Stories for a New Era
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Life, which instills matter with the capacity to choose, takes Creation’s journey of self-discovery to a new level of possibility. By its nature, life exists only in relationship to other life and is at its most vital in cooperative communities rich with diversity and the dynamic interplay of individuals and species engaged in actualizing their individual and collective potential. Competition for territory, food, and sexual partners contributes to the dynamism of the whole, yet is no more than a counterpoint to deeper patterns of cooperation and mutuality. The well-being of the individual and of the community are inseparable. The health of the whole depends on the health and integrity of the individual, and the health of the individual depends on the health and integrity of the whole; neither can survive and prosper without the other. The species that survive and thrive are those that learn to sustain themselves in ways that simultaneously serve the needs of the whole. The defining challenge for each new species is to find its place of service, a challenge we humans have yet to meet. As far as we know, we humans are Creation’s most daring experiment in reflective consciousness and the capacity for mindful choice. It is our nature to choose and, in our most mature manifestation, to discern the difference between good — that which serves Creation’s purpose — and evil — that which is contrary to that purpose. Deepening our understanding of the difference between good and evil so defined, and learning to organize our lives in service to the good, are central to our life’s work. Throughout our history, we humans have demonstrated that hatred and love, greed and generosity, ruthless competition and selfless cooperation, are all within our nature. It is also in our nature to choose among the possibilities of our nature, and it is our responsibility to choose wisely. Because we live in complex and interdependent relationships with one another on a planetary spaceship with a fragile and now overstressed life support system, we humans ultimately share a common destiny. It is ours to choose whether that common destiny will be one of peace, justice, and abundance, or violence, tyranny, and deprivation. The idea that the human species represents the ultimate accomplishment and end purpose of Creation is an unwarranted conceit of a still immature species — an extension of the ancient conceit that the whole of the cosmos revolves around our earthly planet and thereby around humans. It is an