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Human Energy has recently unveiled GenOptimist AI - "an AI assistant that fosters a scientifically optimistic view on life for younger generations." I asked GenOptimist, "Is the Noosphere real?" and this is the response: Alright, let's dive into this epic question! So, imagine the Earth has been leveling up over billions of years, right? First, it was all about the geosphere – rocks, water, air, the basic stuff. Then, life burst onto the scene, and boom, we got the biosphere, where all the living things hang out. Now, here's where it gets wild: humans come along with their big brains and start thinking, communicating, and creating technology. This is where the noosphere enters the chat. The noosphere is like the Earth's latest upgrade – a layer of collective thought and knowledge. It's not something you can touch or see, but it's all around us, connecting us in ways that are totally next-level. It's like we're all part of this giant brain, sharing ideas and shaping the planet's future together. And guess what? This isn't just some sci-fi fantasy; big thinkers like Teilhard de Chardin and Vladimir Vernadsky actually came up with this concept way back in the day. Now, whether the noosphere is "real" real, like the air we breathe, is a bit of a head-scratcher. It's not something you can measure with a ruler or a scale, but it's definitely something you can feel. Every time you learn something new, share a meme, or help out a friend with some advice, you're part of this massive web of human energy and intelligence. It's like we're all contributing to this invisible cloud of know-how that's shaping our world. So, is the noosphere an illusion or reality? Well, it's kinda both. It's not a physical thing, but it's a super powerful idea that's changing the game for how we live on this planet. It's about all of us, together, making the Earth a smarter, more connected place. And that's pretty real if you ask me. 🌐✨

Photo by Ray Hennessy from https://www.instagram.com/p/Cf2XKmmr7C-/ Here's a list of some upcoming online and Rogue Valley, in-person, eco-spiritual activities that may interest you. Check back as this post will be updated during May as we get additional information, and a new calendar listing will come out in June. Read Pastor Richenda Fairhurst's Just Creation substack blog for more news, boosts, and updates. As PastorRichenda says, "My updates are not endorsements, and links are usually third party. Please make your own determinations. My goal here is to amplify the conversation and encourage engagement, learning, and resilience. And of course, to bless your efforts!" This caveat is true for my RogueValleyVoice blog too. May 2, 2024, at 1-2:30 p.m. PDT - Global Kinship is presenting a virtual webinar with science ambasador J.D. Stillwater: One Song: The Science of Unity. "For millennia mystics and prophets have told us that “All is one” and yet we feel ourselves surrounded by separation, antagonism, and isolation! With help from some intrepid dung beetles, science ambassador JD Stillwater takes us on a tour of findings from mainstream science that reveal an underlying wholism in everything from human bodies to ecosystems to the very fabric of space-time. In short, science agrees: “All is one.” Registration is required: Register here. May 4, 2024, from 6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. PDT - Ecumenical Ministries and Oregon Interfaith Power & Light are organizing a Statewide Community Climate Vigil for the Right to a Healthy Environment, at the State Capitol Mall in Salem, Oregon. RSVP here. ProSocial World also offers a variety of online seminars this spring: May 3, 2024, at 3 p.m. PDT - Shigeru Miyagowa: Quest for Fire and ChatGPT: AI from the Perspective of Human Evolution May 10, 2024, at 9 a.m. PDT - Barbara Oakley: The Empathy Commons: The Risks of Caring Without Clear Boundaries May 17, 2024, at 3 p.m. PDT - Blair Gross and David McAleavey: Leveraging the UK Household Longitudinal Study to Explore Social Baseline Theory May 24, 2024, at 9 a.m. PDT -  Heinrich Volmink: Ubuntu and the Noosphere: Exploring Insights for Collective Consciousness and Prosociality June 3 to 7, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. PDT -  David Sloan Wilson: Transforming Business and Education- Leading towards Flourishing May 6, 2024, at 1 p.m. PDT - The Oregon Environmental Council is offering a virtual webinar taking a closer look at This Year's State Legislative Session. Their guest speaker is Senator Janeen Sollman, Senate Energy and Environment Committee Chair. She played a pivotal role as an environmental champion this session, including passing Oregon’s landmark Right to Repair legislation. Register here. May 6, 2024, at 3:30 p.m. PDT - Third Act is presenting a webinar: Welcome to Third Act: Let’s Get Started. Join Third Act's volunteers and learn about campaigns, Working Groups, and how you can plug into our growing network. Bill McKibben is the founder of Third Act, which organizes people over the age of sixty for progressive change, and a contributing writer to The New Yorker. Read Bill's April 25, 2024 article The Biden Administration’s Plan to Make American Homes More Efficient.  Register here May 9, 2024 - FIC is starting a 6-week online course: Communication and Relationship Building in Community. "Learn how to speak your mind, discern your thoughts, and be a better listener." Learn more and register here. May 15, 2024, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. PDT - Citizens' Climate Lobby will be presenting: Race, Climate, and Culture Conversation. Free. Register here. May 16, 2024 - The 6th annual Creativity Conference at Southern Oregon University will kick off Thursday, May 16, and run through Sunday, May 19. The four-day event features a dynamic, global lineup with over 100 presenters, including five keynote speakers. See the conference website for a full listing of this year’s program. May 16, 2024, from 7-9 p.m. PDT - Southern Oregon public hearing, in the Jackson County Auditorium, 7520 Table Rock Rd., Central Point, OR, for Groundwater Allocation rule-making (about strengthening standards for acquiring groundwater water rights) with written comments due May 31, 2024. May 18, 19, 25, and 26, 2024 - The Guild for Spiritual Guidance, and the Human Energy Project are co-sponsoring a webinar series with Dr. Emily DeMoor Intersubjectivity and the Noosphere: Love, entanglement, and Convergence.  Register here. May 22, 2024, from 4-5 p.m. PDT - The BTS Center is presenting an online webinar: Collective Honesty and Complicated Hope: An Evening with Katharine Hayhoe, Climate Scientist, with conversationalists Rev. Dr. Jim Antal, Rabbi Laura Bellows, and William Morris. The registration fee is $15. Register here. May 23, 2024 - Process & Faith, in collaboration with The Cobb Institute, is offering a six-session course: 12 Universal Spiritual Principles to Freedom and Intimacy Solving Life's Problems throughTransreligious Spiritual Principles. Karl Y. will link these 12 principles to the writing of Alfred North Whitehead to understand them in transreligious spiritual ways that are compatible with process-relational thought. Learn more & sign up: https://buff.ly/3wfucQU May 24-25, 2024 - Claremont ECO Forum is having an in-person forum: The Great Turning: Towards an Ecological Civilization Aiming at the Common Good of Humanity and Nature at Pitzer College, Claremont, CA, This will be the 17th International Forum on Ecological Civilization and the 6th International Youth Forum on Ecological Civilization. Register here. May 28, 2024, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN's Monthly Meeting will take place in the large meeting room of the Medford Public Library, 205 South Central, Medford, OR. The topic this month is: Why do we need the Oregon Coalition for an Environmental Rights Amendment? This calendar is sent only once-a-month by email, and does not include other interesting articles from this past month: Living on this Planet, in Harmony, for the Good of All Methane - Between a Rock and a Charred Place Intentional Community An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice A Quaker New Story The Matter With Things A New Story of the Universe Climate Change and U.S. Politics Oregon's 2024 Legislative Session Transition to Electric Vehicles Creating Cosmogenesis Through Art Rogue Valley's Water Situation National Week of Conversation The Great Turning

