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April 18, 2023, from 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m, PDT or on Zoom - Congregational UCC-Ashland , as part of their Adult Education program, is presenting: Human Energy Project , a series of videos on the Noosphere, "…the sphere of thought enveloping the Earth.” Bring a lunch or snack and join the group in person in the Common Room, 717 Siskiyou Blvd. Ashland OR or online. Human Energy Project "Ben K. Kacyra is co-founder and President of the Kacyra Family Foundation (KFF), which initiated the Human Energy pilot project to study the techno/social dilemma of human action until its independent spin-off in July 2021." Human Energy was founded "to share a new scientific story introducing the Noosphere and Third Story as a source of meaning for future generations in our globalizing world." From Human Energy's YouTube Channel : "Human Energy was founded to share a new scientific & cosmic story introducing the noosphere as a source of meaning for future generations in our globalizing world. "Today we face the unprecedented challenges of rapid social change and new technologies which, together with the scientific picture of an aimless universe, have created a crisis of orientation." "Human Energy was founded by scientists, scholars, artists, and storytellers to highlight the causal conditions of our challenges and provide solutions for current and future generations. We articulate these solutions through the " Third Story " worldview with a focus on the emerging noosphere." "We are beginning to visualize the noosphere’s formation; study its potential future scenarios as humanity takes more and more control of its future course; and explore how human beings connecting across the world may realize themselves socially and individually in its development." A 2019 KFF YouTube video reveals the early discussion among participating scholars. A 2020 KFF YouTube video captures highlights of a 2020 workshop discussion of "a hopeful vision of humanity’s future." Participants include Terrence W. Deacon , Kevin Kelly , Brian Thomas Swimme , Paul Turnbull , Francis Heylighen , Paul Verschure , David Sloan Wilson , Ellen Rigsby , Michael Pirson , and Marta Lenartowicz This PowerPoint presentation by Ben Kacyra can help us understand the context of these video. The Noosphere According to Wikipedia, “The noosphere is a philosophical concept developed and popularized by the Russian-Ukrainian Soviet biogeochemist Vladimir Vernadsky , and the French philosopher and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . " As a Jesuit priest, Teilhard had a perspective of ecumenism , encouraging cooperation and union among Christian denominations and churches. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s book The Phenomenon of Ma n , “postulates man as situated in an evolving universe, describing the evolutionary process of matter, life, thought and mind as originating from a oneness that has an evolutionary purpose.” Global Consciousness The Global Consciousness Project (GCP) at Princeton University postulates that “subtle interactions link us with each other and the Earth… when a great event synchronizes the feelings of millions of people, our network of Random Number Generators (RNGs) becomes subtly structured.“ Evidence suggests an emerging noosphere or the unifying field of consciousness described by sages in all cultures.” The Institute of Noetic Sciences provides a logistical home for the GCP. Roger D. Nelson runs the Global Consciousness Project (GCP), an international collaboration studying mass consciousness. and has a 2019 book Connected: The Emergence of Global Consciousness. DeepTime Network Deeptime Network is a diverse community of people looking for the grand narrative of the universe as a foundational context for everything. DTN draws for four lineages: Cosmic Montessori Education, New Story, Big History, and Gaia and Systems Theory lineage. DTN is a project of The Deep Time Journey Network, a 501(c)(3) non-profit in Princeton New Jersey, founded to build a global community, offer courses, and share resources. DTN is Inspired by the work of Thomas Berry, Brian Swimme, Maria Montessori, Lynn Margulis , James Lovelock , and numerous others, DTN founder is Jennifer Morgan . Some Spiritual/Faith-Based Climate Movements Although the Human Energy Project is humanitarian, not theological, and concepts of Omega, singularity, etc. are beyond its scope, the concepts are embraced by some spiritual communities and movements. Creation Spirituality Communities is connecting with the Deeptime Network in their Global Kinship: Exploring the Emerging Noosphere interview with Brian Swimme. Check out their Global Kinship Matthew Fox interview of February 2, 2023 . The 2014 book From Teilhard to Omega: Creating an Unfinished Universe (Ilia Delio, editor) reviews Teilhard de Chardin's books and thoughts from a Catholic point of view. Delio's 2020 book Re-Enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Religion explores axial consciousness, relational wholeness, and posthuman spirituality; this is a must-read book in my opinion. The book is well-written and worthy of study, but it is dense with concepts that build upon each other and the viewpoints of numerous scholars.

What should we be doing in the face of the rise of a new sort of intelligence? Can there be such a thing as an ethical AI? And in what cases is it best to think of AI as a baby? Yuval Noah Harari joins Poppy Harlow at the ‪@WSJNews‬  Leadership Institute to examine the role of AI in business and decision-making, how the AI revolution is like the Industrial Revolution, and what such revolutions mean for our jobs. Recorded on June 21, 2025 as part of the WSJ's CEO Council in London.. On June 6, 2025, PBS News Weekend   reporter Ali Rogin interviewed Karen Hao about her new book Empire of AI: Dreams and Nightmares in Sam Altman's OpenAI  released May 20, 2025, i nvestigating OpenAI, the company behind ChatGPT. Hao says: " Many, many different types of AI technologies are hugely beneficial - task-specific models that are meant to target solving a specific, well-scoped challenge -like integrating renewable energy into the grid, weather prediction, drug discovery, health care, where you identify cancer earlier on in an MRI scan," but... "The threat is when we reach an age where people at the top can just do whatever they want, develop this technology however they want, deploy it however they want, and potentially lead to mass environmental consequences, mass economic consequences, huge amounts of job loss." ~ Karen Hao Wikipedia says Hao's book "focuses on the history of OpenAI and its culture of secrecy and devotion to the promise of artificial general intelligence (AGI). It includes interviews with around 260 people, correspondence, and relevant documents. Hao visited OpenAI's offices and covered the company for the MIT Technology Review   two years before ChatGPT was released. Her experience there and reporting on topics of AI for seven years led her to write Empire Of AI ." The book's title refers to the colonial empires of the 1800s. " What we are seeing in the real world right now is that this particular AI paradigm is creating an enormous consolidation of economic and political power in the hands of these companies. "Empire of AI" is a nod to the argument that these companies need to be thought of as new forms of empire because they are laying claim to extraordinary historic levels of resources. They are exploiting an extraordinary amount of labor, they are monopolizing knowledge production." "Most of the people in the world are going to feel this loss of agency in determining their own future. And when people do not feel that they have a voice to self-determine, democracy dies. So the greatest threat is to democracy." AGI refers to a theoretical pinnacle of AI research: a piece of software that has just as much sophistication, agility, and creativity as the human mind to match or exceed its performance on most (economically valuable) tasks.

