Inspiration

Mission Statement

Sisters of Saint Joseph Earth Center,
a sponsored work of the Sisters of St. Joseph,
fosters opportunities to reflect, practice and celebrate 
the truth that all is sacred.
By integrating artistic expression with holistic spirituality,
the Center hopes to model ways 
of living in harmony with all of creation.

	We take inspiration from Miriam T. MacGillis, OP, who says the Great Work is the context within which everything else we do is held. Miriam presented the New Universe Story vision to the volunteers and presenters in February 2005.
	We take inspiration from Thomas Berry, CP, who said the Universe Story “opens our eyes to the full dimension of the ecological crisis, framing it as a crisis of spiritual vision.”   Evening Thoughts, Thomas Berry, 2006.

The Cosmic Christ

Compassion Mandala by Robert Lentz, OFM

Image from https://www.trinitystores.com/

“…love people even in their sin, for that is the semblance of Divine Love and is the highest love on earth. Love all God’s creation, the whole and every grain of sand in it. Love every leaf, every ray of God’s light. Love the animals, love the plants, love everything. If you love everything, you will perceive it, you will begin to comprehend it better every day. And you will come at last to love the whole world with an all-embracing love.”

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The Brothers Karamazov

 

Dance of Creation by Robert Lentz, OFM

This icon celebrates ancient Christian tradition and the most startling contemporary discoveries about the nature of the Cosmos. The transparent figure of Hagia Sophia―Holy Wisdom―dances and sings playfully in the background, true to her description in the Book of Proverbs. Her open hands scatter galaxies of stars and all they contain.

In the foreground is the Logos, Pattern of all Creation, incarnate in the Cosmic Christ, celebrated in the gospel of John and embraced by mystics throughout centuries. His extended hands order and gather back to the Mystery all of creation which reaches its completion in Him. The galaxy beneath Sophia’s feet is the Milky Way. The inscriptions name Jesus Christ and Sophia, Holy Wisdom of God, in Church Slavonic, the language of the Russian Church which has pondered these mysteries so deeply in times past.

Scientists, today, tell us that in the creative vacuum that exists between the tiniest sub-atomic particles, elementary particles constantly foam into existence everywhere in the Universe. The particles erupt in pairs: particles and anti-particles which annihilate each other. Certain particles called quarks continue to exist as they relate to each other, in groups of two or three, interdependently and interconnectedly. Connectedness and interrelatedness are interwoven throughout the entire fabric of creation. The ground of the Universe is absolutely dynamic and ever new as it constantly emerges and falls back into this All-Nourishing Abyss. The dance never ceases.

A tradition dies when it stops growing. When it cannot expand to embrace new vistas, it should be discarded. We must find the ways in which our religion and science can dance together if we want a living spirituality. The Mystery is too great to be grasped by any single approach.