"Food Revolution Network is committed to healthy, ethical, and sustainable food for all. Guided by John and Ocean Robbins, with more than 500,000 members and with the collaboration of many of the top food revolutionary leaders of our times, Food Revolution Network aims to empower individuals, build community, and transform food systems to support healthy people and a healthy planet." The Need To GROW documentary "explores the profound connection between soil health, food security, and environmental sustainability. Through the lens of three extraordinary innovators and their cutting-edge solutions, the film sheds light on the fragility of our current food system and advocates for responsible, regenerative agriculture. Watch the film for FREE for four days. "Registrants will have an opportunity to purchase an Impact Kit that helps you put all the learnings from The Need To GROW into action. The Impact Kit is a collection of 15 powerful 45-minute lessons featuring experts on gardening, composting, healing foods and herbs, soil’s connection to the microbiome, removing pesticides from your community, and more. It also comes with lifetime digital film access, full-length expert interviews from the film, deleted scenes, and more than $500 worth of bonuses. The Impact Kit sells for $197 and is offered on sale during the limited-time screening for just $97 — and for fast action takers from the screening page, $67." “Soil health is a crisis that not enough people know about, even though it affects all other environmental issues. The stories are an inspiring example of resilience and solutions in a time when so much talk is focused on doom and gloom.” ~ Rosario Dawson, Executive Producer and Narrator

How can we build more trust and collaboration in the groups and networks we care about? How can we work together to make the difference we are striving for? ProSocial World hopes to offer some answers in their upcoming, seven-week, online course: Becoming ProSocial: Building Trust and Collaboration in our Groups and Networks. The experience is being offered in two sessions: June 4 to July 17, 2024 and October 1 to November 12, 2024. The cost of the course is ‍$300, which covers the full cost for ProSocial World to administer the course. Participants who contribute a higher amount allow scholarships for others. Click here for more information and to register The main objectives of the course are "to practice psychological flexibility and listening in community; to get a taste of the prosocial community of practice; and to empower us all to improve our groups and communities. The experience is being facilitated by Dounia Saeme, ProSocial World Community Development Manager, and Paul Atkins ProSocial World Cofounder & Vice President. The ProSocial model is designed to enhance self-awareness, responsiveness, and collaboration by using ideas drawn from cultural evolutionary theory, Elinor Ostrom’s Nobel prize-winning design principles for groups, and the contemplative and behavioral sciences. Central are three core processes diagramed above (Self awareness and responsiveness; shared purpose and vision: and collective action and co-evolution. In Governing the Commons, Ostrom summarized eight design principles that were present in the sustainable common pool resource institutions she studied. In order to consciously evolve a world that works for all. and catalyze rapid, positive cultural change we will need to recognize our interconnectedness and continuously improve the relationships we have with ourselves, each other and the planet." ~ ProSocial World

"Whoever you are, no matter how lonely, the world offers itself to your imagination, calls to you like the wild geese, harsh and exciting— over and over announcing your place in the family of things." ~ Mary Oliver May 2, 2024, at 1-2:30 p.m. PDT - Global Kinship is presenting a virtual webinar with science ambasador J.D. Stillwater: One Song: The Science of Unity. Registration is required: Register here. "For millennia mystics and prophets have told us that “All is one” and yet we feel ourselves surrounded by separation, antagonism, and isolation! With help from some intrepid dung beetles, science ambassador JD Stillwater takes us on a tour of findings from mainstream science that reveal an underlying wholism in everything from human bodies to ecosystems to the very fabric of space-time. In short, science agrees: “All is one.” JD Stillwater refers to himself as a "Science  Ambassador, Presenter, Writer, Musician, Coach, Big-picture Thinker, and Cultural Worker." "JD’s work springs from his love of science and his tendency to care more about implications than conventions. What he brings to the global conversation is a gift for making difficult science concepts accessible for non-scientists, then taking them further into the profound implications that those concepts engender." "JD’s full-time mission is to lead the wider culture toward a worldview that is more aligned with how reality works. The currently dominant worldview of separation and exploitation only offers imminent planetary catastrophe. To be effective in creating more sustainable systems, we must change the way we think." Visit JD Stillwater's YouTube Channel. "Global Kinship, Exploring the Emerging Noosphere, addresses the phenomenon of the complexification of human creativity, technology, and consciousness that has evolved within our species - from the first "Aha!" moments of the earliest tribes to this rapidly rising consciousness and interconnectivity among humans around the world." "Through technology, culture, arts, economics, medicine, sociability, the human heart, and a shared concern for our ecological fragility, we are quickly becoming a global community." "One hundred years ago, Pierre Teilhard and Vladimir Vernadsky predicted that Earth, through us, would grow a new layer beyond the geosphere and biosphere. They named this layer the Noosphere. To participate in this meeting of the minds, we need to pay attention to what is happening both inside and outside of us. That is the purpose of these webinars. We are exploring the emerging Noosphere as it emerges through us."