This Image was generated by ChatGPT and has errors in only showing 6 Ages (missing the Ocean Age 1,500-1,800 BCE and using a wrong image for the Industrial Age). It is shown here to illustrate both the potential power and problems with AI technology, which has accelerated since Sachs' 2020 book! Jeffrey D. Sachs' 2020 book T he Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions grew out of three lectures given in 2017 at the Oxford School of Geography and Environment. The book was published as the COVID-19 epidemic was emerging, adding emphasis on our current accelerating globalization. Sachs emphasizes the need for new methods of international governance and cooperation to prevent conflicts and to achieve economic, social, and environmental objectives aligned with sustainable development. " Today’s most urgent problems are fundamentally global. They require nothing less than concerted, planetwide action if we are to secure a long-term future." The book traces the Seven Ages of Globalization - distinct waves of technological and institutional change shaped by geography: Paleolithic (70,000 - 10,000 BCE) Neolithic (10,000 - 3,000 BCE) Equestrian (3,000 - 1,000 BCE) Classical (1,000 BCE - 1500 CE) Ocean (1,500 - 1,800 CE) Industrial (1,800 - 2,000 CE) Digital (The 21st century) As a geographer, I love the book because it is full of maps and presents a visual history of humanity's interrelationship with the natural environment as it has evolved and is now facing an uncertain future. It is the book I wish was written 60 years ago during my college and university studies because it integrates cultural evolution, economics, politics, technology, institutions, and ethics/religion. It is consistent with the most recent understandings of science and cosmology of the universe. Sachs' book reminds me of the Human Energy Project's 30 short YouTube videos narrated by Brian Thomas Swimme about the 3rd Story of the noosphere - a planetary mind, an evolving living organism, the unfolding of a mind-like universe with a common sense of meaning and purpose. We have stumbled into the twenty-first century with our "Stone Age emotions, medieval institutions, and godlike technolgy." ~ E. O. Wilson Jeffery Sachs  is an economist, the Director of The Earth Institute's Center for Sustainable Development   at Columbia University, President of the United Nations   Sustainable Development Solutions Network , and UN Advocate for the   Sustainable Development Goals  (SDGs) , - a set of 17 global goals adopted at a UN summit meeting in September 2015. Sachs' other most recent book is A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2020), where he says: " The American Century began in 1941 and ended on January 20, 2017 [when Donald Trump was sworn into his first Presidency]... The current turn toward nationalism and “America first” unilateralism in foreign policy will not make America great. Instead, it represents the abdication of our responsibilities in the face of severe environmental threats, political upheaval, mass migration, and other global challenges." Sachs also authored three earlier New York Times best-sellers The End of Poverty (2006), Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet (2008), The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity (2011). In addition, Columbia University Pres s has published several books by Sachs: To Move the World: JFK's Quest for Peace (2014), The Age of Sustainable Development (2015), Building the New American Economy: Smart, Fair, and Sustainabl e (2017), and A New Foreign Policy: Beyond American Exceptionalism (2020). Sachs is also a contributing editor in Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development (2022), Against Happiness (2023), and Escaping the Resource Curse (2007). #JefferySachs #globalization #Sustainability #SDG #UnitedNations #ForeignPolicy #HumanEnergy #BrianSwimme

June 24, 2025 - Today the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network   (SDSN) released their 10th edition of the Sustainable Development Report   (SDR). "Produced by the SDSN’s SDG Transformation Center , the SDR has provided the most up-to-date data to track and rank the performance of all UN Member States on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) since 2016." This year’s SDR includes the SDG Index and Dashboards , which rank all UN Member States on their performance across the 17 Goals and features a new Index (SDGi), which focuses on 17 headline indicators to track overall SDG progress. "Ahead of the June 30, 2025-July 3, 2025 4th International Conference on Financing for Development (FfD4), the report outlines urgent reforms to the Global Financial Architecture (GFA) that should be adopted during the conference to unlock the financing needed to achieve the SDGs." "On the heels of the 80th anniversary of the creation of the UN System, the report also provides improved measures to track countries’ support for and engagement with the UN system via its UN Multilateralism Index  (UN-Mi). "Some key findings from the Sustainable Development Report: Global commitment for the SDGs remains strong : 190 of 193 UN Member States have participated in Voluntary National Reviews. Progress is lagging : Only 17% of SDG targets are on track for 2030, hindered by conflict, vulnerabilities, and fiscal constraints. Top performers : Nordic countries again top the Index – Finland (#1), Sweden (#2), Denmark (#3), Germany (#4), and France (#5). Fastest progress : Since 2015, East and South Asian countries have shown the most improvement – Nepal (+11.1), Cambodia (+10), the Philippines (+8.6), Bangladesh (+8.3), and Mongolia (+7.7). Commitment to multilateralism : Barbados leads again in UN-based multilateralism commitment, while the United States ranks last. Financing the future : The GFA must be overhauled to fund global public goods and sustainable development." "Ten years after the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), progress remains alarmingly off-track, with less than 20% of targets projected to be achieved by 2030. Yet, global averages mask stark disparities across regions and countries in SDG progress. Despite these challenges, commitment remains high among the majority of UN Member States, reveals the 10th edition of the Sustainable Development Report (SDR), released today by the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN)." Read the SDR 2025 SDG Index & Dashboards Read the Press Release "A decade after the adoption of Agenda 2030 and the SDGs, 190 of the 193 UN member states have participated in the Voluntary National Review (VNR) process, presenting their SDG implementation plans and sustainable development priorities to the international community. The European Union and State of Palestine have also presented VNRs. Most UN member states have presented two or more VNRs, and 39 countries volunteered to present one in 2025. Only three UN member states have not taken part in the VNR process: Haiti, Myanmar, and the United States." "The United States ranks last in the world in the 2025 Index of Countries’ Support to UN-Based Multilateralism (UN-Mi)." "In early 2025, the United States announced its withdrawal from the Paris Climate Agreement and the World Health Organization (WHO) and formally declared its opposition to the SDGs and the 2030 Agenda." "The overall cost of UN operations is a paltry sum – just US $46 billion in 2023 (the year of most recent data) compared with US $2.4 trillion spent worldwide on the military that year. The United States paid US $13 billion towards UN operations in 2023, compared with US $916 billion on military outlays."

