Thomas Berry and The Great Work

Sam Mickey

In this week's episode of Spotlights, Sam Mickey talks about the life and thought of a deeply influential figure in the field and force of religion and ecology, Thomas Berry (1914-2009). Sam draws on the book about Berry's life and thought, Thomas Berry: A Biography, by Mary Evelyn Tucker, John Grim, and Andrew Angyal (Columbia University Press, 2019), and he concludes with a reading from one of Berry's books, The Great Work (Bell Tower, 1999), ending with the following quotation:

We are not lacking in the dynamic forces needed to create the future. We live immersed in a sea of energy beyond all comprehension. But this energy, in an ultimate sense, is ours not by domination but by invocation.” (Thomas Berry, “The Dynamics of the Future,” in The Great Work, 175).

You can find more information about these and other publications at the Thomas Berry website here.

You can watch the episode below or listen to it here.

An archive of previous episodes can be found here, with audio versions here and anywhere podcasts are available (e.g., Apple Podcast, Spotify, Pandora, etc.).