Gift of Teilhard de Chardin

Being at Lebh Shomea this past week brought a renewed interest in Teilhard de Chardin. I looked through/skimmed two books in the large section about him in the Lebh Shomea library, which spans the complete first floor of the Sarita Kennedy mansion:

• Meditations with Teilhard de Chardin arranged by Blanche Gallagher: Sadly, this book is out of print. The author arranged some of Teilhard's writings in poetic form, such as:

The creative operation of God

does not simply mold us like soft clay.

It is a Fire that animates all it touches,

a spirit that gives life.

So it is in living

that we should give ourselves to that creative action,

             imitate it, and

                   identify with it. (31)

Nothing is precious

except that part of you which is in other people

and that part of others which is in you.

            Up there

                     on high,

                                everything is one. (99)

• Spirit of Fire: The Life and Vision of Teilhard de Chardin by Ursula King: This is a biography, interspersed with many photographs and quotes from works of Teilhard. A few quotes:

". . . Nowhere is this vision more radiant and empowering than in the description of his mystical experiences. They truly express a vision of fire that filled him with wonder and amazement, ecstasy and joy, and made him see the world burst into flames. It is this fire that he wanted to pass on and kindle in others." (58)

"Always interested in the most recent developments in science, psychology, sociology, and religion, he was forever questioning established orthodoxies, whether scientific, religious, or political." (213)

Teilhard died on Easter day in 1955; King writes of his last years:

"He (Teilhard) was growing old, but he could still see his vision with full strength. Death held no fear for him; he saw it as a passage to seeing more, to a fuller vision." (224)

Tomorrow I will write about Father Kelly Nemeck's recommendations for my first readings about Teilhard, although serendipitously, I found an unread book on my own bookshelf that is about him: It is a Maryknoll Modern Spiritual Master Series book, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin by Ursula King, which I am now reading.