June 22–29, 2025 - The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) 2025 Conference : Spiritual Experience: A Scientific, Philosophical, and Theological Retreat  is being held at Star Island , NH. "Recent decades have seen a surge in scientific, philosophical, and theological research into the processes of “spiritual” transformation. This research has led to a more complete, science-based understanding of how we can intentionally open ourselves to spiritual experiences, including physical, psychological, and even substance-induced methods. Evidence suggests we have a biologically ingrained “spiritual core”—a central and innermost part of ourselves—that is typically outside our conscious awareness. However, there are ways to access and engage this core, and when people do, they often describe the experience as mystical or numinous." Pre-conference papers are online for review: Chatlos, John Calvin. 2024. “ Spiritual Experience: Scientific, Philosophical and Theological Implications ”   Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 59 (4): 949–81. James Winkelman, Michael. 2024. “ Consilience in Developing a Multidisciplinary Framework of Spirituality: Scientific Commentary on Chatlos .”   Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science  59 (4): 982–95.  Hedlund, Nicholas. 2024. “ Toward a Unified Science of Spiritual Experience—Visionary Realism and the Ontology of Interiority: Philosophical Commentary on Chatlos’s Framework of Spirituality .”  Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science  59 (4): 996–1012.  Watts, Fraser. 2024. “ Healing the Rift Between Theology and Spirituality: Theological Commentary on Chatlos’s Framework of Spirituality. ”  Zygon: Journal of Religion and Science 59 (4): 1013–24 .  IRAS has a monthly webinar series,  Science, Religion, and Society . Please enjoy their archive of past webinars .

I just completed putting together the pieces of this jigsaw puzzle to see the unified whole. Here's a list of some upcoming online and Rogue Valley in-person eco-spiritual activities that may interest you. Check back, as this post will be updated during June as we get additional information, and a new calendar listing will come out in late June 2025. Don't be intimidated by the scope of this list; choose to participate in just what calls to you. June 3, 20325 , from 10-10:30 a.m. PDT - The Center for Wild Spirituality is offering a free New Sacred Ecology Spiritual Practice: Celtic Earth Tarot: Sensing Sychronicty led by Valerie Luna Serrels, an eco-spiritual guide and energy intuitive who weaves the relationships between humans, the animate earth, and a living cosmos. She will engage with a way of paying attention and bringing awareness to the animate world through imagery in your immediate surroundings . RSVP June 3-9, 2025 - Science and Non-Duality (SAND) offers The Eternal Song Global Premiere and 7-Day Gathering . 🎥 Free community screenings of The Eternal Song 🌿 Live daily sessions with Indigenous voices and cultural guardians🌎 48-Hour replays if you can’t attend live📩 Daily Access Links sent straight to your inbox. View the full schedule . Reserve Your Free Spot June 7-8, 2025 , from 7 to 10 a.m. PDT— Aspen Wisdom offers The Aspen Forum on Forming a Unitive Consciousness to help us answer the question: How do we respond to the time we are living through? Speakers include Marianne Williamson, Tim Shriver, Mirabai Starr, Matthew Fox, Cynthia Bourgeault, Andrew Harvey, Sherri Mitchell, Cyprian Consiglio, Susan Aposhyan, Heather Vesey, and Nicholas Vesey. There will be special group sessions. Register here . June 10, 2025 , from 10-10:30 a.m. PDT - The Center for Wild Spiritua lit y offers a free New Sacred Ecology Spiritual Practice: Wild Ritual & Ceremony with guide   Jim Hall, who is the elder/wisdom leader for Seminary of the Wild's programs and guides.   RSVP June 10, 2025 , from 9 to 10 a.m. PDT—The BTS Center offers Navigating the Storm: Spiritual Resilience for Young Adults in a Climate-Changed World. This program is free of charge. Contributions to support the work of The BTS Center’s Climate Conscious Chaplaincy Initiative will be received with gratitude. Register here . June 11, 2025, at 10 a.m. PDT - September 21st will be a grassroots climate action to celebrate Sun Day  - the gift and power of clean energy. Join this kickoff webinar to learn about what's being planned, to get plugged into resources. Speakers for this kick-off event will include Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, Rev. Dr. Davida Foy Crabtree, Rev. Michael Malcom, Sue Mueller, and more. Register now! June 12 & 19, 2025 , from 4-5:30 p.m. PDT - Deeptime Network offers a free two-week course: The Cosmic Signal: The Science and Its Implications with Sarbmeet Kanwal & Stephan Martin. Registration is required! June 14, 2025,  10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT - A No Kings in America  protest will occur in Medford, Oregon at McAndrews Road between Crater Lake Avenue and Biddle Road. June 19, 2025 - The Shift Network  offers   The Path of Christ Consciousness Nurture the Christ Within by Illuminating Your Divinity & Claiming Your Mystic Truth   - "a 6-month immersion program with Matthew Fox to explore what it means to be a modern mystic and prophet, integrating this sacred knowledge into your life through the authentic teachings of Jesus and other wisdom keepers. This journey births what Matthew calls Christianity 2.0   — based not on dogma, but on a spirituality that recovers the sacred sense of original goodness." Open to Participants by Application Only. $2,700 tuition. More information and application  here . June 21-28, 2025 -   World UNITY Week 2025 .   This year's themes are Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. World UNITY Week is the beginning of the summer solstice, and launches   99 Days of Peace Through Unity , culminating in September. The co-producers for the celebration are Unity Earth , Purpose Earth , SINE Network ,  and The Hague Center . June 22, 2025 - Integral Life offers Shared Purpose - a 12-week Zoom live group experience for community, practice, and support. Click here for more details. June 23–27, 2025 - The   International Society for the Study of Religion, Nature, and Culture  (ISSRNC) is having its 2025 Conference: Crossing Borders, Transgressing Boundaries: Religion, Migration, and Climate Change at the University of California, Santa Barbara.. June 24, 2025 - August 12, 2025 - Ed Bastian offers an 8-week InterSpiritual Mandala Course, live on Zoom . Information and Registration here . June 24, 2025 , from 6-7:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN  will have its Monthly Meeting  at Medford Public Library, 205 So. Central, Medford, OR. The topic will be: How to Go Solar + Storage and Find Incentives . Nicole Maticic, Program Manager at Solar Oregon will answer your questions about how grid-tied solar energy and battery systems work, share information about incentives available, and help you take the first step to adding solar and or battery storage on your home or business. Information Tables from related businesses and non-profits in the Rogue Valley will be available to answer your questions. June 25, 2025 - July 30, 2025 , Wednesday evenings from 5-7 p.m. PDT - The Cobb Institute offers Exploring Crises and Possibilities for Ecological Justice and Wellbeing This 6-week, Zoom course "explores visions of ecological civilization, drawing upon process-relational understandings of the cosmos, ecological movements, and central ideas and practices in diverse human communities and fields of thought. The purpose is to gather and build upon practical wisdom, seeking to dive deeply into crises and possibilities. Practical wisdom has power to transform the downward spiral of ecological destruction and to foster movements for protecting, healing, and regenerating our broken planet. Register here . September 2025 to June 2026 - The   Center for Wild Spirituality   is now making plans for their Seminary of the Wild Earth  program (their foundational, year-long, eco-spirituality certificate) and their Vocational Eco-Spirituality  certificate (specializing in Eco-Spiritual Direction or as a Wild Guide) . Click here  to join the waitlist for their 2025 cohort. September 22, 2025 – September 12, 2026   -   The Center  for  Action and  Contemplation offers an online course Essentials of Engaged Contemplation , featuring: Brian McLaren, James Finley, Richard Rohr, Dr. Barbara Holmes, Carmen Acevedo Butcher, Randy Woodley, and more. Cost: $2,100, $1,575, or $1,050. More information and registration are available here. October 24-26, 2025 - The Center for Action and Contemplation is holding its annual fall conference, ReVision: What Do We Do With Christianity? , in person in New Mexico and online. More information and registration are available here. September 20-30, 2025 - Faith in Place's Annual Environment & Spirituality Summit will feature Keynote Speaker Robin Wall Kimmerer and Carolyn Finney, PhD (storyteller, author cultural geographer) who is passionate about interrogating our past and dreaming of a future that is liberatory, just, and green. Register here . Rogue Valley Voice aggregates and curates information from many third-party sources and does not necessarily endorse all aspects of others' work. Still, we find their viewpoint provocative and interesting enough to encourage the reader to engage with and come to their understanding and actions, as they deem appropriate.

