That Good May Become

General Secretary Torin Finser’s Opening Talk of the August Members Conference

Dear Friends and Members of the Anthroposophical Society,

Welcome, well-come to the opening of our 2012 conference here in Ann Arbor. For those who have just completed two days of conversation on the future of our work, this evening marks part two of

a remarkable week. For those who have just arrived, we rejoice at our reunion as members. As we begin this anthroposophical conference, That Good May Become, I would like to devote my comments this evening to the unusual significance of 2012—moving beyond the hype of the Mayan calendar to examine some deeper secrets contained in this remarkable year.

We all know about the 100 year anniversaries: 100 years since the creation of eurythmy, 100 years since the publication of the Calendar of the Soul, and of course 100 years since the founding of our Anthroposophical Society. It is thus especially fitting that we will experience later tonight the remarkable new art form of eurythmy, and that we have the pleasure of welcoming the Executive Council from the Goetheanum.

Looking at the meaning of 100 years one is struck by some associations we commonly make with the number 100: water evaporates at 100 degrees Celsius, there is the 100 years sleep in fairy tales, we have 100 US Senators (whether we all feel they belong in Washington or not), and we have 100 cents to the dollar (though they are not worth as much as they used to be). In short, the number 100 has a kind of finality to it.

As I began my research on the significance of 100 years, one of our section leaders, Johannes Kuehl, pointed me in the direction of a book by Christoph Lindenberg which I could only find in German: Vom geistigen Ursprung der Gegenwart. (1) Lindenberg has an interesting observation: 100 years “is not an absolute ending, but rather the end of a specific effectiveness.” What does this mean, the end of a specific effectiveness? I sense it as a call to continue on a new basis, thus our leadership colloquium these past two days and this conference in 2012.

A few weeks ago, when opening our summer programs in New Hampshire, I called to the stage three of our students to demonstrate three generations. I won’t do that tonight, but imagine three people—one might be 33 years old, another 66 and one the wise grandparent nearing 100 years of age. Within 100 years we often have three generations of 33 years each.

In lectures given in December 1917, Rudolf Steiner said that “This period, thirty-three years, is the period of a human generation; thus a complete generation of humanity must elapse between Christmas festivals and the Easter festivals that are connected to them.” (2) “That which is done in a given year, when, as a thought, it springs forth from man, has so to speak a Christmas character. This, as I have said, refers to the effects of our deeds in the whole nexus of the social life; not to our personal Karma. A seed of thought or of a deed takes a whole human generation, 33 years, to ripen.” (3) He goes on to say that with 66 years the impulse is intensified, and at 100 it reaches a kind of culmination that calls for renewal on a new basis. What we do today, this weekend, in this conference, has the possibility of resonating further in 33 years, and this awakens, according to Rudolf Steiner, not only a better understanding of history, but also a new social consciousness. So when we go beyond the more superficial aspects of 100 years we come to the significant cycle of three times 33 1/3 years.

But let us go further with Rudolf Steiner’s words on this important interval of time: “All the actions of earlier generations, all their impulses with their combined activity, poured into the stream of historic evolution, have a life cycle of 33 years. Then comes its Easter time, the time of resurrection... For, my dear friends, all things in historic evolution arise transfigured after 33 years, as from a grave, by virtue of a power connected with the holiest of all redemptions: the Mystery of Golgotha.” (4)

We know that through the Mystery of Golgotha, humanity was given a new social archetype. But the completion of the 33 year cycle in that momentous event was only possible because of a deed of great cosmic collaboration that had happened earlier. At a members conference one can speak of some of the deeper mysteries given to us in anthropsophy, one of which is the story of the two Jesus children.

Thanks to Rudolf Steiner, we know of the Luke Jesus who “was not endowed with an ego such as especially characterizes a human being, rather, in the Luke Jesus boy lived a part of the human being that had never before entered human evolution on earth...” A sister soul of Adam, instead of the usual ego, incarnated into Luke Jesus: “This soul possessed all the wisdom that could be experienced through the Saturn, Sun, and Moon periods of evolution. It possessed all the love a human soul can attain. It remained innocent of all the guilt that humanity can incur...” (5) This boy had no particular gifts for external things, but had divine wisdom and a “supreme capacity for sacrifice” (p88).

