Translated from the German by Roland Everett and edited by Rhona Everett.

18 lectures in Dornach, January 9 - February 22, 1920 (CW 196) In the vast range of Rudolf Steiner's lectures, jewels of all kinds lie hidden in plain sight, awaiting only our discovery of them. Such lectures contain a kind of wisdom not found anywhere else. And sometimes, as in What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times, they also have a translucency and conviction that makes them transformational. In early 1920, political, economic, social, and spiritual chaos was everywhere. The old world had fallen apart and would need to be rebuilt. Anthroposophy, too, had to be remade. Recognizing this, Rudolf Steiner tirelessly working for the "threefold social order," establishing the first Waldorf school, helping to create businesses, and addressing the talented, educated, and idealistic young people who were beginning to turn toward Anthroposophy for answers. In these lectures, Steiner speaks in the new, direct "Michaelic" way, seeking the path to a new way of doing Anthroposophy. Throughout the critical situation of the time, he never lost his sense of humor or his compassion and equilibrium. His tone is warm, relaxed, and intimate. Rather than following a strictly predetermined path, he speaks directly from the heart about what concerned him. He stresses that the task of spiritual science is to awaken us to reality and to a true understanding of life that sees through illusions and understands the ever-present potential of evil. Speaking both esoterically and exoterically, he returns repeatedly to the importance of community, of meeting one another face-to-face, heart-to-heart, as individuals. Thus, rather than seeking power and control, we are called to cultivate trust and receptivity. This takes a spiritual transformation. We must learn to live this present life in the context of our greater spiritual life, which extends from before birth through earthly life and into the life after death that precedes our next birth. At the same time, we must come to know the Christ, who is to be met only in community. Selfishness, egotism, has no part in the new way: "When someone is alone Christ is not there. You cannot find Christ without first feeling a connection to humanity as a whole. You must seek Christ on the path that connects you with all humankind.... To be connected only with your own inner experiences leads you away from Christ." Steiner deals with many other important themes, as well, including "imperialism," the initiate behind Shakespeare, Bacon, and James I--makers of our modern age--and well as fascinating, initiatory remarks on reincarnation, esoteric physiology, and psychology. Running throughout the talks is the earnest admonition to be true to the spirit and the call to come to our senses and not fall prey to self-pity. Now, as it was then, the world needs us to be awake spiritually, and we need the world to be awake spiritually. There is nowhere to hide. What Is Necessary in These Urgent Times is a translation from German of Geisitige und soziale Wandlungen in der Menschheitsentwikelung (GA 196).

These dazzling, radical lectures were given one month before the opening of the first Waldorf School--following two years of intense preoccupation with the social situation in Germany as World War I ended and society sought to rebuild itself. Well aware of the dangerous tendencies present in modern culture that undermine a true social life--such as psychic torpor and boredom, universal mechanization, and a growing cynicism--Steiner recognized that any solution must address not only economic and legal issues but also that of a free spiritual life. Steiner also saw the need to properly nurture in children the virtues of imitation, reverence, and love at the appropriate stages of development in order to create mature adults who are inwardly prepared to fulfill the demands of a truly healthy society--adults who are able to assume the responsibilities of freedom, equality, and brotherhood. Relating these themes to an understanding of the human as a threefold being of thought, feeling, and volition, and against the background of historical forces at work in human consciousness, Steiner lays the ground for a profound revolution in the ways we think about education. Also included here are three lectures on the social basis of education, a lecture to public school teachers, and a lecture to the workers of the Waldorf Astoria Cigarette Company, after which they asked him to form a school for their children. German sources: Die Erziehungsfrage als soziale Frage (GA 296); lectures 4, 5, and 6, the "Volkspädagogik" lectures in Geisteswissenschaftliche Behandlung sozialer und pädagogischer Fragen (GA 192); lectures 2 and 11, Neugestaltung des sozialen Organismus (GA 330-331).

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