Q: Throughout Scripture its always a remnant which, by grace, “get” what God is up to in any given era. Jesus called them his “little flock” or “the elect.” How, then, does that biblical pattern square with Teilhard’s vision of a large-scale super-humanized collective evolving along planetary lines? Given the natural resistances in human souls for same, seems that a “grace booster” (a mass awakening) along unprecedented global lines would have to occur in order to move that along.”
Ilia: Last Friday, the Omega Center sponsored a Zoom conference on “The Sacrament of Everyday Life.” Over eight hundred people from around the world joined in for this conversation, thanks to the genius of Zoom technology. I want to build on this gathering and at the same time address a question that was submitted two weeks ago, namely, who is the “elect” in a Big Bang universe, the little flock that Jesus refers to in Luke 12:32. My short answer is, everyone who helps evolve the universe by deepening love, uniting in peace, forgiving in compassion, and sacrificing for the sake of the whole, is part of this little flock. The member of the little flock is the evolver alive with love-energy, the sacramental participant of evolution. Such participation is not tribal but global; not a matter of one religion or another , but a consciousness of being bound to an ultimate whole which is Love itself.
The great religion scholar Mircea Eliade wrote eloquently on myth as story and ritual that conveys deep truths of existence through narrative, symbol and metaphor. Religion is mythic. It tells a story that imparts deep meaning to life and we enact this meaning through ritual and worship. As we move from first axial consciousness, the level of consciousness in which world religions arose, into second axial consciousness, our period of globalization and ecology, we will need new stories and rituals to vitalize our lives. Religion is in evolution and the “little flock” are those who will engage in the new Church of the planet. Such engagement depends on how we understand God in evolution and how we see the role of the Church. Teilhard thought widely on each topic.
Teilhard was a mystic and a scientist. For him, science is “a process, always probing into the unknown.” So too is mysticism. Science like mysticism is not “contemplating a truth already established”; rather “it is the very act of discovery that create[s] a new truth.” “It is in these terms,” Ursula King writes, “that we must understand Teilhard’s talk of loving God … ‘with every fiber of the unifying universe.’ ” “As scientists struggle to make sense of their findings,” King writes, they are grasping for a new unity, new horizons of insight. “The ‘fibers of the unifying universe’ come together in the scientist’s mind,” King writes, as the mind is drawn to a power hidden in matter; for Teilhard this is “dark adoration.” It is “the supreme spiritual act by which the dust-cloud of experience takes on form and is kindled at the fire of knowledge” (Teilhard, Activation of Energy). Teilhard indicates that grappling with matter leads to “troubled worship.” Entering the unknown dynamics of matter disturbs the known, including prayer and worship. It is not business as usual, for new knowledge leads to new insights, which leads to new visions and understandings, and in this respect, God continues to emerge in new ways.
For Teilhard, matter is the incarnating presence of divinity; God is present in matter and not merely to matter. This core belief is still foreign to many ears because God’s immutability seems to be compromised. But divine immutability was based on ancient Greek ideas on matter and form, ideas that have radically changed with modern science. Teilhard is clear that God and matter are not the same: God is not matter but God is not apart from matter either. Rather, the preposition “in” is key: God is in matter meaning that God is the ultimate horizon, the depth and breadth of matter, other than matter (transcendent) yet intimately present to matter (immanent). To use Paul Tillich’s idea, God is the ultimacy of matter. When everything can be said about a particular form of matter, for example, a leaf (green, veined, and all its other properties), we have not exhausted that which really draws us to it, such as its beauty or light. The ultimacy of this experience, which cannot be adequately spoken or described, is God.
So when Teilhard speaks of a power in matter, he is speaking of the ultimate power that eludes our ability to grasp or measure it. Yet it is a power that is deeply experienced and draws us into it, expressed in the many ways humans invent, create and transcend themselves. Science, technology, art, music, study, writing, all are forms of engaging this divine power in matter by which we transcend ourselves.
Unless we grapple with matter — not only in scientific research but all aspects of world-unfolding life — we are missing out on the power of life itself, namely, God.