The impacts of rapid technological change are an ever-present aspect of modern life. Despite its disruptive effects, we need new technologies to solve planetary challenges, such as climate change, energy supply, and environmental pollution. But how has it affected the way we interact with one another? With ourselves? How can human institutions possibly keep up with the pace of modern change, such as the unpredictable and unintended effects of social media? These questions lead to what Human Energy calls a techno-social dilemma. The Human Energy Project defines the Techno-Social Dilemma (TSD) as "the growing prevalence of anxiety, depression, and despair in technologically advanced nations." It has taken epidemic proportions over the past decade in particular among young Americans, culminating in a mental health crisis. Its symptoms are a pervading sense of gloom and doom, meaninglessness, and pessimism about the survival of civilization. "At the individual level, it manifests as an existential crisis – a loss of meaning, direction, and values. On a global scale, it is an existential threat to our very species: the root cause of modern society’s compounding crises, from the misuse of AI and social media to climate change and geopolitical conflict." Dr. Francis Heylighen and Dr. Shima Beigi have published a 2023 paper giving a comprehensive overview of the techno-social dilemma. Read the full report here and a summary here . The 2020 Netflix movie The Social Dilemma emphasizes that "T he system that connects us also invisibly controls us. The collective lack of understanding about how these platforms actually operate has led to hidden and often harmful consequences to society—consequences that are becoming more and more evident over time, and consequences that, the subjects in The Social Dilemma suggest, are an existential threat to humanity." The Social Dilemma website has links to various YouTube videos and a reading list. In a review of the movie, Sara Hecht , Staff Writer of The Villanovan briefly mentioned the ongoing debate between the benefits and risks of social media. Eliezer Yudkowsky is co-founder of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute , an organization that seeks to identify potential existential risks from AI. The Machine Intelligence Research Institute, formerly the Singularity Institute for Artificial Intelligence, is a non-profit research institute focused since 2005 on identifying and managing potential existential risks from artificial general intelligence. MIRI's work has focused on a friendly AI approach to system design and on predicting the rate of technology development. The Center for Humane Technology is " dedicated to leading a comprehensive shift toward technology that strengthens our well-being, global democratic functioning, and shared information environment." In 2023 the Biden administration drafted an executive order on AI , but Congress has failed to address the issue.

Image generated by ChatGPT June 20, 2025 , from 4-5:30 p.m. PDT - Join Sr. Ilia Delio and Robert Nicastro for Integral Ecology in an Age of A I . Can we change our minds in a sea of information? Is real change possible? "The mind is everything: what you think, you become; yet what shapes the mind? Culture? Religion? AI? From where do our thoughts arise? What forms our ideas? Integral ecology is a consciousness of deep relationality on every level. We know this intellectually, but we do not know this psychologically, religiously, or emotionally. Deep relationality does not influence our minds in the same way as does consumerism, money, or social media. What are the obstacles? What are the invitations? And is real transformation possible?" This event is part of the Center for Christogenesis fundraiser. Register here .

June 14, 2025, 10 a.m. to 12 noon PDT - No Kings America rally will occur in Medford Oregon at McAndrews Road between Crater Lake Avenue and Biddle Road. " Donald Trump wants tanks in the street and a made-for-TV display of dominance for his birthday. A spectacle meant to look like strength. But real power isn’t staged in Washington. It rises up everywhere else." No Kings is a nationwide day of defiance. From city blocks to small towns, from courthouse steps to community parks, we’re taking action to reject authoritarianism—and show the world what democracy really looks like. We’re not gathering to feed his ego. We’re building a movement that leaves him behind. The flag doesn’t belong to Donald Trump. It belongs to us. We’re not watching history happen. We’re making  it. On June 14th, we’re showing up everywhere he isn’t—to say no thrones, no crowns, no kings

