our instruments clearly demonstrate that unless we immediately begin to shift our course, we will face a wholesale loss of life and quality of life. Ultimately, however, the crisis is one of consciousness, which is manifested in our relationship to outer reality. It is our consciousness that needs to change if we are to survive." ~ Harvey Honig

There is a lot more to recommend this book than this story. Honig's book is another important voice calling out the urgency of cultural transformation toward higher consciousness, a new religious understanding consistent with what we know from science, and appropriate actions.

I remain hopeful that we will transition from the new "Dark Ages" and once again into greater light. It may take generations and many decades, but there is a positive, forward trajectory of evolution toward greater complexity and unity.

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Honig writes that Ilia Delio's 2013 book "The Unbearable Wholeness of Being is an excellent synthesis of the work of Teilhard de Chardin. Delio applies Chardin’s insights to our current scientific understanding of the world as well as integrating many other scholars and visionaries of the Church. Her whole book is a beautiful, well-articulated vision of where the Holy Spirit is moving us today. Her work in helping explicate and disseminate the insights of Chardin is, to me, the equivalent of the work of Thomas Huxley in popularizing and disseminating the work of Darwin."

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Book release note from the C. G. Jung Institute of Chicago: A People’s Guide to an Interfaith Christian Theology in a Time of Transformation

"Harvey H. Honig began his life’s work as a Lutheran minister but soon recognized his need for a more spacious and inclusive approach through which to heal and understand his inner self. This led him to spend many years exploring and experiencing other paths of religion and spirituality. In recent years, though, he found that the message, mission, and being of Jesus still played a powerful and transformative role in his life.

Since common understandings of the life of Jesus are embedded within a biblical and historical framework, Honig wanted to explore the meaning of Christianity within the framework of our current world. 

An Interfaith Christian Theology is for fellow seekers who are drawn to the being and message of Jesus but can no longer relate to the dissonance between reality and belief that so many churches require.

Honig’s approach differs from traditional Christian theology in two ways: first, it does not stem from the framework of a specific denomination, and second, it presents itself as a way of thinking about Christianity rather than the only way.

After several years as a minister, Honig began Jungian analytic training and earned a PhD in psychology at Loyola University Chicago. Jung gave Honig the tools he needed to continue his personal search for a life-affirming view of Christianity and to assist others in their search for inner truth and healing."

#HarveyHonig #CarlJung #IliaDelio #TeilharddeChardin