People today are searching for something to believe in, a power that vitalizes and dynamizes life. If the God of Jesus Christ “fills all things,” as St. Paul writes, then God must be found in all things. To belong to the Church is to belong to those committed to finding God in all things. If religion is the core energy of evolution and Christ, divine love in matter, is the unifying power within and ahead of the dynamic evolutionary process; Christianity then must be a planetary faith not a political establishment. Teilhard deconstructed institutional and patriarchal Christianity and reframed the incarnation as normative of evolution, not religion. This was a radical and bold move and deeply prophetic. He spoke of the Church as a new phylum in evolution and posited a new christified species. His theistic evolution, grounded in the dynamism of God’s becoming, returns us to the root of the incarnation and the question of Jesus: “Who do you say that I am?” Similar to the Hindu Namaste, the God in me recognizes the God in you. Christ is the entanglement of our lives in the ever-newness of God’s creative love.
Teilhard had consummate trust in the presence of God’s absolute love. HIs advice is to surrender to God here and now, in every aspect of our lives. He spoke of God as “personal Love and cosmic Power … .God who is eternal Being-in-itself is, one might say, everywhere in process of formation for us. God is the heart of everything.” God is rising up in the world in and through us. The fullness of God’s life, therefore, depends on our participation. Our choices affect not only the world but God’s life as well.
We are encouraged to fall in love with Love itself, to dream a God who not only loves us but relies on us to move this creation to greater wholeness. God’s love should impel and encourage us to not be afraid; to dare to dream and share with God our thoughts and gifts; to use for the good of the whole. This thought should give us much hope, but also, at the same time, it should awaken us to the responsibility that we take on as co-creators with God. We share in the responsibility of bringing God’s creation towards fulfillment and completeness by the way we live, pray and act. The Church of the planet is a global Church and thus we must help one another in this act of co-creation.
In Teilhard’s view, God’s creative power does not fashion us as though out of soft clay; it is a fire that kindles life in whatever it touches, a quickening spirit. He wrote: “We must decisively adapt ourselves to it, model ourselves upon it . . . to increase our creative energy one must deepen thought, dilate the heart, intensify external activity. For created beings must work if they would be yet further created.” (Hymn of the Universe, 118] We have developed a modern mindset of individualism, consuming for our personal selves and our personal families, wondering how we can get back to “normal” so we can resume our individual habits. But the new normal is chaotic, complexified existence. Never before have we needed one another as we do now. It is time to stop criticizing one another and start helping each other see through a new eye of love. Teilhard wrote: “If all those who suffer in the world were to unite their sufferings so that the pain of the world should become on single grand act of consciousness, of sublimation, of unification, would not this be one of the most exalted forms in which the mysterious work of creation could be manifested to our eyes?” [Hymn of the Universe, 94] This means to surrender to the power of love at the heart of the world and “throw ourselves fearlessly into the crucible of the world of tomorrow” [Hymn of the Universe, 95].
We have to reorient our priorities. What do we really want and do we want it together? This is the question of being Church in the world. The idea of a single individual is an illusion and to live an illusory life is to bear the consequences of separation and isolation. Rather, we are to “live with a single passion, the desire to help forward the synthesis of Christ and the universe.” [Hymn of the Universe, 100]
We must have hope in the Church of tomorrow and a desire to be part of its future.
Such hope came to me as I read each word. Energy pulsed. Excitement bubbled. My pen frantically scribbled notes. I was thinking, wondering, “how do I ‘fit'”?. Then a sickening reality hit. All this takes a very different political system as well. All this takes different church hierarchies.
All requires a willingness to understand their EGO and SHADOW
How many will be willing to do that hard, painful work? How many will divest themselves of power so a new social-economic-political structure can be born?Will the planet ever be even ready to birth the midwife(s) of such change?
…we will need new stories and rituals to vitalize our lives.
If the “church” is to survive at cannot continue with the same mode of liturgy, even the current lackluster virtual liturgy which is totally lifeless. As I have read elsewhere, it’s like inviting guests to a Thanksgiving dinner, but they cannot partake of the food prepared, maybe only spiritually… which is just patriarchal imaginative jinglish.
Ilia, I am not exactly sure as to your meaning of church. Is it as it has been in the past and still now clerical centered; or what it must be in the future, totally reorganized and lay centered; hopefully not a very long way down the road?
Unfortunately, many may not be able to be imaginative and see beyond what the norm has been for hundreds of years. Much of the problem is the language currently used, a rehash of archaic patriarchal images that do not point to what we know about life and creation in the present time. It does not speak to the issues we face and struggle within today’s world and yes, even tomorrows world. The current language is just the same-old “pie in the sky” afterlife to be concerned with, nothing about of Jesus speaking of being present in the here and now that matters above all else.