In April 2023 I participated in an adult education program of Ashland UCC where we discussed a series of videos produced by the Human Energy Project about the emerging noosphere - the collective, global mind (super-organism), identified 100 years ago by Jesuit paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. This led to my invitation to participate in summer 2023 in a 10-week Master Class called the Science of the Noosphere; this was led by evolutionary biologist David Sloan Wilson, One of the participants in the Master Class was Kurt Johnson, co-author of the 2012 book The Coming Interspiritual Age. Kurt Johnson was trained as a scientist and became friends with David Sloan Wilson who co-founded ProSocial World. Kurt is also a leader in the unititive Holomovement. The image above is from a YouTube PowerPoint video with Kurt Johnson and David Currie, based on Currie's 2022 book For the Good of All, NOW!: Be Your Own Circle of Happiness and Serenity... From Local to Global. It describes "a comprehensive plan of action for humanity to gather as a multicellular superorganism committed to elevating and manifesting a world that works for all of us." This world doesn’t exist yet. It is a world clearly demanding humans to make different choices! The program Currie describes "invites you as stakeholders in life to consider a simple, 'Four Turns' path that draws on our natural, holistic powers and compassion, to cohere and replicate around a unique compelling evolutionarily grounded mix of strategies, structures, and practices, and to step on this path together.' The YouTube PowerPoint video (below) is the product of HYLO Groups at both Prosocial and the Holomovement. It is co-produced with the Evolutionary Leaders Synergy Circles/Humanity's Stream Video Hub which has 700,000 subscribers. For The Good of All, NOW! movement Synergy Circles of the Evolutionary Leaders Synergy Circle, Prosocial World Evolutionary Leaders Circles Holomovement Prosocial Nexus Friends of the Institute of Noetic Sciences ProSocial World also offers a variety of online seminars this spring: May 3, 2024, at 3 p.m. PDT - Shigeru Miyagowa: Quest for Fire and ChatGPT: AI from the Perspective of Human Evolution May 10, 2024, at 9 a.m. PDT - Barbara Oakley: The Empathy Commons: The Risks of Caring Without Clear Boundaries May 17, 2024, at 3 p.m. PDT - Blair Gross and David McAleavey: Leveraging the UK Household Longitudinal Study to Explore Social Baseline Theory May 24, 2024, at 9 a.m. PDT -  Heinrich Volmink: Ubuntu and the Noosphere: Exploring Insights for Collective Consciousness and Prosociality June 3 to 7, 2024, at 2:30 p.m. PDT -  David Sloan Wilson: Transforming Business and Education- Leading towards Flourishing

An "Intentional community" may be defined as "a group of people who have chosen to live together or share resources based on common values," or "a group of people dedicated with intent, purpose, and commitment to a mutual concern." They are often "models of a more cooperative, sustainable, and just way of life," but conflicts still do arise. Read more about terms and definitions for intentional community in this article by the Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC). Perhaps your initial thought about intentional communities in Oregon runs to 1960s hippie communes or cults such as Rajneeshpuram, the religious community located in Wasco County, Oregon during the 1980's. Several Oregon communities have reputations as being former hippie havens including Ashland, Fairview, Milwaukie, Happy Valley (Pendarvis Farm). Sunny Valley, Little Applegate (Full Bloom), and Deadwood (Alpha Farms). However, the notion of "intentional community" in recent years has gained greater respectability encompassing: communes, ecovillages, cohousing, coliving, or student coops. The Foundation for Intentional Community (FIC) curates a directory of over 1,000 such communities worldwide, including over 50 in the state of Oregon! Another form of community, not included in their list is a Life Plan Community, such as Rogue Valley Manor (RVM). Started In 1955 by an ecumenical community group of Methodists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians, the non-profit RVM is now home to nearly 1,000 seniors in Medford, OR. Although hardly part of the "eco-village" movement, RVM is commemorating "sustainability" this Earth Day April 22, 2024. Perhaps some residents might be interested in FIC's learning opportunities about how to intentionally live together harmoniously as a community: April 23, 2024, from 12:30- 2 p.m. PDT - FIC is presenting a webinar: Managing the Moment When Conflict. When conflict arises in a community, it’s often unclear how to best tackle it or where it even began. In this one-hour webinar, Laird will examine what’s happening at the moment when people become aware that someone – either themselves or others – goes into nontrivial reactivity. Learn more and register here. April 25, 2024, at 10 a.m. PDT -  FIC is presenting a webinar: 6 Surprising Truths About Building Effective Relationships. Join intentional community consultant and relationship coach Karen Gimnig "to get a taste of best practices for communication and connection whether you’re on the journey to starting a community or are currently residing in one." Karen will cover this topic and more in greater depth in FIC's upcoming 6-week course, Communication & Relationship Building in Community.  Learn more and register here. May 9, 2024 - FIC is starting a 6-week online course: Communication and Relationship Building in Community. "Learn how to speak your mind, discern your thoughts, and be a better listener." Learn more and register here. In a broader sense, a household is one form of an"intentional community" of individuals focused on its common good. Neighborhoods are generally less intentional, (often the only common identifying feature is the socio-economic similarity of residents) unless there are conscious, intentional efforts to strengthen bonds. Tribal groups (institutions such as churches, clubs, and political parties) are chosen by their members because of some shared values, and their members enjoy solidarity within their tribe, but they can be isolating too unless there are intentional efforts to be inclusive and extend themselves beyond their defining boundaries. Life Care communities such as RVM bring former strangers together, who can remain isolated without intentional efforts to build connection and camaraderie and to nurture care and concerns. There is a tendency for such communities to be isolated bubbles, but they are situated within a larger community (a town, city, county, region, and state) that have common interests in enhancing everyone's quality of life. Nations have common interests of welfare, prosperity, and defense, but in my opinion, they are becoming obsolete. Technology, particularly the internet, smartphones, and media, have made humans instantly aware of global conditions (i.e. wars, famines, pandemics, disasters), and should make us more aware that we are all interrelated and increasingly interdependent - what happens somewhere has an effect elsewhere. Currently, some political forces are shifting back toward tribalism and isolationism. But, at the same time, many people have an emerging awareness of our shared global concerns such as species survival, limiting the common threat of global warming, correcting imbalances and gross inequality, regulating technology, etc. Being intentional about our communities matters! How big are your intentional communities?

