.
.“This story of the Universe,”
. said the Sage,
. “is a young story; it is changing
. as we discover and rediscover more
. about ourselves,
. our planet,
. our galaxy,
. our Universe,
. and the Infinite.”
I call this a “young” story because it’s based on the scientific discoveries that emerged with Modern Mind as its foundation, rather than on traditional western religious mythologies, which, relatively speaking, are older (though in terms of geologic or cosmic time, all of humanity’s stories are quite young).
Scientists began to make discoveries that contributed to the emergence of the New Story starting in the early 20th century, when Einstein’s theories upset the mechanistic worldview that science held up to that time (others trace the new story back to the late 1800’s, when “new thought” churches began to emerge).
And the part about it being a changing story is important—as compared to the traditional interpretations of the creation stories in the Abrahamic religions, which tend to assert that “this is the way it is and always will be,” that the story they tell is unalterable and infallible. Science, on the other hand, changes as new evidence is gathered (a small example: right before the book went to press, I learned that the age of the Universe was changed from 13.7 to 13.8 billion years, and I was able to insert that little change into the galleys to reflect this latest piece of evidence).
The idea that the story is always changing is why the Sage says:
.“So you must hold [this story]
. with a light grasp,
. much as you would gently hold a bird,
. trembling in your hand:
. not so tight as to harm the bird
. and even willing to release it
. at the right time
. and let it fly off into history.”
—DC
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Excerpt: "The Young Story"
Courtesy of NASA
.
.“This story of the Universe,”
. said the Sage,
. “is a young story; it is changing
. as we discover and rediscover more
. about ourselves,
. our planet,
. our galaxy,
. our Universe,
. and the Infinite.”
I call this a “young” story because it’s based on the scientific discoveries that emerged with Modern Mind as its foundation, rather than on traditional western religious mythologies, which, relatively speaking, are older (though in terms of geologic or cosmic time, all of humanity’s stories are quite young).
Scientists began to make discoveries that contributed to the emergence of the New Story starting in the early 20th century, when Einstein’s theories upset the mechanistic worldview that science held up to that time (others trace the new story back to the late 1800’s, when “new thought” churches began to emerge).
And the part about it being a changing story is important—as compared to the traditional interpretations of the creation stories in the Abrahamic religions, which tend to assert that “this is the way it is and always will be,” that the story they tell is unalterable and infallible. Science, on the other hand, changes as new evidence is gathered (a small example: right before the book went to press, I learned that the age of the Universe was changed from 13.7 to 13.8 billion years, and I was able to insert that little change into the galleys to reflect this latest piece of evidence).
The idea that the story is always changing is why the Sage says:
.“So you must hold [this story]
. with a light grasp,
. much as you would gently hold a bird,
. trembling in your hand:
. not so tight as to harm the bird
. and even willing to release it
. at the right time
. and let it fly off into history.”
—DC
Click here to leave comments or questions