"Trump is running the Republican Party and asserting presidential power in ways unseen in American history. His requests are taken seriously. At the least, the outline he is presenting here will influence congressional deci s ions." ~ Lisa Desjardins Thanks to Lisa Desjardins, PBS News Correspondent, for this great reporting on June 3, 2025: "This news came as part of the budget “appendix” the White House released Friday , which provides 1,224 pages of numbers on how Trump wants Congress to appropriate funds next year. That was Part 2 to his 46-page initial or “skinny” budget proposal.   We read through both documents and there are some key points to understand here: Trump’s budget proposal contains many specifics, it is worth reading. But it leaves out some critical information , such as the summary tables that usually provide bottom-line cuts and spending amounts for agencies and government overall.  Without that, the overall deficit and agency effects are harder to understand. Trump’s budget would eliminate more than 40 programs and agencies. We spotted these while reading through the document. From the White House and Republican perspective, his plan to eliminate some programs underscores that he is pushing for action that others have avoided. But many of these programs have vocal advocates who say, without them, critical oversight, protections, and functions will be gone. At the same time, as you’ll see, this target list is composed mostly of programs with relatively small budgets. Eliminating them saves a sum barely worth mentioning relative to the federal deficit. Not the scale many fiscal conservatives hope to see. Example: The largest proposed elimination is the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program , or LIHEAP, a national program that helps people afford heating and energy bills. Its roughly $4 billion in funding is just .06 percent of the discretionary budget Congress controls. The Office of Management and Budget did not respond to our request for comment on the proposed cuts by the time we sent this email. Trump’s elimination list Here are programs and agencies Trump proposes to eliminate in his budget. For perspective, we are including the estimated funding amount for the current year, fiscal year 2025, when the budget provides them. Economic and jobs programs Economic development assistance programs. This provides some $2 billion in grants to economically struggling communities. Economic Development Administration. $113 million. Job Corps. More than $1.7 billion. AmeriCorps (officially known as the Corporation for National and Community Service). $976 million. Minority Business Development Agency. $68 million. Community Service Employment for Older Americans. $405 million. The Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau. NASA’s Office of Science, Tech, Engineering and Math Engagement. $143 million. Oversight Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. This office is a watchdog, tasked with making sure there is no discrimination in contracting. $111 million. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. $14 million. Health and living programs Administration for Community Living , which supports older and disabled Americans' ability to live independently. More than $2.4 billion. U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. $4 million. The Department of Health and Human Services’ Prevention and Public Health Fund. $1.4 billion in funds planned for FY 2026. Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. $338 million. Assistance programs LIHEAP , the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. More than $4.1 billion. Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. $7 million. Refugees and asylees. Cash, medical, and other social service assistance is eliminated. No summary figure given. Legal and labor programs The Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service. This division works to mediate and confront community tension. $24 million.  Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which mediates labor disputes. $54 million. Legal Services Corporation, one of the nation's largest funders of civil legal aid. $560 million.   Media and communications U.S. Agency for Global Media, which includes Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe. $857 million. Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit that distributes federal funding to public media organizations, including to NPR and PBS. This would affect local stations and programs  like the PBS News Hour. $595 million. Democracy and international development Inter-American Foundation, funding community development in Latin America and the Caribbean. $47 million. Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs (former part of USAID). $741 million. Woodrow Wilson Center. $15 million. U.S. Institute of Peace. $55 million. African Development Foundation. $45 million.   Arts National Endowment for the Arts. $207 million. National Endowment for the Humanities. $207 million. Institute of Museum and Library Services, a small federal agency that  supports museums and libraries around the country. $295 million.   Regional authorities Delta Regional Authority. $41 million. Denali Commission in Alaska. $38 million. D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program. $40 million. Northern Border Regional Commission. $46 million. Great Lakes Authority. $5 million. Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. $20 million. Southwest Border Regional Commission. $5 million.   Native American programs Indian Land Consolidation Program. $4 million. Indian Guaranteed Loan Program. No new loans to be guaranteed. Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, a higher education institute in Santa Fe. $12 million. Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation. $2 million.   Wildlife State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. $72 million. Multinational Species Conservation Fund. $21 million. Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. $5 million. Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund. $23 million in discretionary funding. Marine Mammal Commission. $5 million. What happens next?  Congress must pass the next funding bill by Sept. 30, 2025 to avoid a government shutdown. Appropriators in both the House and Senate will go over this list, and make their own version of what stays and what goes. It is not typical for Congress to eliminate many agencies or programs, but we are not in a typical year. Fiscal conservatives and Trump are pushing to show that they are slimming the government."

"In a world grappling with converging crises, we often look outward – for new tech, new markets, new distractions. But the deeper issue lies within: our relationship with energy, nature, and each other. What if we step back far enough to see human civilization itself as an organism that is growing without a plan?" ~ Nate Hagens This May 26, 2025, "Frankly" YouTube video is a 7-minute TED talk-like presentation where Nate Hagens outlines "how humanity is part of a global economic superorganism, driven by abundant energy and the emergent properties of billions of humans working towards the same goal." "Rather than focusing on surface-level solutions, Nate invites us to confront the underlying dynamics of consumption and profit. It’s a perspective that defies soundbite culture — requiring not a slogan, but a deeper reckoning with how the world actually works. These are not quick-fix questions, but the kinds that demand slow thinking in a world hooked on speed. What if infinite growth on a finite planet isn't just unrealistic – but the root of our unfolding crisis? In a system designed for more, how do we begin to value enough? And at this civilizational crossroads, what will you choose to nurture: power, or life? " "The Great Simplification (TGS) with Nate Hagens is a podcast that explores the systems science underpinning the human predicament. Conversation topics will span human behavior, monetary/economic systems, energy, ecology, geopolitics and the environment.  The goal of the show is to inform more humans about the path ahead and inspire people to play a role in our collective future. Guests will be from a wide range of scientists, leaders, activists, thinkers, and doers." Visit The Great Simplification  website for more information. Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch their Animated Movie:    •  The Great Simplification | Film on Energy Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future Join TGS's Substack newslette r Join Frankly's Discord channel and connect with other listeners:   / discord Nick Hedland has this thoughtful commentary about the Superorganism video by Nate Hagens: "So much of this metacrisis is driven by an underlying meaning crisis (as John Vervake calls it), and there are some strong causal links between the disenchanted, materialist worldview of late modernity and hyperconsumerist patterns that characterize the superorganism. That is, while Hagens rightly underscores the exterior material dynamics and substrate of natural capital and fossil fuels that power the superorganism, we ought to be inquiring deeply into the interior cultural, psychological, and spiritual dynamics that fuel the superorganism. The system of perverse incentives that constitutes the superorganism is arguably somewhat less random or emergent than Hagens implies: the incentive structures of social systems are artifacts of cultural worldviews (in a transcendental relation of unilateral dependence), and thus the process of cultural and worldview transformation can be understood to be a crucial leverage point for addressing the metacrisis on the level of root causes. Zooming in on these cultural worldview dynamics, the key problem fields and tensions have to do with working out some semblance of an adequate transfiguration and synthesis between such dialectics as faith and reason, science and religion, epistemic dogmatism and democracy, materialism and meaning, naturalism and spirituality, etc. So, in short, the very inquiries of the upcoming IRAS conference seem to be exceedingly important - if sometimes underemphasized by the predominantly exterior gaze of systems analysis - vis-à-vis the notion of the superorganism and the metacrisis."