If you are not a regular Up Close with Peter Sage substack blog reader, I think you should be! Peter is a retired financial advisor and a daily blogger of political news and commentary in southern Oregon. His recent post on Abundant Natural Gas highlights the political reality that "the largest domestic producers of natural gas include the battleground states of Pennsylvania, Ohio, New Mexico, and Colorado. Democratic politicians in those states need to defend local industries. It positions local politicians in opposition to the national party." "The general public thinks Biden isn't doing enough to bring energy prices down. The environmental left thinks Biden has sold out to Big Oil." ~ Peter Sage One Stanford University climate scientist equates the situation to being "caught between "a rock and a charred place." Ashland Climate Collaborative, through their Electrify Ashland Now project, and Rogue Climate, through their Ashland Youth for Electrification campaign have been trying to make a case that natural gas should be labeled "methane" as it is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas buildup in the atmosphere. They want ordinances to limit new residential use of methane. So far, they have not gained much traction with the City Council. Some conservatives bundle the threat of limiting natural gas as part of a conspiracy to take away our gas engine trucks, our guns, and now our gas stoves The fossil fuel industry is slow to take action toward the "managed decline of fossil fuel production", as urged by several groups: Oil Change International (OCI) is "a research, communications, and advocacy organization focused on exposing the true costs of fossil fuels and facilitating the ongoing transition to clean energy." Recently, they called out CERAWeek (the industry's certified gas” event) as having "unproven technology, opaque practices, and conflicts of interest." KeepItInTheGround.org - Over 400 organizations call on world leaders: End New Fossil Fuel Development. LofotenDeclaration.org "The Lofoten Declaration affirms that it is the urgent responsibility and moral obligation of wealthy fossil fuel producers to lead in putting an end to fossil fuel development and to manage the decline of existing production."

Saturday, April 20, 2024, from 6 a.m. to Noon PDT, via Livestream - the Episcopal Dioceses of Western Massachusetts is having an Earth Day 2024 celebration to mark the conclusion of the Creation Care Justice Network's pilot program An Episcopal Path to Creation Justice - a new initiative to equip churches for deep and broad work in creation care. The event will feature presentations by Dr. Mary Evelyn Tucker, with Bill McKibben and Robin Wall-Kimmerer joining virtually. The day will conclude with a celebratory Eucharist officiated by Bishop Carol Gallagher and Bishop Doug Fisher. The Livestream will be available on their Province 1 YouTube channel. Mary Evelyn Tucker 'is the co-founder and co-director of the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology with her husband, John Allen Grim. Tucker teaches in the joint Master's program in religion and ecology at Yale University between the School of the Environment, and the Divinity School. She also has an appointment at Yale's Department of Religious Studies. She teaches three online courses on Journey of the Universe and The Worldview of Thomas Berry. Bill McKibben "is an American environmentalist, author, and journalist who has written extensively on the impact of global warming. He is the leader of the climate campaign group 350.org. He has authored a dozen books about the environment, including Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out? (2020), about the state of the environmental challenges facing humanity and future prospects." Robin Wall-Kimmerer is a member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, who has written numerous scientific articles and the New York Times Bestseller, Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge, and the Teachings of Plants (2015)

In 1964 Kenneth Boulding wrote a pamphlet The Evolutionary Potential of Quakerism. Kenneth Boulding drew a series of conclusions using a spaceship metaphor to which he devoted the rest of his life: The human economy must shift from a non-renewable material and energy throughput system to a closed-loop system of material reuse fueled by sunlight energy. A two-deck spaceship with “haves” on the upper deck and the “have-nots” on the lower deck will not work. It will become increasingly unmanageable and crash. Spaceship Earth will work only if new a equity system can be installed. You cannot have a war on a spaceship. With the population and technology now on board, new social and political systems of decision-making, cooperation, coordination, regulation, and enforcement are required at the global level for the human enterprise to remain functional. In 2007 a Quaker New Story Study group published Quakers and the New Story saying "What we do as persons—our moral aspirations, our creative endeavors, our efforts to leave the world a better place for our children and grandchildren—are themselves part of the cosmic evolutionary process. "Learn a New Story that is grounded in the sciences, animated by the humanities, and imbued with wisdom from Indigenous traditions and world spiritualities. Realize our connection to the universe and Earth that helps us not only know, but also shape the course of evolution for a thriving future. Find new ways as individuals and communities to create a vibrant and healthy Earth community." The publication concludes: "The Friends Meeting at Cambridge study group finds hope in having recognized that there is an amazing “fit” between Quakerism and the New Story. To us, it seems that the usual five testimonies of Friends—simplicity, peace, equality, integrity, and community—can now be even more deeply understood in the context of an ecological worldview and an unfolding, new universe story. An Earth restored, peace-making, respect for personal integrity, scientific inquiry, non-violence, and humanitarian work are also aspects of the New Story long valued by Quakers. A process of ethical decision-making, using spirit and reason, can be developed in the new, integrated context now available to us."

