ME Excerpts

THE MYSTERIOUS EVERYTHING......
written for my Masters In Culture and Spirituality, from Sophie Center, Holy Names University, Oakland CA.....Completion and publication Fall 2010. 
This spiritual understanding of mystery is quite different from our common, everyday understanding of the term. Mysterion is about experiencing mystery as awe, not just as something secret and hidden. 
— Stephen Kendrick in Holy Clues
Spiritual Practices
ENERGY, "THE MYSTERIOUS EVERYTHING"
Energy, the mysterious everything, rhythm, and pattern. This divine energy is changing, renewing and dancing with the evolving nature of itself. Therefore, the Divine is with us and a part of us rather than an external force. 
Diarmuid O Murchu


BOOK DEDICATION  Dedicated to Thomas Berry and his vision for an ethical, spiritual and an eco friendly world.  Fr. Thomas Berry’s described his vision in his bookThe Great Works.




FATHER THOMAS BERRY

Father Thomas Berry
Photo by Caroline Webb
Thomas Berry (1914 - 2009) wrote about the human relationship with the Earth and the universe with unrivalled perception, intelligence and grace. Through a series of books of essays, Berry articulated a new Earth-based spirituality that integrates the evolutionary perspectives of science with the feelings that inform religion and the arts. His work stands as a major contribution to the development of an ecological civilization in which the human fully recognizes and integrates with the Earth community.
Caroline Webb - Earth-Community
http://www.earth-community.org/

THE FINAL PRETTY PICTURE

The image on  the cover of The Mysterious Everything is a tribute to Hubble's longest-running optical camera.  Kohoutek 4-55, planetary nebula, imaged as WFPC2's final"pretty picture".  Hubble Wide Field P Camera 2 (WFPC2) took the image on May 4, 2009.  Credit NASA/Hubble 











THE MYSTERIOUS EVERYTHING

Below is a brief explanation of how I came to title the book, "The Mysterious Everything”. I found my inspiration at a site for children called, "Flying Turtle”. Sometimes the simplest explanations are the clearest. 

What is this stuff? Whatever happens is caused by it. Whatever is, is made up of it. You need it. You are made of it. Everything needs it. Everything is it. It is everything! You need it to run, to walk, to sit, to think, to sleep, "perchance to dream, to eat, "perchance to belch", or to make any other rude noises you shouldn't make. You use it constantly, every moment, awake or asleep. You can't get mad without it. You can't get glad without it. You can't get anything without it.It makes the wind blow, rain fall, and lightning zap and thunder. It "feeds" volcanoes and earthquakes. It drives tidal waves, typhoons, and tornadoes. It powers the universe. It powers bacteria.  It is The Mysterious Everything. Let's call it ME for short. 

The Mysterious Everything keeps moving and changing. It exists in many forms. Over and over again, it is transformed from one form to another. As far as anyone knows, it never goes away, gets less, or gets more. The total amount always stays the same. Without the sun, everything as we know it would cease to exist. What is this stuff?

The Mysterious EverythingME for short, is what scientists and engineers call ENERGY. Energy is so wondrous I call it the Mysterious Everything. And sometimes, just to communicate with the less imaginative I'll call it Energy - and Matter. There are amazing mind expanding wonders in this MYSTERIOUS EVERYTHING; exploring the mystery of energy and following its changing path from the Big Bang through the Cosmos, the stars, to the nebula to the galaxies to the space telescopes, well to everything. 

Energy is always changing.Energy is a property or characteristic (or trait or aspect? or a creative power?) of matter that makes things happen, or, in the case of stored or potential energy, has the "potential" to make things happen. David Watson, "By 'happen', we mean to make things move or change condition. Examples of changes in condition are changes in shape, volume, and chemical composition (results of a chemical reaction). There are also changes in pressure, temperature, and density which we call a "change of state" in thermodynamics. Phase changes, such as changing from solid to liquid, or liquid to vapor, or back the other way, are also good examples of condition changes." Something happened! Without energy, nothing would ever change, nothing would ever happen. You might say energy is the ultimate agent of change, the mother of all change agents. What an amazing thought! Why not call it Creative Energy, this Mysterious Everything.

http://www.flyingturtle.org/me/everything.html  Credit to Flying Turtle








Dear Reader,
"The universe, the solar system, and planet earth in themselves and in their evolutionary emergence constitute for the human community the primary revelation of that ultimate mystery whence all things emerge into being." -Thomas Berry

So begins our exploration of the Universe; cosmology, science, religion, and art. Thomas Berry's vision and the Great Work of our Time weaves energy into the story as a connector and integrator. Energy is the common thread skipping and dancing through everything. Everything is energy and matter, The Mysterious Everything.

