Description
“Rev. Michael Dowd, a regular guest in my pulpit, has created an eight-session video discussion course, “ProFuture Faith: The Prodigal Species Comes Home,” that weaves together science, inspiration, and sustainability in a visually stunning and conversation-generating way. His prophetic call for intergenerational justice will appeal to humanists and spiritual members alike. I recommend it to all UU ministers and RE directors.”
— Rev. Marlin Lavanhar, Senior Minister of All Souls Unitarian Church in Tulsa, OK
“Just when we are tempted to get lost in the haze of consumerism until the whole planet gets used up, Michael Dowd comes along to shake us awake, and to ask us to not only face reality, but to let it be our guide into the future. We can still come home to this world. And we can still create a religion that helps align our hearts and minds, and our actions, with the astonishing beauty that has brought us here.”
— Peter Mayer, singer and songwriter
ProFuture Faith: The Prodigal Species Comes Home — 8 sessions
Having “squandered our inheritance on profligate living,” we are a prodigal species. Industrial civilization and our insatiable appetites have us hurtling toward irreversible consequences – not in some distant future, but right now. The good news is it’s not too late. At the intersection of science, spirituality, and sustainability is a deep love of life and a passion for our posterity – a ProFuture Faith. Join eco-theologian, author, and TEDx speaker, Rev. Michael Dowd in a dynamic DVD and internet-based discussion course that bridges the gap between head and heart, science and faith. Participants will be guided on a journey that accepts what is inevitable, avoids what is futile, and be inspired to attend to what is urgent. Come home to reality. Embrace a ProFuture Faith!
Primary and Secondary Resources for Further Exploration
Part One — Coming Home to Reality
- Un-Trivializing God — Reality as Thou
Primary resources…
ESSAY: “What Are We Pointing to with the Word ‘God’?” – Gene Marshall
ARTISTIC VIDEO: “God Is Reality Personified, Not a Person” (20 min)
Additional resources…
BLOG POST: “God: Personification ≠ Person” – Rev. Dowd
VIDEOS: Nate Hagens: “Reality 101: What every student (and citizen) needs to know”
Also: https://un-denial.com/2019/02/02/by-nate-hagens-reality-101-what-every-student-and-citizen-should-know-about-energy
- The Purpose of Religion and the Necessity of Science
Primary resource…
SERMON VIDEO: “Reality 101: Expanding Our Circle of Compassion” – Dowd (30 min)
Additional resources…
AUDIOS: Edward “Teddy” Goldsmith: https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/sets/edward-teddy-goldsmith (audios narrated by Dowd)
INTRO to Goldsmith: http://thegreatstory.org/sustainability-audios.html#goldsmith
- The Epic of Evolution — A Cosmic Timeline
Primary resource…
SLIDE NARRATION: “Sane vs. Insane Progress” – Dowd (24 min)
Additional resources…
MINI ESSAY: “Ecology is the New Theology” – Dowd and Barlow
SERMON VIDEO: “Intergenerational Justice: Could Any Vision Matter More?” – Dowd (23 min)
- Thus Sayeth Reality — What is Inevitable; What is Needed
Primary resource…
OVERVIEW: Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment (review, quotes)
Additional resources…
SLIDE NARRATION: “Reality’s Rules: Ten Commandments to Avoid Extinction and Redeem Humanity” – Dowd (17 min)
TEXT: Jem Bendell’s 2018 paper: “Deep Adaptation: A Map for Navigating Climate Tragedy”
AUDIO: https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/sets/jem-bendell-deep-adaptation
SERMON VIDEO: “Confessions of a Recovering Progressive” – Dowd (28 min)
Part Two — Practical Wisdom
- Thus Sayeth Reality — What is Futile; What is Urgent
Primary resource…
SERMON VIDEO: “EcoTheism: Ecology as the Heart of Theology” – Dowd (31 min)
Additional resources…
SCHUMACHER LECTURE (text): “The Ecozoic Era” – Thomas Berry
AUDIO of above Thomas Berry lecture, “The Ecozoic Era” (narrated by Dowd; 42 min)