“Church” is also an archaic word that does not offer joy or hope to people. It’s rigid, like bricks the buildings are constructed from, inflexible and hierarchal. Whatever form it takes, it must be always fluid, to and from the culture it evolves out of; and not something imposed from bureaucrats thousands of miles away in institutional offices. Whatever notion or single word to describe what it is to be called, it must be unique, inspiring and expressing welcome to all, not just for card-carrying orthodox individuals.
I don’t believe that Jesus even thought of a notion of “church” as it is experienced today, but instead he meant small communities of followers that gathered to share their stories, their experiences of God/Spirit in Life, through reflecting upon his teachings, breaking bread and sharing it and celebrating Life. Creative gatherings, definitely not being anchored in or guided by institutional theology, rituals, dogmas and doctrines.
These past months, of lockdown due to Covid-19, instead of sharing reasons for liturgy, explaining what it means in new idioms, the current hierarchal church continues to plod on, doing the same old rituals, yet expecting change in people to occur. That’s insane and irresponsible, plain blindness. That’s also not inspiring, motivating or community building. It’s knuckle-dragging thinking that keeps faith communities from intuiting the Spirit working in life through the resurrective process of life’s cycles and the cycles of Earth’s seasons.
Even in the small faith community my wife and I have been active participants in for more than forty years, there are some members who long to get back to liturgy as it has been, even though there will be limitations on the numbers of participants present. Life has changed for each of us. We need to readapt our thinking in new ways and be most creative and tune into the Spirit where it lures us to new horizons of possibilities.
Both above comments are right on! I just finished re listening to Barbara Marx Hubbard ‘s “Visions of a Universal Humanity “and found the presenters prophetic and Ilia following now leading us to the future .
Hope in the church of tomorrow, perhaps; hope in today’s catholic Church, hardly…
We are the Prime Movers !
I also loved the comments above and of course, Ilia’s essay. I am yearning deeply to be part of this movement! I’ve been lamenting much recently about how I wish that this “remnant” would come together to give each other support, motivation and energy. Peace and love to all!
Joseph I think we are being weaned away from the 7 sacraments, perhaps from clergy, too. Even in parishes there is seldom a sense of being a part of a larger family/clan/tribe. I think we must question some untouchable doctrines we parrot but do not understand or live by.
For me the elephant in the living room is Human Sexuality. In 2000 years the hierarchy has been unable to harmonize/integrate human sexuality with the gospel of Jesus.
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Joseph Weber, I was thinking some of your clearly expressed sentiments and ideas as I read Ilia Delio’s words. Many years ago, in the 60’s, a friend who was nun, forward thinker, theologian and wonderful elderly woman, in one of her lectures on Teilhard de Chardin, used an image that has remained with me, an metaphor for the emerging consciousness we feel, see, hope for. Her image:
a person emerging from a hole in the earth, a “manhole,” As we emerge, we leave behind the way of living down in that “hole.” The structures of the present church, based as they still are on medieval beliefs, are part of that hole. We are coming into better light. The old structures do not merely fail to nourish, they inhibit growth in this emerging consciousness.
Eileen Luny
I don’t think ever talked about a “church.” I think we we have been transformed a Global Church is a misconception. Rather creation itself is the meeting place of the Holy because creation is imbued with the Holy. Churches” as we have known will be no more they are no longer needed and so will the division and at times hostility among churches.
Amen to all that Joseph. We definitely need a new language and way of speaking that includes what we know now and how we understand the evolution of all that is.
I just finished reading the following section from yesterday’s “Catholic Philly”.
“The Argentine pope’s reforms go way beyond rearranging the chairs, name plates, finances and priorities of the church’s administrative offices. His reforms include rethinking divisive issues such as the priestly ordination of married men, the ordination of women — at least to the diaconate — and the reception of Communion by divorced and remarried Catholics whose first marriages were not annulled. And then there is his bold declaration that defending the environment from climate change is a pro-life issue, shaking up some conservative Catholic groups”.
How is it that we even consider allowing conservative Catholic groups to be the tail wagging the dog? We get so bogged down in the past and the power based male celibate structures and the whole unworthiness game. This structured and limiting environment needs to die and be born in new and creative ways like everything else! Defending the environment from climate change IS the ultimate pro-life issue and being re-formed means that all of humanity is open to boldly proclaim and embody a new spirit, vision and mission of who we are as Divine sons and daughters of God living on this earth… our sacred and evolving home.
