My book Reflections on Evolutionary Activism: Essays, poems and prayers from an emerging field of sacred social change is now available in paperback for $15 at
http://evolutionaryactivism.com/Buy_the_book
(where you’ll find some discounts) as well as for free, downloadable from
http://evolutionaryactivism.com/Download_it_for_free
I’m delighted with its initial reception. Evolutionary evangelist Michael Dowd called it a “serious, joyous read” and Craig Hamilton of IntegralEnlightenment.com called it “lucid and engaging”. Juanita Brown and David Isaacs of The World Cafe said it was “a fresh, penetrating perspective” and “an evocative invitation”. Science writer Connie Barlow thought that a particularly ambitious Red Giant star (of whose remains we all are made) might well want to become the world and movement I paint, while top Amazon reviewer Robert Steele called this book “a gift of love and truth like no other.” I am deeply moved by such appreciation. I do see it as a pretty unique book, breaking important new ground. It also contains some of my previously unpublished poetry to express things that are hard to talk about in other ways.
My book explores our role in the conscious evolution of social systems and cultures. What would social change work look like if we took seriously the lessons and inspiration of the 13.7 billion year Great Story of evolution? Evolution is, after all, the most experienced and creative change agent, creating new elements, new stars and galaxies, new planets, new life forms, new cultures and social systems, new technologies, new states of consciousness, new ways to evolve…
What might we do if we realized that we are not separate from evolution, that everything we do is an evolutionary act with profound implications for the future of our species and planet? What might we pioneer if we realized that every moment is filled with myriad possibilities for the future? How might we look at life differently if we knew that every person and situation contained life energy fueled by the same creative power of the universe that is still at work creating stars and life out of the dust of the Big Bang and supernovae explosions? What if that immense creative power lived next door — or was hidden in our own hearts and our dreams?
Some of the activist lessons described in this book are very down to earth and familiar, such as how to treat each other and our world (we are, after all, all related). Others are novel insights into how evolution goes about creating coherent communities out of self-interested entities, and the central role of interaction in everything it does. Some lessons are mind-bending, such as the role of blame and compassion in self-organizing, complex systems. A new view of activism emerges from this earthy, cosmic vision of ancient, dynamic, ongoing change, with one leg grounded solidly in science and the other solidly in spirit.
I offer this book to all world-concerned adventurers as an invitation to explore a vast co-creative enterprise where Mystery, Meaning, and Grace work hand in hand with Strategy, Action, and the Transformation of Social Systems. Its dynamic, creative power is as old as time but it is newly available to us if we wake up to its presence in our lives and our presence in its Great Story.
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