In contrast, the Matthew Jesus had a love of the earth developed through repeated earth lives. He could easily absorb knowledge and the fruits of his culture. True to the work of Zarathustra, here we see the earth as an essential sphere of action, finding positive meaning in working with matter. The confrontation with forces of darkness and evil was seen as a necessity for evolutionary progress.

Then we have a remarkable event of cosmic collaboration, something many of us may never fully understand even in a lifetime: the Zarathustra ego left the Matthew child at age 12 and took possession of the body of the Luke boy. This happened, as seen in the teaching of the rabbis in the temple, at age 12, creating the basis for the baptism at 30 and then the Mystery of Golgotha at age 33.

I feel this cosmic event is deeply connected to our work as a society and the Christmas foundation meeting. As I have worked more intensely with our Anthroposophical Society in recent years, I have experienced Luke or Nathan qualities in our Society: something that has never before been on this earth, a rich spiritual heritage (Saturn, Sun and Moon and beyond), and also a kind of innocence, even naiveté in how our Society operates.

In contrast, in working with the initiatives, our Waldorf schools, Camphill communities, biodynamic farms, etc., I often experience qualities of the Matthew child: a desire to make anthropsophy visible through the work, transforming education and agriculture out of love of the task. There are many people drawn to these initiatives who have considerable expertise and knowledge.

As someone who literally stands with one foot in each stream, I can hear from each direction two equally valid questions. From the Matthew stream I hear the question: so what does the Society actually do? And from the Luke direction I hear: why is it that you don’t recognize us within the initiatives, why is the Society so invisible?

Although we all have hindrances, one can also see considerable success in the initiatives: one has only to visit a Camphill community, or observe that even in a recession some of our Waldorf schools have raised money for new buildings, and BD is more widely recognized than ever before. Many initiatives have attracted accomplished professionals, who work full time.

In contrast, the Anthroposophical Society in America has about 3,200 members (after lapsing 300 last winter), there is little in the way of infrastructure, most of those who work for the Society are part time or volunteers. They work out of high ideals with rich spiritual substance but very few physical resources. Putting on a conference under these circumstances is a huge undertaking compared to our centers in New Hampshire, Spring Valley, or Sacramento, with their professional, year round staffing.

I have come to the conclusion that many struggles around our work with the Society are incarnation issues. Even Rudolf Steiner struggled to help the Society incarnate, and the work remains unfinished today.

The times are calling for an enactment of the mystery of age 12: the two streams need to flow together, as occurred with the two Jesus children. And the father of the Luke Jesus married the mother of the Matthew Jesus (after the other two parents had died), and the two families became one and lived on in Nazareth. A picture of collaboration if there ever was one! Today, we need to collaborate for the sake of the renewal of this earth through anthroposophy.

But I would like take this exploration of 2012 one step further. Rudolf Steiner spoke of the year 1879 as a decisive spiritual revolution, as the dawn of the Age of Michael. I believe that today, in 2012, we are connected to that cosmic event of a world order in a very special way:

1879 + 33 1 /3 = 1912 1 /3

1912 1 /3 + 33 1 /3 = 1945 2 /3

1945 2 /3 + 33 1 /3 = 1979

1979 + 33 1 /3 = 2012 1 /3

Here we are in 2012 at the start of the fifth cycle of 33 1 /3 years in the age of Michael. What does this mean for us? The Michael impulse of our time, beginning its fifth cycle, unites with the 33-year resurrection impulse, the Christmasto-Easter transformation. Michael and Christ are here, present with us today. They come together once again, for our sake, in this year 2012.

So who are the Michaelic souls of 2012 who have been given this rare opportunity to be on this earth at this special moment in time? This hall is full of them! Michaelic souls in 2012 are actively working with cosmic intelligence to transform the earth. They are working consciously, in freedom, often overcoming tremendous hindrances. Some have a strong social impulse to reach out to others with similar values, to connect and network. Others want to intensify our study and deepen our understanding, do research, especially through our sections. Both gestures are helpful, as we need the contributions of both outreach and deepening.

But we also have to practice discernment: those working in different ways with anthroposophy need to guard against two extremes, superficiality or fragmentation: on the one side those who have the worthy aim of reaching out to the so-called “green belt”, can in its extreme, practice a kind of anthroposophical relativism: as a result the world might see us as just another spiritual movement, using different terms, but no different in essential character. We have to guard against spiritual monism that says we are all one big bowl of soup. The other extreme could be called anthroposophical fundamentalism: those friends might like to say: we have the Truth with a capital T, and those that ask questions or bring up different perspectives are clearly “opposed to us.” Fundamentalism thrives on “us vs. them” polarities—just look at the Middle East. I worry that at times we have been pulled in conflicting directions: the fundamentalists and the relativists. To quote a great American, Abraham Lincoln, a house divided against itself cannot stand.

