Books

I  wrote The Newsphere: Understanding the News and Information Environment (PeterLang 2012) to share my vision of a more evolved, and ecological news environment. The book is inspired by the integral theories of the Jesuit mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, who understood that our thought-energy connects us.  

 We have become accustomed to a debate style of news, which often means proving another wrong. In contrast, an integral approach to journalism creates a dialogue style of news, which encourages participants to explore common ground. I believe it is the value we bring to the news stories we read–our individual and collective demands for relevance and truth—that will ultimately result in the quality we deserve. The same attention, respect, and protection that has been applied to the natural environment should now be applied to news.

If it’s going to improve, we have to change the newsphere. Let’s start by taking personal responsibility for the news we consume and create. Begin by taking a news fast; then, with a clean slate, increase your intake of news to locate bias and areas of ignorance; move on to create a personal news network; and above all, pay close attention to how we feel when we hear or read specific stories: Ask, “what are our bodies telling us?”

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What does it mean to see with the eyes of the mystic yet live as a realist? Teilhard’s answer was his extraordinary human life. The warrior must witness death: the priest must recite his prayers: the paleontologist must dig into the earth. It is necessary to perform activities in the physical realm to access the spiritual realm. Living in a state of realization and acute awareness has singularly been the life of the mystic, and holy men, such as Teilhard. It is now required of everyone.    

In The Mystic As Everyman: Teilhard de Chardin as Integral Theorist, I cast the beloved philosopher, priest, and mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1995) in a new light. As Teilhard’s extraordinary human life proved, “We are spiritual beings having a human experience.” I invite you to reconcile “the inside and outside of things,” and reveals Teilhard’s secret to happiness. Teilhard beckons each one of us to “add one stitch, no matter how small, to the magnificent tapestry of life.”  

One reviewer wrote: “The Mystic as Everyman is a clear and moving exposition of Teilhard’s life as a living contradiction: the mystic and scientist, the man of peace who found God amidst war, the writer/scholar who submitted to the Church’s refusal, in his lifetime, to publish what would soon after his death became a theology of global significance. Christine Tracy’s’ elegant and empathic presentation of this complex thinker, who died in virtual exile and was buried beneath the world’s notice, explains why Teilhard’s visionary philosophy has engaged a new, secular following in the 21st century, among those who see him as foreseeing the internet as part of an evolving global consciousness. I highly recommend this to anyone with an interest in this extraordinary and compelling man.”