“Reality Ever New” Fundraiser
Dear Friends of the Center,
Today is the last Sunday before Advent. Soon we shall sing of waiting and longing for Christ’s coming, stretching our hearts into God’s promise of a Messiah, a Savior. Are we waiting for something that does not yet exist or are we waiting for something that already exists, albeit in a hidden way? Franciscans have always held to the latter. Trusting in the overflowing goodness of God, Francis of Assisi intuited that the “pearl of great price” was already present, hidden in the field of the world and in the human heart. We do not have to strive for that which does not yet exist; we must open our eyes and deepen our hearts to what already exists. This is our starting point for a new world.
Make no mistake about it, however. This is a troubled and confused world. I find many people anxious, scared, skeptical, unsure of what the next day will bring. Our problems have not gone away: climate change, racism, white supremacy, gender discrimination, rights to moral decision making, all are conflicted areas scattered across the tables of politics, church, public policies and a myriad of personal opinions; they have become cultural landmines waiting to explode. The question, what holds the “whole” together is becoming more difficult to answer. For some people, it is God; for others it is their work; still others, technology or social justice. There is no right or wrong answer, for indeed, it is all of these and yet none of them. The “whole” is that which is and is coming to be.
Teilhard de Chardin was a profound thinker who understood that modern science has fundamentally altered our understanding of the world. It is not the same world as that of Thomas Aquinas or Abraham Lincoln; it is a very different world and the most radical changes in our understanding of the world concern matter, space and time. Our present age still thinks in static terms: cat, dog, man, woman. We cannot quite get our heads around new concepts of matter-energy or a dynamic space-time continuum or comprehend that space itself is filled with matter. Our inability to keep up with a world of rapid change is due in part to our static institutions.
Teilhard thought out of a different framework, one of dynamic, unfolding life—evolution—where flow, relationality, complexity, convergence and consciousness are in ongoing dynamic engagement. His vision is one where nature, religion and human becoming are inextricably united; wholeness is not an option but our deepest reality. Only when our human systems align with natures’ systems; when human activity mirrors nature’s activity, will unity and peace flow through the heart of our planet. God is not the great exception to this unfolding wholeness but the infinite field of entangled energies, the unconditional love that empowers us to forge ahead, the dynamic wellspring of creative potential.
The Center for Christogenesis is committed to a new vision of cosmotheandric wholeness. The time for Teilhard’s vision is now. With God there is only now and the overflow of now into the future. We cannot realize this vision as simply an idea or a concept; it must be rooted and grounded in every aspect of our lives. Hence, we need to continue to develop our website, programs and outreach. As we look toward a new year and new leadership, we realize the need to enhance our staff, our technologies and our partnerships. To grow, however, we need your help. Only with your financial support, can we realize a new energy center of cosmotheandric wholeness. Help us renew the God-energy of all life, trusting the power of life in our midst. God is doing new things and the seeds of the new lie within us.
Blessings and peace,
Sr. Ilia
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. . . to expand and update my previous comment above made in last fall, seems the “single universal element” that joins all things, one that both science and religion agree on as a cosmic constant, is light (physical, intellectual, and spiritual). I think Jesus embodied all three, as well as having dominion over darkness. There is, however, still a dark side of the Force (Star Wars language) to contend with, one that counterbalances light in a peculiar Yin-Yang mystery and choreography. Seems the tension between those two contraries are reaching critical mass on earth, with respect to its peoples, and with regard to the planet’s viability. Something has to give. Say what u will about the truths of evolution and synthesis, but the dark side seems to be simultaneously staking it’s own claim, gathering a bumper crop of victims and casualties for a sinister consummation (Omega Point) of its own. Perhaps this mounting light/darkness tension of contraries will trigger a great cosmic spark, the “lightning in the eastern sky” Jesus spoke of that would herald his promised return. Maranatha!
As oak sleeps in the acorn, spirit sleeps in matter, the Light of the World become conscious of itself as light in humans. Hidden in matter, the spirit of what God creates consists of the same substance as himself awaiting full activation and realization of in some visible form. So God’s work was finished “in the beginning,” carrying the “seed in itself according to its kind” in all things (Genesis 1:21). Hence, the telegraph, telephone, airplane, radio, TV, electronics, AI, etc., have always existed, awaiting an Edison, Tesla, Marconi, Wright, Einstein, etc. . . . and a Teilhard to activate same — God appearing as the spirit-soul of them all, in this instance a priest-scientist whose purpose was to begin a synthesis that will enable us to see all things made from and joined by a single universal element. That element is at the same time an energy, spirit, and person, the Christ, “in whom all things consist and are held together” (Col. 1:17).