The year 1914 marks a new epoch in the world of ecology. It was on this year that the second Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955), a French paleontologist, was born in the person of Rev. Fr. Thomas Berry, a cultural historian and theologian.
Thomas Berry, an advocate of deep ecology and ecospirituality and a Catholic priest of the Passionist order, is famous for saying that in order for the human person to understand his/her being as an individual person, i.e. his/her mode of existence, he/she must first have a grasp and understanding of the history and story of the universe. Thus, a comprehensive outlook of the universe needs to be laid down and discussed so that the contemporary world may truly discover and appreciate the wonders of the present time. It is not only the phenomenon of man that matters. What matters most is the universe story—for the story of man is just a fragment of this comprehensive story.
But what is this universe story all about? When did it start? Thomas Berry asserts that the story begins since the primordial flaring forth up to the formation of stars, galaxy, planets, sun, the earth. And in the earth’s context, the story continues up to the emergence of the unicellular organisms, followed by the multicellular organisms, the appearance of fish, insects, reptiles, plants, dinosaurs, mammals, and finally the appearance of man. With this, Thomas Berry concluded that all beings originated from the same story—the developing and ongoing universe story.
But, though there is only one story, the human person of the contemporary world became autistic and was blinded by the ideology that the human person has the highest and distinct story among other beings—that they are the apex and crown of creation. Thus, they forgot that their story is just a part of another story.
But, if we will go back in the course of history, the first human society live their lives in harmony with the larger earth community—with the natural world. They still give importance to the primordial harmony and viewed the universe as having a psychic-spiritual and physical-material dimension.
But the shift in paradigm entered with the rise of the classical and generally literate civilizations. They started to become more and more destructive that they were then alienated from the natural world. Thus, man has become self-centered or anthropocentric. This situation got even worse with the advent of the Cartesian philosophy in the 17th century—especially when Rene Descartes separated the spiritual realm from the material realm and thus degrading the non-humans into the form of mere machines that can be subjected to industrial exploitation.
With man’s misconception of reality, the primordial harmony was disturbed and the unity within the universe was shaken and destructed. And basically, new sins against the universe came into being—the biocide, i.e. killing of the life systems of the planet, and the geocide, i.e. the killing of the planet itself. Due to this situation, the earth is now suffering from pain, from a deep cultural pathology due to man’s anthropocentric use of the word ‘progress.’
At present, the viability of the human person is in question because his/her existence generally depends upon the condition of the larger earth community—the universe in general. If this problem will not be taken into consideration, Thomas Berry feared that all beings might enter into the destructive Technozoic Era—an era of chaos and inequality among beings. This epoch is also a period where the existence of the non-humans is viewed only in servitude to the human beings. According to Thomas Berry this era will just lead into the total destruction of the natural world—thus of man.
As of this period, the best and the only way to avoid this sudden phase out is to enter into the Ecozoic Era—an era were all beings live in communion and in unity with each other. This era aims to reestablish the harmony within the natural world that was lost during the course of time. In the realization of the Ecozoic Era, the human person must again realize that everyone’s existence, that everyone’s story is just a part of a single story, i.e. the universe story.
According to Thomas Berry, human consensus is needed in the emergence of the Ecozoic Era for they will play an important role in this period. The human person must not only think of himself but of the entire life community. And due to the fact that “the well-being of the earth is primary and that the human well-being is derivative,” (The Ecozoic Era, Thomas Berry) the fields of religion, education, government, and economics should always ensure that the well being of the natural world will always be prioritized.
Today’s challenge of Thomas Berry to the human community is to “move from its anthropocentric norm to a geocentric norm of reality and value” (The Viable Human, Thomas Berry) so that the universe may be able to again celebrate its grandeur, loveliness, beauty, and joy of existence.
Now, everyone’s viability, the future of the earth community, is in the hands of man. It’s just a matter of asking, “what does human person prefer: a life of communion and celebration or death?
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