Historic Symposium on the Future

Carl Sagan famously wrote, “How is it that hardly any major religion has looked at science and concluded, ‘This is better than we thought! The universe is much bigger than our prophets said — grander, subtler, more elegant. God must be even greater than we dreamed.‘? … A religion old or new that stressed the magnificence of the universe as revealed by modern science might be able to draw forth reserves of reverence and awe hardly tapped by the conventional faiths.  Sooner or later, such a religion will emerge.”

I believe Sagan was correct in the intuition and wrong in the detail. Not a religion, per se, but a worldwide meta-religious movement has indeed been emerging for decades, largely unnoticed, at the nexus of science, inspiration, and sustainability. Beliefs are secondary. What unites us is a pool of shared values and commitments — and the vision of a just and healthy future for humanity and the larger body of life.

“The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness” is an historic series of 30-60 minute Skype interviews that showcases the work of many of today’s leaders and luminaries regarding what to expect in the decades ahead, what’s being done — what still needs to be done — and how to be in action despite enormous challenges. These 55 experts represent a veritable Who’s Who of prophetic inspiration.

All sessions in this Symposium will stream for free between January 26 – February 8, 2015. Click here (or on the image above) to register and receive the schedule. (Be sure to watch the video trailer … I had way too much fun making it!)

In addition to the free two-week event, the full set of 55 videos, audios, and transcripts is available for purchase for just $25 and scholarships are available to those anywhere in the world for whom even this is a hardship.

A brief overview…

We each have experienced times of trouble that threaten to overwhelm our individual lives. In such times, a vision of possibility is essential. The same holds for the punctuations in history when whole societies face troubles of an immense and uncharted variety. Truly, we have arrived at such a time. Humans, unwittingly, have become a planetary force. We are changing irreversibly the very climate of our world. Henceforth, any actions we take as individuals and societies will be done in the new light of climate change, resource depletion, the growing gap between the rich and poor, and a wide assortment of other social and ecological crises.

A few of the questions this Virtual Conference will explore:

• How can we face the large-scale challenges of our time with hearts of gratitude, passion for life, and inspiration to be in action in service to the future?
• How is our predicament revealing the evolutionary significance of religion and the religious significance of science?
• What vision will carry us forward and inspire us to work together?
• What vision will charge us with a sense of heroic purpose that the future is indeed calling us to greatness?