Learning how to coexist in a mutually enhancing manner is the central concept and the ultimate goal of The Gaia Community College, and in many ways, will be the keystone achievement for ensuring a habitable planet for all species. Thomas Berry reminds us (warns us?) that there can be no viable human community without a viable earth community.

Along those lines, it is the things that we can do everyday that can help make a difference, from calling our legislative representatives (for those of us lucky enough to live in a representational government), to the way that we choose to clean our houses. What we purchase is increasingly a vote for earth awareness and sustainability, as the money we spend does cast a vote heard by the powers that shape market forces.

There are a growing number of books, websites, and periodicals devoted to making green choices in our daily lives, and one of the tasks at hand through The Gaia Community College website is to highlight the ones that we find most aligned and inspiring. Instead of bombarding you with a large collection of daily news items, products, publications, and event listings, it is our intention to offer only the choicest morsels for your contemplation. We all know how valuable our time is in this day and age, and the last thing we want to do is belittle any of our chosen messages with diluted tripe.

As always, please link to us, pass along the good word, let us know of worthy inclusions for these pages, and help support this project and others like it in any way you can. When all is said and done, the only thing we truly have is our belief, and your belief in us does mean a lot. Thank you.

Yours in the Dream of the Earth (thanks Thomas!),

Eric

The more that I poked around after I had discovered the profound gifts of this visionary author, the more I became increasingly incredulous that there wasn’t a greater familiarity with him, even in dedicated deep ecology circles. I was amazed that this could be so. That you could have an author who was so insightful, and so tuned in, and who was even recognized by some substantial environmental organizations and connected individuals as one of the most important contributors to the evolving dialog on humanity, and still be essentially unknown, let alone appreciated, in the wider circles of academia, spirituality, and ecology. “The Dream of the Earth” has been cited as possibly one of the ten most important books to be published in the last century, and published by The Sierra Club no less.

I am still continually astonished how few people are familiar with Thomas Berry, and especially so when in otherwise very connected and tuned in company. And so whenever I do discover another substantial effort to disseminate his gifts to our species, I feel almost compelled to do whatever I may in my humble sphere of influence to try and draw further attention to it. I made time today to finally explore this one, and was richly rewarded indeed.

The Thomas Berry and the Earth Community website was created by Caroline Webb, and it is full of amazing content. This is a veritable treasure trove of inspiration, ecologically, spiritually, and humanly. The audio clips alone are precious ~ to hear an author talk about their work in their own voice is always a treat, especially when there is such passion involved. The video clip I have highlighted before when I found it on YouTube, but the remainder… dive in and see! The links page is a tremendous resource, as is the .pdf library. But I especially appreciated her slide show. A great introduction to the life and work of this extraordinary individual that can be shared with anyone.

Peace,

Eric