The Story of Our Time

by Robert Atkinson

Overview

Beneath the illusion of separation, humanity is one family.

In this timely and timeless book, Dr. Robert Atkinson offers a deeply thoughtful narrative of conscious evolution drawn from the continuous wisdom of the world’s religions. The Story of Our Time inspires hope as it traces love’s unifying power throughout history and in our midst. Don’t be distracted by seeming setbacks; this big picture view of human progress points to peaceful unity as our ultimate destination. How we get there depends upon the stories we live by and the action we take.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781945026232
Publisher:	Sacred Stories Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	02/14/2017
Pages:	226
Sales rank:	277,096
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.52(d)

About the Author

ROBERT ATKINSON, Ph.D., an internationally recognized authority in life story interviewing, personal mythmaking and soul-making, is the author of nine books, professor emeritus at the University of Southern Maine, and the director of Life Story Commons.

Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Prologue:We're Living in a Spiritual Springtime........................................i
Introduction: Spiritual Principles Guiding Our Evolutionary Leap..........v
Part One: The Nature of Consciousness
I. Consciousness is a potentiality set in motion by an organic process......3
The independent investigation of reality unleashes our potential.
1. Our Inherent Urge to Understand Reality...................................5
The call
The question of consciousness
Consciousness changes with experience
The search for truth expands our consciousness
II. Love is the underlying force of evolution .......................................19
Love is a unifying force meant to carry evolution to its highest level possible.
2. Attraction Alters the Course of Civilizations..............................21
Altruistic love changes everything
The love ethic
The force of attraction writ large
Love eliminates all forms of prejudice
III. Justice maintains the inherent balance of life...............................37
Equitable and just relationships evolve with the increase of social complexity.
3. Culture and the Evolution of Justice.............................................39
Culture as a medium for growth
Cultural evolution in historical perspective
The pattern of collective evolution
Justice as the cornerstone of an ever-advancing civilization
Part Two: The Nature of Transformation
IV. Unity is the result of the conscious confrontation of opposing forces............................................................................57
Transformation is necessary for growth and evolution.
4. Opposition as the Catalyst for Transformation..........................59
The polarity principle
The necessity of adversity
The dark night of the collective soul
A world giving birth
Part Three: The Nature of Reality
V. Reality is one, and global harmony is inevitable.............................75
Since conscious evolution is purposeful, world peace is a promise waiting to be fulfilled.
5. Spiritual Forces Guiding Us Toward Unity..................................77
Reality as a continuum
Uniting the One and the many
A global transformation of consciousness is under way
Beyond political peace, world unity is the goal
VI. Revelation is continuous and progressive.....................................93
The release of spiritual energies inspires the evolution of civilization.
6. The Mystery of Divinity...................................................................95
A holistic view of the Creator
Re-visioning religion
The missing chapter in the story of religion
Humanity's coming of age
VII. Consciousness evolves toward wholeness and unity...................113
Science and religion are two knowledge systems that are part of the same whole.
7. The Inherent Harmony of Reason and Faith.............................115
Did Darwin discover divinity?
A hidden wholeness removes the boundaries
Welcoming the interfaith, interspiritual age
A bridge across the ages and traditions
Epilogue: The Global Movement of Our Time -
Building a Culture of Oneness...............................................133
Appendix I: A Timeline of Humanity's Conscious Evolution................141
Appendix II: A Meditation for Living in Oneness..................................153
Acknowledgments............................................................................................157
Notes.........................................................................................................159
Index........................................................................................................183

Editorial Reviews

Good news! For all the divisive shadows rising across the landscape of the global community these days, there is an answering and much more potent luminosity. Human consciousness is unfolding toward its essential unity - not only with other humans but also with all Life. This lucid book both celebrates that evolutionary trajectory and guides our full and empowered participation.
-Mirabai Starr, author of Caravan of No Despair: A Memoir of Loss & Transformation, and God of Love: A Guide to the Heart of Judaism, Christianity & Islam

What makes this book a classic is its profound stretch across the philosophical, metaphysical, scientific, and spiritual panorama of existence, all wrapped in the universal language of connectivity that unites all sentient beings: Love. It is a must-read by the widest of global audiences.
-Michael Bernard Beckwith, author of Life Visioning

This beautiful book helps us find a whole new category of understanding evolution. It is not a materialistic process seen only from the outside; it is the interior journey of humanity's consciousness, love and creativity, a remarkable work that I recommend wholeheartedly.
-Barbara Marx Hubbard, author of Conscious Evolution: Awakening the Power of Our Social Potential

As Muhammad said, "To every age its own book." Atkinson's The Story of Our Time aptly summarizes today's story of emergent conscious unity across our species. Organizing the scientific, spiritual, and myriad other elements of this story into seven binding principles only further enhances the value of this book.
-Kurt Johnson, organizer of The Interspiritual Network, and author of The Coming Interspiritual Age

With clarity and insight, Atkinson describes this pivotal moment in our collective evolution. Here are the guidelines for the shift in consciousness humanity needs to make if we are to survive and transform, if we are to make the transition from "the love of power to the power of love." Here is real hope grounded in the deep understanding of life's essential unity and our innate capacity for love.
-Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee, Sufi teacher and author of Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth

In The Story of Our Time, Robert Atkinson bravely, audaciously, and compellingly identifies factors that can move the consciousness of humanity toward the unity that underlies the divisions of ordinary perception - and, as he astutely illustrates, there is no greater task before us. This is an important contribution to the evolutionary dialogue that is our best hope of transcending the problems that our constricted awareness has created.
-Philip Goldberg, author of American Veda: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West

Robert Atkinson's The Story of Our Time is a thoughtful, balanced, and gracious contribution from the Baha'i perspective, introducing a stream of unitive evolutionary wisdom that has been ahead of the curve for a long time and deserves to be more widely known.
-Cynthia Bourgeault, author of The Wisdom Way of Knowing; The Holy Trinity and the Law of Three; and, The Heart of Centering Prayer: Nondual Christianity in Theory and Practice

From the Publisher