New Beginnings and a New Blog
Tyler Mark Nelson Published: January 9, 2026
January is a month of new beginnings. New year on the Gregorian calendar. New resolutions toward personal aspirations and goals. New hours of daylight in the Northern Hemisphere after passing through the winter solstice. New lengths of nighttime south of the equator. New possibilities to deepen relationships and flourish in a healthy community. New blog on the Living Earth Community website.
While the month of January is filled with ideas of fresh beginnings, much of what is considered to be new is, in fact, not. The Earth, in its various forms, has been dancing around the Sun for over four billion years. Every additional minute of morning light celebrated after the winter solstice is the result of prehistoric photons on pilgrimage. Each light particle traveled 93 million miles, or 150 million kilometers, from the Sun to Earth. A journey of about 8 minutes 20 seconds.
Before making its star-to-planet trip, a sunlight proton will have begun its travels long before recorded human history. Depending on the number of times that the photon collided with charged particles in the star, the light particle would spend between 10,000 and 170,000 years journeying from the Sun’s core to the surface. The point being that what may appear new is not always the case.
Many people find hope in the annual ritual of observing and celebrating Earth’s completion of another revolution around the Sun. Because the planet continues in its elliptical journey, so can we. The orbital motion, stabilized by the gravitational forces of solar embrace, can bring comfort to people who find a lack of stability in today’s world. Another revolution means another chance for planetary life to continue along its evolutionary path.
A different kind of revolution is occurring in the ecological consciousness and conscience of people around the globe. Scientists, educators, legal scholars, change-makers, spiritual practitioners, activists, artists, and more are beginning to perceive the world anew. Rather than viewing Earth as filled with a collection of objects, they are recognizing it as being populated by a communion of subjects (a distinction articulated by geologian Thomas Berry).
Yet this idea predates even Berry. Various ecological worldviews, ancient and modern, understand the Earth community to be alive, expressive, intelligent, and even sentient. The wonder evoked by this vision nourishes the moral force that is required to act for the protection of biodiversity. For this ecological revolution to emerge, contemporary and ancient wisdom across disciplines and cultures must cultivate reciprocal relationships through dialogue and cooperative action.
The Living Earth Community website exists to foster this conversational meeting. Launched by the Yale Forum on Religion and Ecology in October 2025, this online knowledge commons brings diverse voices in science, law, humanism, and spirituality into dialogue about the magnificent, evolving community of planetary life.
Some voices represent contemporary scientific understandings of the Intelligences of Nature. Other voices seek to recognize and honor the interconnectedness of all beings and Earth systems through various Ecological Worldviews. Voices in Earth Law call for innovations in legal theory and systems to recognize the rights of subjects beyond the human.
The valuable work being done across these areas has already proven fruitful for the planetary community, yet there remains much to do. The Yale Forum team has much in store for this website in 2026 so that we may continue furthering this Great Work. As the planetary community of human and more-than-human life continues to evolve, so, too, will the Living Earth Community website. The resources it offers, as well as the Complete LEC Bibliography, are updated frequently.