June 12, 2025 - The Human Energy Project is having a Salon: Human Energy for Work & Life: Cultivating Agency, Connection, and Purposes in the Age of AI bringing together leading thinkers in science, business, psychology, and AI. Together, they will consider how human energy —our capacity for resilience, adaptability, and connection—can be cultivated in the face of today’s complex personal and planetary challenges. Through conversation and community, the Salon will explore the science of human connection, prosocial AI, the role of leadership in complexity, and the emerging paradigms reshaping how we live and work. The event is by invitation only at Fordham University’s Lincoln Center campus. The Human Energy Project "envisions a future where humanity consciously evolves toward its full collective potential—in harmony with technology and the planet." and has developed a three-year Strategic Plan 2025-2028 . They have 5 Major Goals that serve as pillars for their strategic plan, which are focused on addressing Human Energy’s most significant challenges: extending their reach and impact to a broader and global audience, and surviving and thriving as an organization: GOAL 1: Become financially sustainable through diversified revenue streams GOAL 2: Be a purpose-driven, operationally sound, and evolving organization that lives its noospheric values GOAL 3: Serve as a global catalytic hub for the understanding and realization of collective consciousness GOAL 4: Be a recognized thought leader on collective consciousness , the techno-social dilemma , and human purpose GOAL 5: Model integrative education that inspires purpose, agency, and optimism across generations In summer 2023, I participated in the Human Energy Project's 10-week collegiate-level online course Science of the Noosphere . Hundreds of attendees from across the globe tuned in for biweekly interviews and discussions led by evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson. I also attended their N2 conference in Berkeley, CA, in November 2023 and have been following their important work since then. The Noosphere, in the context of human energy and the science of the noosphere, refers to the Earth's third stage of development, after the geosphere and biosphere, representing the emergence of a global, collective consciousness formed by human intellect and technological advancements . It's a superorganism that integrates geological, biological, human, and technological activities into a new level of planetary functioning.  Donate here.

“Almost all of the technologies China manufactures now were technologies we invented in the U.S., What is likely to occur if this [U. S. House Reconciliation Bill] passes is all of our best technology will again go to Asia or other countries to get scaled up. This could be called the ‘transfer technology to China’ bill.” ~ Jigar Shar , former Director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office during the Biden administration. “If this bill [President Trump's so-called 'One Big Beautiful Bill'] becomes law, America will effectively surrender the AI race to China, and communities nationwide will face blackouts,” said Abigail Ross Hopper , president and CEO of the Solar Energy Industries Association, The Washington Post says that "the bill [as passed by the House] would remove $522 billion that is scheduled to be injected into local economies across the country. The Washington Post noted on October 28, 2024 , before the National election, that " Not a single Republican lawmaker voted for the Inflation Reduction Act in 2022... But red districts have emerged as the climate law’s biggest winners... Of the top 10 districts that have attracted the most clean energy investments, nine are led by Republican lawmakers."

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. 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." 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

Ilia Delio & Pete Enns: the Future of Religion The recent Homebrewed Christianity podcast, which features a video from Theology Beer Camp 2024, offers a thought-provoking conversation with former neuroscientist-turned-Franciscan sister Ilia Delio. She presents a radical vision for the future of religion - a religion of the Earth. "Speaking to a community of spiritual seekers, Delio places humanity within our cosmic context—mere seconds in the universe's 13.8 billion-year story—while arguing that we are the universe becoming conscious of itself. She challenges institutional religion's static cosmologies, drawing on Teilhard de Chardin's integration of evolution and faith to advocate for a " religion of the Earth " that recognizes God as "in love with matter." "The conversation, complemented by responses from biblical scholar Pete Enns, exemplifies the kind of boundary-pushing theological dialogue that makes a unique gathering for those reimagining faith at the intersection of science, ecology, and spirituality." Theology Beer Camp, October 16-18, 2025 , in St. Paul, MN, is "a unique three-day conference that brings together theology nerds and craft beer for a blend of intellectual engagement, community building, and fun. " Click here for registration for online access. They offer a 2-for-1 special until September 1, 2025, for $75, plus fees. Follow Tripp Fuller and Homebrewed Christianity on his “Process This” Substack , which has some 80k followers. The @TrippFuller YouTube channel has 9.92K subscribers and 896 videos! "Here's the urgency – if religion doesn't step up, technology is gonna replace it. We're evolving technology exponentially, but our religious imagination is stuck in neutral. The choice is clear: embrace a new religious "zest for life" that connects us to cosmic processes or watch Silicon Valley billionaires become our new high priests." ~ Ilia Delio Earth-centered religion focuses on the veneration of the Earth and natural phenomena. Pantheism is sometimes inappropriately labeled as a pagan religion (along with animism, druidry, and wicca), but it merely means that everything in nature and the universe is God. Pantheism emphasizes the sacredness of nature and the interconnectedness of all living things. This belief expresses itself in practices of taking care of the environment and human and animal rights. Panentheism is a variation stating that God is in everything and everything is in God. Dr. David Grumett, in his monograph Christ in the World of Matter: Teilhard de Chardin's Religious Experience and Vision , says, " Religious experience and vision announce the completion of materiality rather than its annihilation, revealing the true spiritual significance of material objects in the world. Religious experience leads not to disengagement from the world, but to a renewed commitment to active living within it." Robert Nicastro , talking about The New Coherence , says, "The world is not God and God is not the world, yet God is 'the unlimited depth of love, the center of all that is...'" God is described as "a creative energy of love on all levels of matter and life." In this sense, humans are co-creators with God. If God is in love with matter, we should be so too! #Pantheism #Panetheism #Christogenesis

"A theology of the third millennium would be one that encompasses, among other disciplines, depth psychology, quantum physics, and neuroscience." ~ Peter Brian Todd Peter B. Todd is a psychotherapist with a Jungian orientation and the author of The Individuation of God: Integrating Science and Religion (2017) , where he outlines what he believes could become a new theology, open to both mystical experience and modern science. " Todd challenges the materialistic reductionism of our age and offers an alternative grounded in the visionary work taking place in a wide array of disciplines, including Jungian archetypal psychology, quantum mechanics, evolutionary biology, epistemology, neuroscience, and an incarnational theology implicit in the evolutionary process." "Todd builds upon the evolutionary process theology of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin . He also emphasizes the unification of particle physics and depth psychology as revealed in the explorations of Carl G. Jung and Nobel laureate Wolfgang Pauli . Additionally, he pays homage to the concept of the "implicate order" in the work of physicist David Bohm." Todd also writes, "Wolfgang Pauli wrote of the need for a reintegration of repressed “spirit” into science, in particular Jungian depth psychology , so that lost wholeness could be restored according to the archetype of the coniunctio oppositorum or union of opposites." "The God of... archaic theologies had to die in order to be resurrected with the primordial energy and timeless quality of the unconscious archetype, stripped of anthropomorphic garments and animistic projection, while expressing rich symbolic meaning. What is required is nothing less than a theology for the third millennium." ~ Peter B. Todd In her 2023 book The Not-Yet God , Ilia Delio quotes Peter B. Todd several times (from Teilhard and Other Modern Thinkers on Evolution, Mind, and Matter ) as she offers a "new myth" of "relational holism" in the search for "a new connection to divinity in an age of quantum physics, evolution, and cultural pluralism." Jeffrey Mishlove, PhD, host of New Thinking Allowed YouTube channel , interviewed Peter Todd in 2019 in the video above. Mischlove co-produced the original Thinking Allowed public television series and past vice-president of the Association for Humanistic Psychology (AHP). He is the recipient of the Pathfinder Award from that Association for his contributions to the field of human consciousness exploration.