The Center for Process Studies (CPS )identifies itself as offering "a relational worldview for the common good. with a mission to foster interdisciplinary research and education to cultivate holistic understanding for human and planetary flourishing," This past Easter weekend (March 29-31, 2024) CPS collaborated with the California Institute of Integral Studies to host a conference in San Francisco: Metaphysics and the Matter With Things. Ian McGilchrist, author of The Matter With Things: Our Brains, Our Delusions, and the Unmaking of the World (2021) affirms "the ontological irreducibility of relationality, time, value, purpose, experience, consciousness, and the sacred." Also on the agenda from California Institute of Integral Studies were Dr. Matthew Segall PhD. and Michael Jacob, MD PhD. who were participants along with Brian Thomas Swimme in Human Energy's Master Class of Science of the Noosphere I took last fall 2023. Segall was in Episode 2 -The Origins of Life. and Swimme was in the section on Cosmological Evolution. Michael Jacob contributed to the discussion of A Brain of Brains in the Master Class and he addressed the audience at Human Energy's N2 Conference, held at U.C. Berkeley in November 2023. Matthew David Segall is a transdisciplinary researcher, writer, teacher, and philosopher applying process-relational thought across the natural and social sciences to the study of consciousness. He is an Associate Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness Program at California Institute of Integral Studies. He is the author of Physics of the World-Soul: Whitehead’s Adventure in Cosmology (2021) and Crossing the Threshold: Etheric Imagination in the Post-Kantian Process Philosophy of Schelling and Whitehead (2023). Michael Jacob, MD PhD is a neurobiologist and psychiatrist whose interdisciplinary work aims to develop new perspectives on how experience comes to life and how it unravels in mental illness. He is an Assistant Professor at UCSF, Director of the Psychosis and Metabolic Mental Health Clinics at the San Francisco VA, and Researcher with the non-profit, Human Energy. Brian Thomas Swimme is an evolutionary cosmologist and professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco, he teaches evolutionary cosmology to graduate students in the humanities. Currently, he is also the Director of the Third Story of the Universe at Human Energy, a nonprofit public benefit organization.

Yale University and Coursera are now offering free Journey of the Universe courses "to understand who we are, where we come from, and where we are heading.  There are three, six-week, online, courses offered by Yale: Journey of the Universe: The Unfolding of Life Journey Conversations: Weaving Knowledge and Action The Worldview of Thomas Berry: The Flourishing of the Earth Community The Journey of the Universe project is several decades in the making, arising out of a rich lineage of Thomas Berry, Brian Thomas Swimme, Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, and many others. "Our present evolutionary story of a separate, mechanistic, and competitive universe is insufficient. This limited understanding of how the universe and Earth function is leading us to destroy the natural life systems on which we rely.." Brian Thomas Swimme produced the 2011 PBS series and three DVD series: Canticle to the Cosmos (1990), The Earth's Imagination (1998), and The Powers of the Universe (2004) The 2011 film Journey of the Universe is "an Emmy award-winning inspiring reflection on the human connection to Earth and the cosmos. It's available for rental on Amazon Prime. Bruce Bochte founded the Center for the Story of the Universe, inspired by the work of Thomas Berry and Brian Swimme. "The Center offers award-winning videos to expand collective consciousness and redirect the current self-destructive trajectory of society towards a vibrant community that transcends individual, human, and geo-political boundaries" The Human Energy Project offers a new Story of the Noosphere also hosted and narrated by Brian Swimme. The YouTube video above provides an overview and invitation to the Story of the Noosphere series. "This series of short films explores the ways humanity is building the nervous system of a superorganism, called the noosphere. As we deepen our understanding of this noosphere we begin to discover a collective sense of meaning and purpose that will help us address our global challenges." As a word, "noosphere" is a loose synonym for three different meanings: the history and destiny of Homo sapiens; an emerging planetary nervous system; and an emerging superorganism. The series explores the conditions that gave rise to the noosphere: 1. Heredity - The transfer of genetic and cultural information from parents to offspring, generation to generation. 2. Tools - Instruments and technological devices that aid in accomplishing tasks. 3. Self-Consciousness - Conscious of one's own acts or states as belonging to or originating in oneself: aware of oneself as an individual. 4. Communication - A process by which information is exchanged between individuals through a common system of symbols, signs, or behavior. 5. Population - A body of persons or individuals having a quality or characteristic in common, the total of particles at a particular energy level. 6. Trade - To exchange (something) for something else, typically as a commercial transaction. 7. Cerebralization - The developing capacity of a species to form an idea, mental image, or understanding something 8. Convergence - To come together and unite in a common interest or focus. The series spans across five different stages of humanity: Paleolithic (300,000 - 11,000 years ago) Neolithic (11,000 years ago - 3,000 BCE) Classical (3,000 BCE - 1400 CE) Modern (1,400 CE - present) Future Topics Covered: Humanity, Cosmology, Technology, Noosphere, Philosophy, Ecology, Consciousness, Evolution, Climate Change, and Biosphere. "The Third Story of the Universe offers a meaningful way to understand this moment in the history of our species. This new cosmic story contrasts with rigid interpretations of religions and myths (the First Story) as well as current versions of science that eliminate meaning and purpose from the universe (the Second Story). Humankind is experiencing a cosmic transition as we continue to interconnect technologically and cross-culturally. Together we are forming the Noosphere, a shared sphere of culture, technology, and thought weaving human beings into a mindful global envelope, even a new form of life as a superorganism. This process has existential and world-historical significance for all of us. The Human Energy Project is a group of scientists, scholars, engineers, artists, and storytellers working to highlight the Noosphere by telling the Third Story. Human Energy was founded to share a new scientific and cosmic story introducing the Noosphere as a source of meaning for future generations in our globalizing world. The project addresses the challenges of unprecedented technological and social change which, together with the scientific picture of an aimless universe, have created a crisis of orientation. "We are beginning to visualize the Noosphere’s formation and history; study its potential future scenarios as humanity takes more and more control of its future course; and explore how human beings connecting across the world may realize themselves socially and individually in its development." ~ Human Energy Project

