by Charlie Wilkinson
The vision of Teilhard de Chardin took me deep within my self. A Jesuit, geologist, palenteologist, he saw the imprint of God on all of creation, from the smallest particle to the levels of time in the earth itself. He “baptized” evolution but was censured by his church and Jesuits as well. I keep wondering how his vision would be even more impactful if he were a biologist as well.
Teilhard validated for me the metaphor of journey but also gave me a perspective of each person’s place in God’s ongoing creation. Seurat’s pointillism is a way of seeing my self as a very small part of a vastly large whole. One little dot among all others but responsible for its immediate context. Not just fitting in but adding to the consistency of the whole, knowing, sensing the evolving meaning of creation.
Teilhard’s idea of convergence, of all of creation moving toward its Oneness sees all matter as eternal and all energy as the constant, creative love of God.
As a mystic he lived a life of wonder: a scientist, a life of seeking; as a priest a life of spirituality.
His vision has inspired me to make these days of aging productive and meaningful.
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Sal Umana 