In the 2004 book   The Death of the Mythic God . author Jim Marion says that what has really died is our myth of God, our worn-out notion of the deity in the sky, separate from us, who intervenes in our lives only when petitioned strenuously. God still exists, but we need to update our interpretation of God's nature. The mythic sky God was never real, says Marion. It was only a concept of God, now outdated. The real God is in the human heart, within the world, operating as the engine of evolution. God grows us from within into ever higher levels of awareness." On May 2-4, 2025 the Center for Christogenesis had their virtual 2025 Conference: Rethinking Religion in an Age of Science: From Institution to Evolution.   This conference "aimed to suture the relationship between religion and spirituality by relocating religion at the heart of cosmic life. Religion has not gone away but it is advancing in new ways. Formal or institutional religion has sidetracked the modern person by placing constraints around religion and segregating its core energies in creeds and doctrines." Robert Nicastro , Executive Director of the Center for Christogenesis , at their 2025 Annual Conference , made the case for a new coherence. From... The Big Five Fundamentals of Faith The inspiration of scripture as literal word of God. The virgin birth of Jesus as miraculous and literal - the means by which the divine nature of Christ has been guaranteed. The substitutional view of the atonement. The certainty of the physical bodily resurrection of the dead. The certainty of heaven and hell. To... The New Coherence God is described as a creative energy of love on all levels of matter and life. God is not stable or unchanging, but works through the movement, rhythm, pattern and restlesness - within the evolving nature of life itself - as a hyper-center of immeasurable depth. God serves as the principle of individuation , in which each organism, including God, retains unique identity and is enhanced through a deepening of creative union and wholeness. The future is metaphysically foundational in our efforts to understand the world and God. The primary context of divine revelation is the unfolding process of creation and not formal religion. “Since Charles Darwin, static creeds have become an unlivable place.” ~ Hans Kung

Image generated by AI According to the "Holomovement" website , the term was "coined by American physicist David Bohm, a contemporary of Einstein, 'Holomovement' defines our Universe as a living, interconnected whole. In 2022, Nobel prize-winning physicists further validated this concept of universal Oneness, bridging ancient spiritual wisdom with modern science. This worldview of Oneness, or interconnectedness, has the potential to change human behavior on a massive scale." In the 2023 book The Holomovement: Embracing Our Collective Purpose to Unite Humanity   edited by Emanuel Kuntzelman   and Jill Robinson  " thought leaders share the science and spirit of how our interconnection can serve our global family and change the world in this inspiring anthology. Explore evidence-based understanding and inspirational accounts of the living universe and our integral place in its evolution. In this grand unfolding toward ever greater levels of interdependence, you will better understand how your own purpose in the evolutionary process is critical to this movement." "Find inspiration in this anthology to actively support the wholeness in motion around us, integrating your unique gifts and the Holomovement’s unifying values into a collective story of our time that serves the greatest good." The Holomovement Theory of Change "Change is set into motion through Holons, groups of three or more, dedicated to a transformative project. This includes groups of individuals, new or existing organizations and networks. This collaborative network of Holons is an expansive, creative ecosystem accelerating humanity's highest potential.Projects of all scopes are valued in the Holon community. A few examples include: Meditation or Interspiritual Prayer Circles. Community park, beach or trail hike clean-ups. Regenerative farming or permaculture projects. Mentorship programs or other nonprofit organizational work. Educational programs for children or vulnerable communities." This is a journey from "me," to "we," to "all as one.” Read the Holomovement Theory of Change pdf here . Read The Holomovement’s 8 Unifying Principles pdf here . I became aware of the Holomovement through my involvement with Human Energy Project 's N2 Conference in November 17-19, 2023 and Kurt Johnson .

