About the Fellowship
In the world where we take out the garbage and brush our teeth, we sometimes brush up against wonder, and awe. Some people live their lives hoping for another glimpse into this realm. We all look for it in different places. Some of us find it in God, like the great mystic poet, Rumi. Others find it on terra firma - in the magnificent intricacies of life on planet earth.
SEGMENT 1: Robert Fuller is the author of "Wonder" - the first in-depth look at one of humanity's most important emotions. Fuller tells Jim Feming wonder may be the bedrock of all spirituality. Fuller teaches religious studies at Bradley University. Also, plant biologist Nicholas Harberd took a year off to study a common weed - the thalecress - he found growing in a country churchyard. He kept a journal that became "Seed to Seed: The Secret Life of Plants." Harberd tells Steve Paulson what he found so fascinating about thalecress and reads from his book. Also, Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mary Oliver reads her poem "The Kingfisher."
SEGMENT 2: We hear from some ordinary people about what inspires awe and wonder in them and where they find god. Also, cell biologist Ursula Goodenough tells Steve Paulson that she finds the commonplaces of nature entirely miraculous without reference to a Supreme Being. Her book is "The Sacred Depths of Nature." Also, Scott Topper is a geneticist at the University of Wisconsin in Madison, and a poet. He reads from the meditation journal he kept after learning a simple meditation from Buddhist monk George Churinoff.
SEGMENT 3: Coleman Barks has made it his life's work to translate the poetry of 13th century mystic and poet Rumi. Barks recites several short Rumi works for Anne Strainchamps and they talk about mystical ecstasy.
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