"The Great Work: Our Way Into The Future" by Thomas Berry

Fr. Berry is called “the leading spokesperson for the earth,” that his great ecological insight at this moment in history illuminates the path we need to take in the areas of ethics, politics, economics and education if both we and the earth are to survive.  Quite a sobering statement!  Berry speaks of the challenging future that lies ahead of us as we begin the 21^st century.

The author says that we have lost contact with the universe, and that living with the earth in a cooperative manner instead of depleting its riches and selfishly dominating and exploiting it, is the work of everyone on earth…beginning now and continuing into the future.  He says we are entering into an era more crucial than at any other time in the history of the universe, that living here now is both a privilege and an awesome responsibility to which we must respond with all means available.  The manner of humans living on the earth with the other creatures and riches of our planet must be re-invented in order to avoid total destruction….a process that is well underway.  We must no longer consider ourselves the center of the universe, nor can we allow politics or corporations to dictate our actions.

As is all of Berry’s books, he ends with a lengthy bibliography of sources, more than enough to last a lifetime for the serious student of care for Mother Earth.  The entire book is a profound and eloquent call to action, not to be taken lightly.  Read it if you possibly can!