Here's a list of some upcoming online and Rogue Valley in-person, eco-spiritual activities that may be of interest to you. Check back, as this post will be updated during May as we get additional information, and a new calendar listing will come out in late May, 2025. Don't be intimidated by the scope of this list; choose to participate in just what calls to you. May 1, 2025  - The Love Foundation  (TLF) invites people around the world to join in “celebrating our humanity” and expanding LOVE during a one-day collective awareness event: Global Love Day  - encompassing all nations, all people, and all life. It's  all about kindness, compassion and love in global proportions! Harold W. Becker is the Founder and President of The Love Foundation, Inc. May 2-4, 2025  - Center for Christogenesis ’ upcoming annual conference, Rethinking Religion in an Age of Science: From Institution to Evolution . This virtual event will explore "how a renewed understanding of religion can invigorate planetary life and human evolution in our age of technology." Speakers will include Bayo Akomolafe , Diana Butler Bass ,  Ilia Delio,   John Haught , Grace Ji-Sun Kim , and Thomas Jay Oord .   More information and registration here. May 8-10, 2025  -   Humanity's Team   is having an in person and livestreamed event:   Sacred Awakening Live   offering a "3-day immersion where science meets spirituality, and you become the catalyst for global transformation. This event will awaken your confidence to create ripples of change—starting within and radiating outward." Guest speakers include: Steve Farrell, Stephanie James, Gregg Braden, Suzanne Giesemann, Michael Beckwith, Neale Donald Walsch, Karen Noé, Debra Poneman, Anita Sanchez, Sadhvi Bhagawati Saraswati, SIMRAN, Lisa Campion, Cynthia James, Jonathan and Andi Goldman   and many more. Livestream tickets are $199 and more information here . May 8, 2025 , at 4 p.m. PDT - Deeptime Network will open the Cafe to the entire Deeptime community and beyond for the premier showing of the new short video, THE COSMIC SIGNAL: Celebrating How We First Heard the Echo of the Big Bang. "This video is about the 60th anniversary celebration of discovery of proof that the universe started as an exploding fireball. The production team will be there and you'll hear about how and why this discovery was crucial to our understanding of an evolving universe." For info and to register, click here May 15, 2025 , at 10 a.m. PDT - Imogene Drummond is giving a presentation: "Cultivating Our Botanical, Spiritual, and Creative Gardens: Wisdom for a Flourishing Future. " In it she will explore how cultivating our gardens—including the garden of our imagination—can help us envision and create individual and cultural transformation. Hosted online by EarthConnection on Thursday, May 15, at 1 pm ET and 7 pm ET. Free! Registration required. To register for the 1 pm ET time, click here:     https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/28eYhloMRdiL9YbFxBHQEg#/registration To register for the 7 pm ET time, click here:    https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/mkraNUzpSl60PGZpOTtizA#/registration May 18, 2025 , from 4-5:20 p.m. PDT  - Center for Action and Contemplation  (CAC) is offering   "How Can Contemplative Christianity Help Me?”   — a live online gathering featuring Brian McLaren , James Finley , Carmen Acevedo Butcher , and Pico Iyer   to learn more about how a practice-centered spirituality can enrich your life and relationships. Register by May 17 to get access to the recorded replay for a full year. More information and registration here . May 20, 2026-June 24, 202 5 (six Tuesdays from 4-5:30 PT) - Deeptime Network  presents The Worldview of Thomas Berry  with Sam King. More information and registration here . May 23-26, 2025 - ProSocial World will be part of The Holomovement Wave: Asheville, NC 2025, happening . " This transformational gathering is about aligning with higher consciousness, deepening collaboration, and co-creating a thriving future for our planet." The 4-Day Wave Experience: Immersive Learning : Gain insights from inspiring speakers, interactive workshops, and open spaces designed for organic connection and collaboration. Transformative Practices : Participate in personal and collective meditations, sound healing, and wellness practices to elevate emotional and physical well-being. Empowered Action : Leave with actionable insights, tools, and partnerships to amplify your individual and collective impact. Radical Collaboration : Discover tools and frameworks to foster innovative partnerships and co-create solutions. Engage in sessions that inspire bold, transformative ways of thinking and working together. Creative Expression : Engage with art, music, and storytelling experiences that inspire and ignite collective imagination. Visionary Community : Connect with a diverse group of changemakers from all walks of life, forming meaningful relationships rooted in purpose and shared values. Celebration of Resilience : Celebrate humanity’s potential to overcome challenges through creativity, collaboration, and unity. Practical Solutions : Explore tangible approaches to new economics, regenerative systems, and exponential technologies for real-world impact. Register here. May 28–June 2, 2025  - The Haden Institute  is having their   2025 Summer Dream & Spirituality Conference :   Sacred Cosmos, Sacred Soul   in Asheville, NC and virtually. Apply here . This Conference will offer “a new framework for thinking about God, religion, and spirituality in an age of quantum physics and evolution – one that transcends the obstacles of dogmas in religious traditions. Ilia Delio, author of The Not-Yet God , offers a way forward for a vision of God and the Cosmos that is deeply satisfying for both the mind and the heart. She engages the insights of Carl Jung, the Jesuit scientist-theologian Teilhard de Chardin, and process thinkers.” “At the 2025 Haden Summer Dream and Spirituality Conference, we will explore the insights of Jung’s analytical psychology, modern science, and ancient mysticism. Dream work, contemplative practices, rituals, and creative embodiment will ground these insights into a personal and practical spirituality of love and connection to the whole of the Cosmos.” May 29, 2025 , from 6-7:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN will have their Monthly Meeting at Medford Public Library, 205 So. Central, Medford, OR. SOCAN’s Federal and State Project Team continues to play a pivotal role during Oregon’s legislative sessions, advancing climate-responsible policy through direct engagement with legislators, their staff, and relevant agencies. May 31, 2025 , from 9-11 a.m. PDT - The American Teilhard Association  (ATA) is having their Annual Event and Retreat 2025, featuring Dr. Catherine Keller on Zoom: Eco-apocalypse and the Unfinished Universe: Teilhard's Evolutionary Hope . Register here for Zoom access @ $20. June 7-8, 2025 , from 7-10 a.m. PDT - Aspen Wisdom  is organizing: The Aspen Forum on Forming a Unitive Consciousness , to help us answer the question: How do we respond to the time we are living through? Seakers include Marianne Williamson, Tim Shriver, Mirabai Starr, Matthew Fox, Cynthia Bourgeault, Andrew Harvey, Sherri Mitchell Cyprian Consiglio, Susan Aposhyan, Heather Vesey and Nicholas Vesey. There will be special group sessions. Register here . June 19, 2025 - The Shift Network  offers   The Path of Christ Consciousness Nurture the Christ Within by Illuminating Your Divinity & Claiming Your Mystic Truth   - "a 6-month immersion program with Matthew Fox to explore what it means to be a modern mystic and prophet, integrating this sacred knowledge into your life through the authentic teachings of Jesus and other wisdom keepers. This journey births what Matthew calls Christianity 2.0   — based not on dogma, but on a spirituality that recovers the sacred sense of original goodness." Open to Participants by Application Only. $2,700 tuition. More information and application  here . June 21-28, 2025 -   World UNITY Week 2025 .   This years themes of are Truth, Beauty, and Goodness. World UNITY Week is the beginning on the summer solstice, launches   99 Days of Peace Through Unity , culminating in September. The co-producers for the celebration are Unity Earth , Purpose Earth , SINE Network  and The Hague Center . September 2025 to June 2026 - The   Center for Wild Spirituality   is now making plans for their Seminary of the Wild Earth  program (their foundational, year-long, eco-spirituality certificate) and their Vocational Eco-Spirituality  certificate (specializing in Eco-Spiritual Direction or as a Wild Guide) . Click here  to join the waitlist for their 2025 cohort. On Earth Day April 22, 2025 Faith in Place wrote: "We pause with full awareness of the weight and urgency of this moment. The challenges facing our shared home are real and growing—but so is the community of people, like you, committed to healing and justice. We know that this sacred work isn't easy. It requires stamina, clarity, and deep wells of hope. This is why we turn to our faith and spiritual traditions, which remind us that hope is not just a feeling—it is a practice. A discipline. A choice we make again and again. Earth Day offers us a moment to renew that practice.   Our diverse traditions have long taught us to live with purpose, care for what has been entrusted to us, and act even when the outcome is uncertain. So today, we honor not only the land, water, and air that sustain us but also the hope that grows from our relationship with the Earth and the community that strengthens us to keep going." Rogue Valley Voice aggregates and curates information from many third-party sources and does not necessarily endorse all aspects of others' work. Still, we find their viewpoint provocative and interesting enough to encourage the reader to engage with and come to their understanding and actions, as they deem appropriate.