Presented by John Grim and Sam King

What does it mean to be descended from the stars? How might awareness of our cosmic origins help us fulfill our role in a living Earth community? 

This program will offer an immersion into Journey of the Universe, an Emmy Award-winning film weaving together science and spirituality to tell the epic story of cosmic evolution. We will explore the influence of the Jesuit paleontologist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, with special attention to his ideas of matter-spirit, cosmogenesis, and the emerging noosphere. We will also trace the legacy of the great cultural historian Thomas Berry, considering his visions of a New Story, the Universe as “a communion of subjects,” and the Great Work of birthing an Ecozoic Era of human-Earth flourishing. 

Participants will be invited to take part in an outdoor Cosmic Walk, an embodied ritual created by Sr. Miriam MacGillis, tracing the 13.8 billion year story of the Universe. 

At a time of ecological crisis, we will explore the implications of a Journey worldview for issues of climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental justice.   

The program will conclude with discussion of how our “shared dream experience” can unleash the vision and creativity needed to restore the well being of the Earth community.

COST | $65, LUNCH INCLUDED

We’re honored to offer scholarship opportunities to programs and retreats, creating opportunities for everyone. Please call (860) 567-3163 to find out more.

The health and safety of our guests and staff are of paramount importance to us. We follow the COVID-19 guidelines provided by the State of Connecticut and the CDC. If Wisdom House is forced to close to comply with the guidelines issued by the State of Connecticut or the CDC, we will return all funds received to date.

Sam King

Sam King is an educator, writer, speaker, and environmentalist. As Director of Sustainability for the Marist school network, he works with youth leaders across the country to inspire grassroots efforts to address climate change, species loss, pollution, and environmental injustice. He also serves as Research Associate for the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology, and Project Manager for the Emmy Award-winning Journey of the Universe film and multimedia project, curating a monthly newsletter and hosting a podcast where he speaks with influential scientists, artists, spiritual leaders, and environmentalists. An avid gardener, forager, and outdoorsman, Sam lives on Quinnipiac land in New Haven, CT.

John Grim

John Grim is a retired Senior Lecturer and Research Scholar at Yale University from 2023. With Mary Evelyn Tucker John mounted online courses at Yale that include: Introduction to Religion and Ecology, Western Religions and Ecology, East Asian Religions and Ecology, South Asian Religions and Ecology, American Indian Religions and Ecology, Indigenous Religions and Ecology, Journey of the Universe, and Thomas Berry: His Life and Thought. Together they edited the 10 volume series, “World Religions and Ecology,” from the Harvard Center for the Study of World Religions distributed by Harvard University Press. In that series he edited Indigenous Traditions and Ecology: The Interbeing of Cosmology and Community (Harvard, 2001). His published works include: The Shaman: Patterns of Religious Healing Among the Ojibway Indians (University of Oklahoma Press, 1983) and an edited volume with Mary Evelyn Tucker entitled Worldviews and Ecology (Orbis, 1994, 5th printing 2000), and a Daedalus volume (2001) entitled, Religion and Ecology: Can the Climate Change? John was President of the American Teilhard Association (www.teilharddechardin.org) from 1987 until 2019. In 2009, he edited, with Mary Evelyn Tucker, Thomas Berry's last collection of essays titled, The Christian Future and the Fate of Earth published by Orbis Books in 2009.  They are Executive Producers of the Emmy-award winning film, Journey of the Universe, which they made with the mathematical cosmologist, Brian Swimme. In 2014 they completed a volume for Island Press on Ecology and Religion.  In 2016 they edited Living Cosmology: Christian Responses to Journey of the Universe with Orbis Books.  They published with Willis Jenkins a Handbook on Religion and Ecology with Routledge in 2017.  Recently, they completed Thomas Berry: A Biography published with Columbia University Press early Spring 2019.  John and Mary Evelyn have just returned from a 5 week speaking trip to China on “ecological civilization.”  For more on this Cf the Forum website at fore.yale.edu