Here's a list of some upcoming online and Rogue Valley, in-person, eco-spiritual activities that may be of interest to you. Check back as this post will be updated during April as we get additional information, and a new calendar listing will come out in May. April 1-30, 2024 - "The Earth Month Ecochallenge, running from April 1st to April 30th, is a 30-day program focused on environmental and social engagement. During this month, you're invited to select actions that resonate with your values, committing to them for 30 days to foster and reinforce positive habits. Each action you complete earns points and generates real-world impact. Your efforts, combined with those of your team, contribute to a significant collective difference. "This year's theme, “Conserving Every Ecosystem, Caring for Every Creature,” highlights the intersection of conservation and behavior change. By focusing on daily actions and continuous learning, we aim to create a sustainable and just world, not just for humans but for all species and ecosystems we rely on." April 2, 2024, at 6 p.m. PDT - Ashland Youth for Electrification is organizing to get the City Council to pass the Climate & Clean Air policy package. From Maroun at Rogue Climate: "We are continuing to see Ashland City Council delay on taking climate action to make our community a healthier place–even after a policy package was recommended to them by the city's Energy Policy advisory committee! We need community members to attend the 4/2/24 city council meeting at 6 P.M. to demonstrate our group strength & unified support for the ordinance. Hold City Council accountable and pressure them to include it in the agenda and vote on this soon! April 3, 2024, from 5:30 - 8:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN's Master Climate Protector (MCP) is undergoing a transition to become a new course: Living with Climate Change in the Rogue Valley, offered through the SOU Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Sustainability. The class will be held on the SOU campus and available to SOU students for credit and community members at no or minimal charge. The first offering will be as an Independent study. Alan Jornet and Kathy Conway are coordinating the course, which they will offer together with guest presenters Ray Mallette, Liz Olson, Mike Vergeer, Juie Smitherman, and Ray Seidler. April 3, 2024, at 6 p.m. PDT - Southern Oregon PBS starts the Wednesday night series A Brief History of the Future. This is a unique six-part documentary series about our futures and how we can reimagine them. Hosted by renowned futurist Ari Wallach, the show invites viewers on a journey around the world that is filled with discovery, hope, and possibility about where we find ourselves today and what could come next." April 4, 2024, at 1 p.m. PDT - Global Kinship is presenting a webinar featuring Lauren Van Ham speaking on the topic: Coming Home to Community, Coming Home to Earth. This webinar is part of Earth Restoration Cooperation Circles. To register for this webinar, CLICK HERE April 9, 2024, from 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. PDT - OSU Southern Oregon Extension Service is offering a presentation on Landscaping for Water Conservation as part of their Sustainable Living Series. They will cover principles of waterwise landscaping, including the use of drought-tolerant plants, sprinkler schedules, and overall water conservation, as well as basic stormwater management. The cost is $15 per person to help support their Land Steward Program. Click here for a flyer, and registration QR code. or link. April 13 & 14, 2024, from 8 a.m. to 2 p. m, PDT Saturday and from 8:30-9:30 a.m. PDT Sunday - The Aspen Chapel presents Ilia Delia and A.I. As the Matrix in the Soul: Why the Future of A.I. is Bound Up with Evolution of Consciousness based on her 2020 book Re-Enchanting the Earth: Why AI Needs Spirituality. Register here. April 15-30, 2024 - Interfaith Power & Light's Faith Climate Action Week focus film is Common Ground, a powerful follow-up to Kiss the Ground. Common Ground provides hope for future generations with concrete ways to fix a broken planetary system. The film explores how regenerative agriculture can help heal the soil, our health, and the planet. This DVD is available for purchase through IPL, with free screening rights for showing at your in-person event. These screening rights are generally worth $90, but thanks to the generosity of the film team, they are free to IPL congregations and religious organizations. This film is only available for group in-person events between April 15 and 30, 2024. Get your DVD now Or sign up coming soon to stream the film for free for your in-person event between April 15 and 30. Sign up to get the free streaming link here. April 16, 2024, from 9:00 a.m. - 2:15 p.m. PDT - "If you believe in the moral responsibility to care for creation for the sake of our faith, our congregations, our families, communities, and future generations", join the National Faith + Climate Forum on April 16th. Blessed Tomorrow invites all clergy and lay leaders, younger and older congregants to "Changes in our climate are increasingly impacting congregations, and clergy and lay leaders, like you, are searching for ways to be part of the solution. Deepen your understanding of engaging your congregation in creation care, working toward just and equitable solutions, and connecting with other faith leaders locally and nationally." Register here - it's free. April 19, 2024, from 3:30 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. PDT - Earth Day 2024 at the Farm at SOU. Join Southern Oregon University and community partners for exhibits, live performances, bike rodeo, art, food trucks, and more, all in celebration of Earth. Here's a link for more information and to Register here: https://cglink.me/2xE/r375209 April 22, 2024, from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. PDT - Earth Day 2024 celebration at Rogue Community College April 22, 2024, from 1-4 p.m. PDT - Rogue Valley Manor is presenting Sustainability: Elders Caring for Future Generations at this first annual Earth Day event at the RVM Auditorium, 1200 Mira Mar Ave., Medford, OR. There will be display tables on recycling and three community presenters and drawings. April 25, 2024, from 3:00 p.m.-4:15 p.m. PDT, Creation Justice Ministries (CJM) is presenting Culture of Preparedness, the second part of their “Faithful Preparedness, Faithful Resilience” webinar series. Register here. April 30, 2024, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN Monthly Meeting on How the Climate Crises are Affecting Our Mental Health will take place in the large meeting room of the Medford Public Library, 205 South Central, Medford, OR. May 15, 2024, from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. PDT - Citizens' Climate Lobby will be presenting: Race, Climate, and Culture Conversation. Free. Register here. May 18, 19, 25, and 26, 2024 - The Guild for Spiritual Guidance, and the Human Energy Project are co-sponsoring a webinar series with Dr. Emily DeMoor Intersubjectivity and the Noosphere: Love, entanglement, and Convergence.  Register here. May 28, 2024, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. PDT - SOCAN's Monthly Meeting will take place in the large meeting room of the Medford Public Library, 205 South Central, Medford, OR.