The Big Bang, stars, galaxies, nebulae, planets, space exploration, astroscience, beautiful composites of the universe, and a sense of the sacred and oneness enfolded throughout this thoughtful adventure are all a result of creative energy. Other energies present in the Universe include magnetized, gravitational, and life energies.

As you read this book from cover to cover or peruse sections of interest, remember "The Mysterious Everything". Energy propels communication, creativity, and transformation.

Remembering Thomas Berry and The Great Works of our Time,
Sheila Magyar

A CELEBRATION OF HARMONY BETWEEN THE COSMOS, LIFE, SPIRITUALITY, ART, AND SCIENCE

What connects each of us to one another, to every living thing, actually to everything on Earth and in the Universe?

I propose "energy", in its many different forms; The Mysterious Everything, a remembrance of energy's in- dwelling. All systems from biological to medical to technological to industrial are in reality energy systems. All things are either energy or matter. As I began to relate the Creation Story to the Universe Story my inner self began to recognize the Mysterious Everything as always present and creating. The science supported a beginning and ongoing energy presence.

Some have asked, "who is "The Mysterious Everything" written for?

I have, with joy and awe, written this book for anyone on life's journey, no matter what stage. This book is for the spiritual, the artist, the scientist, and the technocrat; for the educator, the seeker, the parent, the professional, the young and the old.

How is the book structured?

The information conveys several levels of understanding. On one level the scientific information; distances, sizes, temperatures, and composites. This data serves two purposes, one, to scientifically inform the reader and second, to allow the reader to reflect or meditate on any particular image and the immensity of the physical characteristics, the different energies present, and the awesome conditions that allowed life to spill forth.
On another level, the images provide an opportunity to view creative energy and the universe as art. Primarily the "Mysterious Everything" is structured for enjoyment and reflection, enabling the reader to enter into the convergence of science, spirituality, art, and the ever present dances of energy.

What are the principle sources for "The Mysterious Everything?"

The spiritual path this book takes is based on Thomas Berry's, "The Universe Story". My understanding of the emergence of our galactic system, unfolding and taking shape in all it's splendor and transformations is a result of the Thomas Berry's conveyance of a new revelatory experience of creation. NASA has been my guide as the science and technology unfolded. Without the agency's spectacular images and wealth of information this book would not have been possible. Sophia Center and my companions on the journey provided a wealth of inspiration and discovery as I added some of my own reflections and poetry


Albert Einstein
Albert Einstein

E=MC2 IS A BEAUTIFUL AND MYSTERIOUS EQUATION.  
Energy is either Energy or matter




 

This book is a wonderful introduction to energy and energy's systems intertwined with the sacred story of the Universe. It distills the joyful and dynamic energy process into a spirit filled and informative guide. From star dust to us, energy has been the catalyst and resource.







THOMAS BERRY AND THE NEW STORY Teilhard's Influence In formulating his idea of the New Story Berry is much indebted to the thought of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. In particular, Berry has derived from Teilhard (and from other writers such as Loren Eiseley) an enormous appreciation for developmental time. As Berry writes frequently, since Charles Darwin's Origin of Species we have become aware of the universe not simply as a static cosmos but as an unfolding cosmogenesis. The theory of evolution provides a distinctive realization of change and development in the universe which resituates us in a huge sweep of geological time. With regard to developmental time, Teilhard suggested that the whole perspective of evolution changes our understanding of ourselves in the universe. He writes:"For our age to have become conscious of evolution means something very different from and much more than having discovered one further fact…It means (as happens with a child when he acquires the sense of perspective) that we have become alive to a new dimension. The idea of evolution is not, as sometimes said, a mere hypothesis, but a condition of all experience." 

