The bigger story

“. . .the human activates the most profound dimension of the universe itself, its capacity to reflect on and celebrate itself in conscious self-awareness.” (The Dream of the Earth, Thomas Berry, Sierra Club Books San Francisco, 1988, p. 132)

I’d like to think more about this idea in relation to Jewish blessings.

Berry presents this thought in the context of an idea of a “new story” of the universe that is emerging, a combination of a mechanistic scientific idea and a mythic, values-enriched idea. Years ago I heard a phrase that I put to work many times in my own teaching: “Myth gives meaning to history.” Yes, of course there are facts, historical facts, scientific facts. But it is how we understand the facts that gives our lives meaning. This, then, is our most important task as human beings, the meaning of our lives in the world: to reflect on and celebrate creation in conscious self-awareness.

I have come back to this idea of “the story” repeatedly in the past couple of years ever since I read Yuval Noah Harari’s Sapiens and Charles Eisenstein’s The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know Is Possible. Harari tells us the unique ability of human beings is that we create fictions (stories) and persuade others to believe them — which in turns allows us to cooperate flexibly in large groups, the key to our success as a species. Eisenstein challenges us to choose the story in which we will stand. Our stories make our lives meaningful. Our stories represent our reflections on and celebrations of creation.

Jewish blessings are mini-reminders of a greater narrative of the universe, a story in which every living being is gifted with life and food appropriate for its nature. A story of creativity, wisdom, justice and compassion. A story that begins and ends with an aspirational vision, the Garden.