- Why We Struggle — Un-Trivializing Mythic Wisdom
Primary resources (web portals link to text, audio, video) …
Quadrune (4-Part) Brain resources: http://thegreatstory.org/evolutionize.html
Our physical instincts: http://thegreatstory.org/evolved-brain.html
Our social instincts: http://thegreatstory.org/evolved-brain-mammal.html
Our interpretative instincts: http://thegreatstory.org/evolved-brain-monkey.html
Our spiritual instincts: http://thegreatstory.org/evolved-brain-porpoise.html
Additional resources…
VIDEOS: Nate Hagens — Reality 101: What Every Student (Citizen) Should Know
CHAPTERS 8-12 in Rev. Dowd’s book, Thank God for Evolution, pp. 139-239 (especially Section III: “The Gospel According to Evolution”)
- Impermanence and Death as Sacred — Embracing Limits
Primary resources…
SERMON VIDEO: “Not the Future We Ordered: Honoring Our Grief” – Dowd (30 min)
WEB PORTAL (text, audio, video): “Death as Natural, Generative, and No Less Sacred than Life”: http://thegreatstory.org/death-programs.html
BLOG POSTS: (1) “Death: Sacred, Necessary, Real”: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-michael-dowd/death-is-sacred-necessary-real_b_1541102.html
(2) “A Scientific Honoring of Death”: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/rev-michael-dowd/a-scientific-honoring-of-death_b_1556839.html
BBC NEWS SPECIAL REPORT (2019): “Are We on the Road to Civilization Collapse?” and “The Lifespan of Ancient Civilizations”
Additional resources…
BOOK (75 pages): William Ophuls: Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail
ESSAY: “The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival” – Sir John Glubb
- Staying Sane, Sober, and Inspired in Contracting Times
Primary resources…
SERMON: “Not the Future We Ordered: Staying Sane in Crazy Times” – Dowd (37 min)
SOUL NOURISHMENT: Dahr Jamail and Barbara Cecil’s 2019 series: “How then Shall We Live? Finding Our Way and Peace of Heart Amidst Global Collapse”: Essays / Audios
Additional resources…
ESSAY: The Prodigal Species – Bruce Sanguin
INSPIRATION (text): Positive Visions, Practical Tools, and Inspiring Examples of Eco-Wise Thinking and Living
ON HOPE, DESPAIR, GRIEF, and ACTION
AUDIO PLAYLIST: https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/sets/rip-homo-colossus
Dahr Jamail and Barbara Cecil’s series: “How then Shall We Live? Finding Our Way and Peace of Heart Amidst Global Collapse”: Essays / Audios
Emily Johnston: “How to Keep Going”: https://medium.com/@enjohnston/how-to-keep-going-c634a8322f28
Derrick Jensen: “Beyond Hope”: https://orionmagazine.org/article/beyond-hope/
Jem Bendell: “Hope and Vision in the Face of Collapse: The 4th R of Deep Adaptation” https://jembendell.wordpress.com/2019/01/09/hope-and-vision-in-the-face-of-collapse-the-4th-r-of-deep-adaptation/
Catherine Ingram: “Facing Extinction”: http://www.catherineingram.com/facingextinction/
AUDIO: https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/catherine-ingram-facing-extinction
Dahr Jamail: “In Facing Mass Extinction, We Don’t Need Hope, We Need Courage”: https://truthout.org/articles/in-facing-mass-extinction-we-dont-need-hope-we-need-to-grieve/
Rebecca Solnit: “Hope is an embrace of the unknown”: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/jul/15/rebecca-solnit-hope-in-the-dark-new-essay-embrace-unknown
Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone (BOOK) — Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED: All audios in the following two SoundCloud playlists:
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ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Rev. Dowd’s TEDx Talks – VIDEO
(2014) “Reality Reconciles Science and Religion”
Blog: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tedx-talk-reality-reconci_b_5513264
YouTube: https://youtu.be/1QeTWVw9Fm4
(2012) “Why We Struggle and Suffer”