For Berry, the New Story is the primary context for understanding the immensity of cosmogenesis. It is similar to what Loren Eiseley refers to as "The Immense Journey" or "The Firmament of Time". From Teilhard Berry has also derived an understanding of the psychic-physical character of the unfolding universe. This implies that if there is consciousness in the human and if humans have evolved from the earth, then from the beginning some form of consciousness or interiority is present in the process of evolution. 

Matter for both Teilhard and Berry is not simply dead or inert, but a numinous reality consisting of both a physical and spiritual dimension. Consciousness, then, is an intrinsic part of reality and is the thread that links all life forms. There are various forms of consciousness and, in the human, self-consciousness or reflective thought arises. Berry has also obtained from Teilhard an appreciation for his law of complexity-consciousness. This suggests that as things evolve from simpler to more complex organisms, consciousness also increases. Ultimately, self consciousness or reflection emerges in the human order. The human as a highly complex mammal is distinguished by this capacity for reflection. 

We Are Part Of Not Apart From The Earth This gives humans a special role in the evolutionary process.  

Here for the first time is the narration of the story of the evolution of the solar system and the earth along with the story of the evolution of the human and of human societies and culture. While not claiming to be definitive or exhaustive The Universe Story sets forth a model for the telling of a common creation story. It marks a new era of self-reflection for humans, one that Berry has described as the "ecological age" or the beginning of the "ecozoic age". In telling the story of evolution Berry has also tried to keep his language not exclusively Christocentric as Teilhard did. Berry's intent has been to appeal not only to the Christian community but beyond. He is aware of the barriers theological language sometimes creates in the secular world, particularly among environmentalists and people of different faith commitments. He hopes to appeal to a wide variety of individuals who are responsive to the paradigm shift in worldviews that is beginning to take shape in human consciousness. It is a shift that transcends religious or national boundaries and helps to create the common grounds for the emergence of an earth community. 

For Teilhard and for Berry, then, the perspective of evolution provides the most comprehensive context for understanding the human phenomenon in relation to other life forms. This implies for Berry that we are one species among others and as self reflective beings we need to understand our particular responsibility for the continuation of the evolutionary process. We have reached a juncture where we are realizing that we will determine which life forms survive and which will become extinct. We have become co-creators as we have become conscious of our role in this extraordinary, irreversible developmental sequence of the emergence of life forms.


from: 

Biography of Thomas Berry



By: Mary Evelyn Tucker Yale University

http://www.thomasberry.org/Biography/maryevelyntucker-bio.html


OUR ANCESTORS

"We are made of STARDUST — recycled stardust!

We are star stuff, PONDERING the stars."

Humans are star stuff evolved to the point that it can begin to know and marvel at its own magnificent STORY.

Our ANCESTORS include ancient stars. Stars are part of our GENEALOGY.

HELIUM is the only chemical element within Earth that was created right here (from decay of radioactive elements).

OUR SUN, when it is dying, will contribute CARBON back into the galaxy — perhaps for future generations of living planets to make use of.

Most of the NITROGEN cycling within the Earth system was forged in the bellies of RED GIANT STARS"
Massive stars -- those with more than about eight times the mass of the sun -- are arguably the most important actors in the universe. Much hotter and more luminous than the sun, they live only hundreds of millions of years before exploding in supernovae, but during their lives their nuclear furnaces produce a wide range of chemical elements (the universe was created with primarily hydrogen and helium).


SACRED ENERGY - CHAPTER ONESACRED ENERGY - CHAPTER ONE 
Energy Flare
SGR 0501+4516, illustrated (above) in an artist concept, is a
member of a select class of objects called magnetars.
These stellar remnants are the most magnetized objects
in the cosmos. Only 15 are known.
Credit: NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Conceptual Image Lab


Credit: NASA/Swift/Jules Halpern (Columbia Univ.)





