The Center for Action & Contemplation (https://cac.org/conspire-2021/) On the Conspire 2020 page, we read the quote “We stand in the place where opposites come together, awaiting the birth of what is to come—a new genesis, one more beginning in a series of starts trailing backward in time to the very first day; God’s generous rhythm of life, death, and resurrection moving in and through all things—the very breath and source of the cosmos itself.”

We see ourselves as part of the evolution of the church in the modern world. When we look at the history from the early movements to the middle ages and the European cultural infusion, we see humanity at its best and worst. But what we are experiencing is the evolution of civilizations. Think about the cause/effect of each of the two revolutions the world has experienced and how it shaped and transformed how people experienced meeting the living God. The industrial revolution had a significant impact on the formation of organized religion in Europe and the US. Louis J Putz CSC wrote:

“I think that we can safely maintain that together with the industrial Revolution and the democratic political movement, the rise of organized labor is one of the most significant changes that have molded the modern world.” 

We are entering the next revolution, which has been named the ‘Autonomous Revolution’. Where technology is no longer being developed just to improve processes, speed up the transaction, and store data, and revolutionize the world of communications, but to drastically change how human beings on the planet function. The Autonomous Revolution will bring about a societal social change level like we have not experienced in the last two revolutions. How will institutions such as religion assume new forms and operate using different tools and new rules to alter our sense of time, space, and self? As in all revolutions in the first fifty to a hundred years, we will experience the tug of our gut and minds trying to apply the old rules, values, and beliefs, and as we have seen in the last two revolutions, all that will eventually change.

The technology driving the autonomous revolution will guide us and often at times force us as human beings to understand the difference IN being human and the difference it makes. The question ultimately will be how we will shape society for the greater good?