Blog: https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/tedx-talk-why-we-struggle_b_1605802
YouTube: https://youtu.be/DDMOF7qtlh8
Interviews with Top Climate Scientists, Activists, Sustainability Experts:
(2015) “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness” (55 interviews, Dowd as host)
Videos: http://www.tree-of-life.works/greatness
Audios: https://soundcloud.com/michael-dowd-grace-limits/sets/the-future-is-calling-us-to-greatness-55-interviews
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Resources Mentioned During Rev. Dowd’s Presentations
- Un-trivializing God — Reality as Thou
Loyal Rue — Religion Is Not About God
William R. Catton, Jr. — Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Thomas Berry — The Dream of the Earth, and The Great Work: Our Way Into the Future
Conservation International & Hollywood stars — Nature Is Speaking videos
Marc Perkel video: Why Reality Needs a Religion (and Atheism Isn’t Good Enough)
- The Purpose of Religion and the Necessity Science
David Sloan Wilson — Darwin’s Cathedral: Evolution, Religion, and the Nature of Society, and Evolution for Everyone
Edward O. Wilson — On Human Nature, and The Social Conquest of Earth
Larry Rasmussen — Earth Honoring Faith: Religious Ethics in a New Key
Bron Taylor — Dark Green Religion: Nature Spirituality and the Planetary Future
Edward (Teddy) Goldsmith — A Blueprint for Survival, The Stable Society, and The Way: An Ecological Worldview
Stuart Guthrie — Faces in the Clouds: A New Theory of Religion
- The Epic of Evolution — A Cosmic Timeline
Clive Ponting — A New Green History of the World
William R. Catton, Jr. — Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Anand Veeraraj — Green History of Religion
- Thus Sayeth Reality… What is Inevitable; What is Necessary
Nate Hagens — Reality 101: UMN Nexus One videos (also here)
John Michael Greer: “The Next Ten Billion Years” (audio of Bardi-Greer-Bardi: here)
- Thus Sayeth Reality… What is Futile; What is Urgent
William R. Catton, Jr. — Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Michael & Jean Huesemann — Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment (also here and here)
John Michael Greer — Dark Age America: Climate Change, Cultural Collapse, and the Hard Future Ahead (audiobook here, narrated by Dowd)
John Michael Greer — The Long Descent: A Users Guide to the End of the Industrial Age
Joseph A. Tainter — The Collapse of Complex Societies
- Why We Struggle — Un-trivializing Mythic Wisdom
Ajit Varki and Danny Brower — Denial: Self-Deception, False Beliefs, and the Origins of the Human Mind
Deirdre Barrett — Supernormal Stimuli: How Primal Urges Overran Their Evolutionary Purpose
Stephen Jenkinson — Griefwalker (VIDEO, 80 min) and Die Wise: A Manifesto for Sanity and Soul (BOOK)
Paul Chefurka — “Approaching the Limits to Growth” website
AUDIO RECORDING of Paul Chefurka: “Best Hits” from his website (narrated by Dowd)
- Impermanence and Death as Sacred — Embracing Limits
Wikipedia page: Societal Collapse
BBC Future — “Are we on the road to civilization collapse?”
William R. Catton, Jr. — Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Jared Diamond — Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed
Ronald Wright — Book A Short History of Progress / Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Short_History_of_Progress
Joseph A. Tainter — The Collapse of Complex Societies
Sir John Glubb — The Fate of Empires and Search for Survival
William Ophuls — Immoderate Greatness: Why Civilizations Fail
Michael & Jean Huesemann — Techno-Fix: Why Technology Won’t Save Us or the Environment (Also here and here)
Death portal on TheGreatStory.org website: http://thegreatstory.org/death-programs.html
- Staying Sane, Sober, and Inspired in Contracting Times
Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone — Active Hope: How to Face the Mess We’re in Without Going Crazy
VIDEO (fictional documentary): Bill Nye’s Global Meltdown (44 min)
