This Is The World We Have Been Waiting For with Joanna Macy, Ph.D. & Anita Barrows

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At a time when our planet is spinning toward the greatest crisis our species has known, why would one of its most beloved advocates devote herself to poetry? It's true. Joanna Macy, along with Anita Barrows, has immersed herself in the poetry of Rainer Maria Rilke, translating many of his most treasured writings. She explains it this way: "The world is asking us to come into the very grounds of our vitality and sanity. There is so much destruction and loss around us now, from economic meltdown to climate chaos to the brutalities of war. And in such a time, what do we need more than moral imagination?" Moral imagination, indeed, is what you'll find in this exploration of the enlightened words of Rilke. From the nature of your true identity and the interplay between death and life, to why both God and your neighbor need you to serve them a glass of water, you'll be grounded, centered, uplifted, and inspired. Certainly your moral imagination will be expanded to bring you into presence with the rest of your day, ready for the hard work that lies ahead. (hosted by Michael Toms)

Bio

Bio

Joanna Macy, Ph.D., (1929-2025) was an eco-philosopher and a respected voice in the peace, justice, and ecology movements. She was the author of many books and a scholar of Buddhism, systems thinking, and deep ecology. As the root teacher of the Work That Reconnects, Macy has created a groundbreaking framework for personal and social change that brings a new way of seeing the world as our larger body.

Joanna Macy’s books include:

• Thinking Like a Mountain: Towards a Council of All Beings (Co-authors, John Seed, Pat Fleming, and Arne Naess) (New Society Publishers 1988)
• A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time (Co-author Stephanie Kaza) Shambhala 2020)
• World as Lover, World as Self: Courage for Global Justice and Ecological Renewal (Parallax Press 2021)
• Coming Back to Life: The Updated Guide to the Work That Reconnects (co-authored with Molly Young Brown) (New Society Publishers 1998 and 2014)
• Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age (New Society Publishers 1983)
• Active Hope: How to face the Mess We’re in with Unexpected Resilience & Creative Power (co-authored Chris Johnston) (New World Library 2022)
• A Wild Love for the World: Joanna Macy and the Work of Our Time (Co-author Stephanie Kaza) (Shambhala 2020)
  

To learn more about the work of Joanna Macy go to www.JoannaMacy.net.

Anita Barrows is an award winning poet and psychologist, and recipient of the Quarterly Review of Literature's Contemporary Poetry Award.

Macy and Barrowshave translated three books of Rilke's poems, including:

• A Year with Rilke: Daily Readings from the Best of Rainer Maria Rilke (HarperOne 2010)

Topics Explored in This Dialogue

• Why we need poetry now more than ever
• Why is Rilke important and relevant today
• What the world of Nature can teach us
• What kind of solitude will help you become more fully present with yourself and the world
• How you can gain a new understanding of who God really is

Host: Michael Toms         Interview Date: 3/16/2010           Program Number: 3348