editorial challenge of this special edition, and to the Society staff and Council members who have contributed to its production. Further, we also want to acknowledge the generosity of members Jeff and Joan Ingle, whose gift allowed us to create this expanded special edition of being human.
We also want to thank our members and friends who support the Society, its work, and what anthroposophy means for the future of humanity. —John Bloom and Mary Stewart Adams
editorial introduction Dear Anthroposophical Colleagues, Earlier this year, I was asked to be the guest editor for this issue of being human, which is intended to commemorate the centenary of the Christmas Conference of 1923/24. My friend Vassag Baghboudarian had earlier suggested the idea of creating an issue of Deepening Anthroposophy by asking a number of leaders in the Anthroposophical Society and Movement: If we were to see the time of Covid as a test of humanity, to what extent have we shown ourselves to be awake or asleep to the existential challenges that we were faced with? I found this a significant and timely impulse, and therefore chose to combine this question with a question about the essential nature of the Christmas Conference impulse and an invitation to reflect on the relation between these two themes. The questions posed to those invited to contribute were: 1. What do you feel is the essential meaning and nature of the Christmas Conference impulse? Do you feel that this impulse is still living on earth as an effective force for the future of anthroposophy? If so, how? 2. If we were to see the last three years (the time of Covid) as a test of humanity, in what ways do you see humanity being awake to the challenge of our time and in what ways to do you see humanity being asleep? In addition, I welcome your thoughts on how humanity can best prepare for future iterations of this kind of challenge. 3. Optional: Feel free to share your thoughts about what relation, if any, you sense between the above two questions. I asked most contributors to limit their pieces to 800 words and to address what they found most important among these themes. I felt that posing these questions to a number of representatives of anthroposophy around the world would be a meaningful expression of how we, as a movement, experience and understand the impulse of the Christmas
Conference, as well as how we have experienced the challenges to individual physical and spiritual sovereignty that emerged vividly during recent years. My hope was that through the various contributions, different aspects of the essential tasks and challenges now facing humanity would come into focus, helping to form a living picture of the cosmic-human “story” of our time and the gravity of our responsibility in the midst of this story. I do feel that this story has, to a significant extent, succeeded in finding a clarifying expression within these pages. Another aim of this issue was to bring together voices of representatives of anthroposophy within the context of the Society and those whom I regard as representatives of the Anthroposophical Movement outside of, or even at a distance from, the Society. I believe that if today’s Anthroposophical Society is truly to have a chance of living up to the given mission of the Society founded at the Christmas Conference—namely, that of becoming a worthy vessel and home for the Anthroposophical Movement, so that we may “stand . . . at the beginning of that age when, in the souls of human beings who in their hearts ally intelligence with spirituality, Michael’s battle will be fought out to victory”11 — then we need the goodwill and collaboration of those who are working earnestly with and for anthroposophy both within and outside of the Society. What is essential is not that we share the same view on everything, but rather how we engage with disagreement and what our common tasks are despite our individual convictions and perspectives. Thank you to all the contributors, to the communications team of being human for organizing, coordinating, and supporting all the details of this process, and to John Bloom for giving me the opportunity to edit this issue. —Thomas O’Keefe deepening@protonmail.com 1 Lecture of July 19, 1924 (GA 240), in: Karmic Relationships, Vol. VI (Rudolf Steiner Press, 2009), p. 163. december 2023 • 11