I AM
I am the dust in the sunlight, 
I am the ball of the sun . . .
I am the mist of morning, the breath of
evening . . . .
I am the spark in the stone, 
the gleam of gold in the metal . . .
I am the chain of being, 
the circle of the spheres,
The scale of creation, 
the rise and the fall.
I am what is and is not . . .
I am the soul in all.
- Rumi


ENERGY FLUCTUATIONS



Amazing, matter-antimatter can change to energy and energy can change back to matter-antimatter. The laws of physics that deal with the very small scales of atoms, sub-atomic particles, etc. (quantum mechanics) predict that the matter-energy fluctuations should be going on even today at every point in space. It turns out that these quantum fluctuations can occur if they happen quickly enough to not be noticed (the greater the energy-matter fluctuation, the quicker the fluctuation must occur). Therefore, even in perfectly empty space (complete vacuum), there is a seething froth of fluctuations at very tiny scales, a vacuum energy---matter-antimatter virtual particles spontaneously appearing and then annihilating each other too quickly for us to detect. Although virtual particles-quantum foam might seem a bit too fanciful (to put it kindly), these virtual particles do produce measurable effects.

Copyrighted, 1998 - 2010 by Nick Strobel (used with permission)
www.astronomynotes.com


REFLECTION ON MATTER-ENERGY FLUCTUATIONS:

Energy - description of the Divine

An energy fundamentally benign in nature with a tendency to manifest and express itself in movement, rhythm and pattern. This divine energy is changing, renewing, and dancing with in the evolving nature of itself. Therefore the Divine is with us and a part of us rather than an external force.  


These ideas and thoughts are expressed by Diarmuid O Murchu, a priest and social psychologist. He travels internationally as a lecturer, writer , and retreat leader. Father Murchu has written several books, including, Quantum Theology, Spiritual Implications of the New Physics. Crossroads Publishing Company, 2004.





Energy - Creative Force

Energy and matter are woven throughout this book as a creative force. Our universe was created in a gigantic explosion called the Big Bang. Energy changes form all around us. That is called the law of conservation of energy; meaning energy can't be added to or subtracted from, only changed. Almost fourteen billion years ago, there was no Universe only sacred Energy. At first, the universe was almost all energy at tremendously high temperatures. As the universe expanded and cooled, expanded and cooled, and expanded and cooled some of the energy formed matter.

While the universe continued to evolve, it is still made up of these two components, matter and energy. This energy produced in the big bang is the same energy that we use today to run our radios, in the gasoline that powers our cars, and in the food we eat that gives us the energy to live. Matter is just another form of energy.
http://www.fi.edu/guide/hughes/energyisborn.html

Einstein's General Theory of Relativity and Equivalence
Einstein's General Theory of Relativity expanded on the special theory, explained gravity, and predicted phenomena such as black holes and the expanding universe. Inertial forces are indistinguishable from gravitational forces. The Principle of Equivalence states that it is not possible to distinguish between inertial forces and gravitational forces. The general theory applies when accelerations are involved and in the presence of strong gravitational fields. It explains gravity in terms of the curvature of four dimensional space-time.

Einstein's Special Relativity Theory
Relativity Theory made the basic assumption that the speed of light is a fundamental constant in the universe and that all observers in any reference frame that is not accelerating will measure the same value for the speed of light.

REFLECTION

In the beginning was Power,
intelligent, loving, energising.
In the beginning was the Word,
supremely capable of mastering and moulding
whatever might come into being in the world of matter.
In the beginning there were not coldness and darkness
there was Fire.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ
1881 – 1955 Priest and Paleontologist
(The Mass on the World, 1923, XIII, 121-122)

ELECTROMAGNETIC SPECTRUMElectromagnetic Spectrum 

LIGHT ENERGY

DISTANCE OR SPEED OF LIGHT
Light travels 186,000 miles per SECOND
Distance is expressed in "light years".

The Universe contains many types of light waves that are NOT visible to the human eye.

COLOR:
What we see as colors are really different wavelengths of light -- without composite photos from NASA' different space cameras all of the 'pretty pictures' of stars, nebulae, and supernovas wouldn't be possible.

The visible wave lengths the human eye can see are rather limited.

REFLECT ON DISTANCES:
Light travels 186,000 miles per SECOND
A light-year is the DISTANCE light travels in a year, about 6 trillion miles (10 trillion km).

- The Crab supernova remnant is about 4,000 light-years away.

- The Milky Way Galaxy is about 150,000 light-years across.

- The Andromeda Galaxy is 2.3 million light-years away.

The immensity of the Universe is incomprehensible.

Image:http://crab0.astr.nthu.edu.tw/~hchang/ga1/f0501-ElecSpec.JPG