Judy Cannato

This book is awesome on a number of different levels. I have an interest in and am a student of the new cosmology both from a scientific and philosophical stance. What surprised me immediately is the clarity which Ms Cannato brings to this complex subject. She is every bit at home speaking with authority on the scientific basis for the Big Bang theory as she is speaking on the Sufi mystics. Her synthesis is a beautiful piece of work that reads like poetry. In addition, she is conscious of the needs of the reader and so gradually builds this synthesis about our key role in evolutionary consciousness so that we are never lost as we make our way through the book. For example, Chapter 9 is basically a repetition of all that is in chapter 1 – 8. Other authors of complex subject matter could well take a lead from her by giving helpful summaries. Personally, I loved the way she integrated the theology of Karl Rahner and the Christian narrative into her thesis. I had studied Rahner in the past and found his work somewhat inaccessible; in this book she breaks it down into bite sized intelligible pieces without losing any of the depths. Chapter 12 is so poignant and totally unexpected. Here she describes her journey through cancer, linking it with her personal commitment to live by the values of a “Filed of Compassion”. Page 187 gives such an honest description of this journey; the roller coaster that is cancer. And with humility she tells us that this chapter was unplanned. It is so sad that she died in 2011, shortly after finishing this book. Sad for her family and extended community; sad too for us her readers who could have learned so much more from her had her evolutionary journey not been cut so short. On all levels, if you have an interest in the evolution and future of humanity, this is a masterpiece of good science, deep spirituality and a literary style which sucks you in and makes you feel at home.… (mere)