Cathy McMorris Rodgers has decided to not run for reelection after 20 years in the House, but she supports H.R. 1023 to repeal section 134 of the Clean Air Act, relating to the greenhouse gas reduction funding. Some Republicans, but not all, are climate change deniers, but clearly, the party has different priorities than those of the Biden administration. According to a March 1, 2024 post by Pew Research, How Republicans View Climate Change and Energy Issues, "few Republicans see climate change as a top priority for the country. Just 12% of Republicans and Republican leaners say dealing with climate change should be a top priority for the president and Congress, according to a January 2024 survey. "For Republicans, dealing with climate change ranks last among the 20 issues included in the survey." But, "despite expressing little concern about the issue generally, Republicans support some proposals to address climate change." "Republicans support expanding fossil fuel and renewable energy sources... Republicans are concerned about a transition to renewable energy in the U.S." "There are considerable age differences within the GOP in views of fossil fuels. Younger Republicans stand out from their older GOP counterparts on some climate and energy issues." Perhaps the general lack of concern about the climate crisis by Republicans is because "relatively small shares of Republicans say climate change and extreme weather are having a significant impact on their own communities." Another indication of Republican priorities regarding climate change can be found in the recently released 887 page book by the Heritage Foundation, “Mandate for Leadership: The Conservative Promise.” The following sections are most relevant: Department of Energy and Related Commissions Environmental Protection Agency In contrast, the Biden administration is addressing climate change as a top priority: "President Biden will take swift action to tackle the climate crisis. To meet the demands of science, the President is mobilizing a whole-of-government effort to reduce climate pollution in every sector of the economy and increase resilience to climate impacts. The Biden Administration will create good-paying, union jobs to build a modern and sustainable infrastructure, deliver an equitable clean energy future, and put the United States on a path to achieve net-zero emissions, economy-wide, by no later than 2050." CleanEnergy.gov focuses on how "the Inflation Reduction Act lowers energy costs for consumers and small businesses while creating good-paying jobs as America’s clean energy economy and manufacturing sectors grow." Wikipedia has a good summary of the Environmental policy of the Joe Biden administration. Here are a few useful links about the science of climate change: General Science and Climate Change, from SOCAN RealClimate: Climate Science from Real Scientists The Science of Climate Change Explained: Facts, Evidence and Proof (New York Times, April 19, 2021) NASA What We Know About Climate Change from MIT

There are deep connections between politics and the fossil fuel industry and campaigns to mislead the public and deny well-established scientific knowledge over four decades. The spring 2022 PBS Frontline series, The Power of Big Oil exposed the decades of "Denial, Doubt, and Delay" tactics used by the fossil fuel industry to avoid responsibility for their role in contributing to climate change. Naomi Oreskes and Erik Conway's 2010 book Merchants of Doubt chronicles "how a handful of scientists obscured the truth on issues from tobacco smoke to climate change." The book asserts "the same individuals who claim the science of global warming is “not settled” have also denied the truth about studies linking smoking to lung cancer, coal smoke to acid rain, and CFCs to the ozone hole." The Week magazine on January 23, 2024, documented the shift in climate denialism on YouTube over the past 5 years - "the departure from rejection of anthropogenic climate change, to attacks on climate science and scientists, and rhetoric seeking to undermine confidence in solutions to climate change." The Verge reported. In a recently published report, the Center for Countering Digital Hate (CCDH) "discovered that new denial content made up 70% of climate disinformation on YouTube in 2023, up from 35% in 2018." Shifting the blame from producers to the consuming public is a clever tactic of merchants of doubt. On March 4, 2024 the Guardian reported on the "Fury after Exxon chief says public to blame for climate failures: Darren Woods tells Fortune consumers not willing to pay for clean-energy transition, prompting backlash from climate experts." The outrage has been intense, particularly in the light of record profits. The notion of an individual's carbon footprint also shifts responsibility for solving the climate crisis to the actions of the consuming public. Some conservation groups suggest that "by making small changes to our actions, like eating less meat, taking fewer connecting flights and line drying our clothes, we can start making a big difference.' The IPCC graph above indicates that about two-thirds of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions are from the fossil fuel industry. The EPA reports the same story. Merely creating doubt is another deflection tactic. The 2021 book: Unsettled: What Climate Science Tells Us, What It Doesn't, and Why It Matters was written by Steven E. Koonin, a professor of theoretical physics at Caltech for 30 years before he spent five years as Chief Scientist for British Petroleum, presumably responsible for "researching renewable energy options." That Koonin is a Senior Fellow (adjunct) at the Hoover Institution suggests at least a private enterprise bias. In A critical review of Steven Koonin’s ‘Unsettled’ Mark Boslough pointed out the book's logical fallacies and charged "to assess its statement on climate change, he [Koonin] recruited three scientists to represent the 97% consensus, and three contrarians, presumably to speak for the other 3%. The lack of proportionate representation amplified the contrary opinions that he heard, and only in one direction." Heated says that "Plastic Recycling is a Scam" and "the fossil fuel industry has known for decades that recycling alone won't solve the plastic crisis. But it's spending millions to convince the public otherwise." Thom Hartmann, in his March 22, 2024 article explaining Why is America Letting the Oil Industry Destroy the Planet?, assails "the fossil fuel industry, with a whole new crop of psychopathic executives, marketers, and attorneys. Burning their products produces air pollution that causes asthma, cancer, heart disease, and strokes; according to Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Medicine, an estimated 350,000 Americans die prematurely every year because of this industry’s products." On March 21, 2024, the Guardian suggested that "Fossil fuel firms could be tried in US for homicide over climate-related deaths, experts say." Will the legal system reverse imbalances or be the handmaidens to political pressures and donors? Another well-known politician is a master merchant of doubt, accusing the accuser and habitually claiming to be a victim instead of the perpetrator, although the public is becoming wise. Will the public respond appropriately at the ballot box?