I believe that the path of Michael is actually a third way, a path that includes both social action and research. Those working out of this third way, the Michaelic souls of 2012, often show themselves through initiative. So let me introduce you to one of the many Michaelic souls I have had the pleasure of meeting in my travels: Bernard of Pebble Farm in Auroville, India.

When he and his partner found this land 15 years ago, it was dry, sandy, full of hard rock and pebbles. They decided to reclaim the land without importing topsoil, compost or even BD starter. Using the Acacia plant, they experimented with a system of collecting the leaves, placing them in excavations, and letting the monsoons of summer soak them, thus facilitating the process of decomposition. They then took the spongy leaf soil and layered it with the sandy soil on the property, adding charcoal, which he burned in the kiln he constructed. Twelve layers in all of soil, humus, and charcoal—and year after year adjusting his methods, until today we find a lush garden. They do not sell or eat their vegetables. Instead they harvest and give away the seeds, sending packets all over India, even around the world, for free. For as Bernard says, “These seeds are not my creation”.

Let these two pictures serve as an example for all we do out of Anthroposophy (with two large photos on black board):

Education: No Child Left Behind ------->Waldorf

Agriculture: Monsanto -----------> biodynamic farms

Medicine: Big pharma ---------> Weleda, Hauschka

I could give many, many more examples. None of these transformations would be possible without anthroposophy. And according to our teacher, anthroposophy needs the Anthroposophical Society.

Many, many people around the world have come to accept with gratitude the incredible gifts given us by Rudolf Steiner. So why is it still hard for some to accept his statement that anthroposophy needs the Society—and the Society needs anthroposophy? How can one “use” anthroposophy without seeing the intimate relationship between the two? The Society is us—not the physical bodies in this room tonight, but what lives between us, and between all those who are working out of Michael. The Society is not a “thing” or a mere legal organization, it is us! And whenever we share our mutual striving out of anthroposophy we are “practicing” free association.

But we—members here tonight and those around the world—need to become more active. I am working on a dozen proposals to bring to our leadership groups this fall, building on the colloquium and my perception of needed changes, but let me briefly illustrate with two examples:

Mentorship. We could ask each region to identify possible mentors so when someone joins the society and contacts the Ann Arbor office, they could be offered a name, phone number and email address. The new member could decline, or if accepted, the mentor would call to welcome the new member into the Society and offer to have some conversations, in person, on the phone or by email depending on geography—this would emphasize the relational aspect of our work from the very beginning. (We would want to have some clarity on mentor qualifications, of course)

The Society needs eyes and ears, hands and feet in the initiatives. This could be achieved if each Waldorf school, Camphill, BD farm, etc., were to identify one person in their midst to serve as laison with the Society, so when we send materials they really connect with people, and there is communication back and forth. We could have a meeting of all those taking this role every other year or so, say just before an AGM.

These are but two of many future possibilities for working collaboratively, but all the changes we will consider require greater consciousness and member activity. To draw on JFK: ask not what the Society can do for you, but what you can do for the Society. Let all the Michaelic souls in this hall tonight, and those that are not here but live in the north, south, east and west, join together in heightened collaboration in this special year of 2012. May the initiatives and the society find common inspiration in the example of the union of the two Jesus children that made possible the resurrection, so that our gifts of sacrifice may truly serve the world. May our garden contain both the tree of life and the tree of knowledge. May those on this earth 33 years from now be able to look back and say: this was possible, here in America, because of those, yet few in number, who rededicated themselves to this work back in 2012 so that “good would become.” With this wish in my heart, I welcome you to the start of our conference tonight.

Notes:

1 “From the spiritual source of the present day.” 1984: Verlag Freies Geistesleben, Stuttgart.

2 Steiner, Rudolf, Et Incarnatus Est, 1983, Mercury Press, Spring Valley, NY; p. 12.

3 Quoted in Anthroposophical Movement – Weekly News, 17 March 1929, Vol VI, No II.

4 Et Incarnatus Est, p. 13.

5 Steiner, Rudolf, The Bhagavad Gita and the West (CW 142, 146); 2009, SteinerBooks, Great Barrington, MA; pp 86-87.