February 21, 2023, from 6:30–8:30 p.m., PST - Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon (EMO) will have its first Green Circle meeting this year. Small groups, typically 3–7 people from a congregation or neighborhood, will meet once a month on Zoom from February–June, on third Tuesdays, This year EMO's Green Circles topic will be: Resilient Communities Cohort for Congregations. From Cherice Bock: "The first hour will be a broader group with speakers sharing stories about climate and community resilience issues that are (or are not) being addressed in Oregon, with an emphasis on the intersections between justice issues such as housing, hunger, refugees, immigration, displacement, and climate and environmental concerns. The second hour will focus on building relationships and considering the particular work of your team in contributing to climate resilience in your community." EMO is partnering this year with friends at Together Lab and the Oregon Synod ELCA for this cohort. You can learn more here, and sign up here. Last year EMO's Green Circles met monthly on Zoom to get to know each other a bit by reading and discussing Randy Woodley's 2022 book Becoming Rooted, The EMO objective was to "build a good network of connections around the state of people of faith who want to take action to care for this planet, our common home." "The ELCA has collaborated with ecoAmerica’s Blessed Tomorrow program, a faith community initiative that empowers climate action and advocacy." Click here for an ELCA pastoral statement on "creation care and climate solutions to ensure a viable, livable world" from Presiding Bishop Elizabeth A. Eaton The local Rogue Valley ELCA congregation is Ascension Lutheran Church, 675 Black Oak Dr., Medford Oregon, 97504 "The present moment is a critical and urgent one, filled with both challenge and opportunity to act as individuals, citizens, leaders and communities of faith in solidarity with God's good creation and in hope for our shared future." ~ 2018 ELCA Earth Day statement

Ecumenical Ministry of Oregon EMO) offers monthly Interfaith Power & Light Green Circles. These online gatherings "brings together people of faith from across Oregon to learn about issues of climate change, faith, and justice, and to root ourselves spiritually as we build relationships and take action together." This year’s Green Circles run through June 2022 Find out more here.

Sunday, March 20, 2022, at 12:30 p.m. PDT - Rogue Community College (RCC) Earth Club and Sustainable Rogue Valley are co-sponsoring a film/conversation event. They will be watching and discussing five short films around the theme of climate justice. Everyone is welcome. Why You Should Be A Climate Activist (Luisa Neuberger) Climate Justice Can’t Happen Without Racial Justice (David Lammy) Apple’s Promise to be Carbon Neutral by 2030 (Lisa Jackson) How to Get Everyone to Care About a Green Economy (Angela Francis) The Case for Stubborn Optimism on Climate (Christiana Figueres) The films will be followed by a conversation about how we can get involved in solutions. Link for film/conversation: https://roguecc.zoom.us/j/93761185026 Sustainable Rogue Valley was started in mid-2015 by a group of Unitarian Universalists and their friends in Grants Pass, Oregon. We are open to everyone and hope if you are in the area and are interested in building a sustainable resilient community, you will join us. For more information about RCC Earth Club contact Dorothy Swain at larkswain@jeffnet.org.

The Ashland Climate Collaborative www.ashlandclimate.org has been described as a "network of networkers," a "hub" linking together climate-focused groups in the Rogue Valley of southern Oregon, brings folks with similar goals/values together tp brainstorm; some brainstorming groups become teams within the collaborative's "container." ACC "was formed in 2021 to foster collaboration across our community in local solutions that reduce our climate footprint and build a resilient Ashland." They are "an Oregon registered nonprofit and are in the process of applying for federal 501(c)(3) nonprofit status." Ashland Climate Collaborative has four action teams (groups of community residents, like you, working together to educate and organize climate actions on specific topics): Electrify Ashland Now Streets 4 Everyone Water Conservation Composting From their website: "In 2022, the Ashland Climate Collaborative is developing Networks for local organizations, businesses, and neighborhoods to come together to accelerate climate action and integrate it into standard practice. Networks can be formed for a particular business sector (i.e., grocers, realtors, or banking), or can cross business sectors to focus on particular challenges like reducing food waste, electrification, or making biking and walking safer)." Lorrie Kline Kaplan, is the President of ACC and Chair of Ashland Climate Action Project of Southern Oregon Climate Action Now (SOCAN.). Rick Barth, ACC Treasurer, is Chair of the City of Ashland Climate Policy Commission. ACC Secretary Candace Turtle is Chair of the Rotary of Ashland Environmental & Sustainability Committee.