We must again become “PEOPLE of the WAY” … a way that lives in Radical amazement of all that God is doing in us (and in all of creation). We must become co-creators with God in this transformative process. The impetus for such a drastic “conversion” is not adherence to belief systems but surrendering our fear based, consciousness to a GREATER MIND and becoming ONE. It must be a Oneness that is fueled by both action and a deep contemplative presence. Only then will we be able to recognize in every cell of our being “the great lie of individualism” (a Richard Rohr favorite phrase) and to truly celebrate “The Sacrament of Everyday Life”.
ILIA … Your words ring true and clear …. You are an authentic and inspiring voice in the wilderness encouraging us with a real sense of urgency to wake up! Keep up the good work.. it is indeed the “Good News” of the Gospel. Thank you!
Thank you, Josef Weber
.. What a breath of fresh air.
since Vatican II I have been hoping that the church would look at the key structures and the liturgy and take firm hold of the baton passed to us by that great man, Cardinal Roncalli
it seems as if the Holy Spirit is again getting us ready to accept a blast from the Spirit as in Vat II ,which will give us courage and discernment and love
I.have been an enthusiastic participator in “home churches” as I spent many years in some big charismatic churches in South Africa
The one church had over 400 home cells as they were called.
After 10 years I was totally convinced that this was the way to go, the fruits of the Spirit were so evident and the joy was infectious we didn’t have to be told to love one another.
I can only hope that we will be able to pursue that course in the Catholic church as it moves into the future that God has for us
No pude estar en la conferencia como habría querido, pero sus palabras nos deja ver y sentir su mensaje. Gracias. Me gustaría Hermana Ilia reflexionar sobre la época de la pandemia y la postpandemia, luces para el camino y el quehacer futuro en esta nueva etapa Tan dolorosa de nuestras vidas, de nuestra comunidad y de la humanidad
you are in charge of the last judgement ,either god is totally in charge or god is not
Thank you those words, Kevin. I have a few very conservative Catholic friends who seem to have created an image of God who mirrors their political ideals. Whenever the conversation is taken to a different level, such as ideas of the Universal Christ, the label of “new age” spirituality is used as a “put down.” I remind them that God has to be at least larger than the created universe, and deeper than any religion. Some of these good friends are even l on a mission to see others burn in the fires of hell.
Thank you for building on the hope Ilia’s words offered. I just can’t quite see how it will happen, but have a feeling we will be called to that love as more people suffer, as our physical situations might change it times of scarcity we will be called to give, as people have been called to in small ways during this time of lockdown. The growth in caring has become obvious, for neighbours, and earth, and already the hope we send from our hearts to all who suffer, but also in words for those we know.
Sent with love and gratitude
Science predicted the coming of the pandemic and virologists knew it’s epidemiological pathway and timeline but the geotheosociopolitical global leadership have other agendas that led to the death and suffering of the world’s most vulnerable and more. The elderly, those who suffered generational trauma, those who already live in poverty and isolation, those who serve on the front lines are the “God particles” of the new holocaust. The pascal mystery of death and suffering is the global crossing to silence and renunciation, forced abandonment to the present moment and an invitation to contemplate and sense the “pointe vierge” as the birds begin to sing again, air quality improves and water glistens in the sunlight, parents spend time with their children only to be dashed into 15% unemployment, food insecurity, firings of the experts and the rise and fall of the powerful emperors wearing new clothes.
I believe that convergence is cataclysmic love, natural and unrelenting that is transporting us in warp time to begin again. The pandemic is a resurgence of energy, a new starting point forging a new consciousness beyond the limits of our imagination and a new “homo naturales” emerges with powers of unforeseen breath and scope that will vaporize disparities, injustice , untruths and lead our human community courageously to sacred humility, refreshed technology after the crash and global health equity. Let the valleys be raised…
Elaine,
I do agree! Jesus met people gathered them, spoke and taught outside. Mountain tops, beaches, beside a well in a cemetery were his preferred places to meet. Yes, he had the few ” synagogue moments ” but he seems most free outside- where the Divine is! If the Divine is within all matter, then why do we need to be within 4walls to sing our praises?
I felt the essay gave many perspectives that are needed in this world at this time. Perspectives in my view are important to consider. Sometimes they are too small or not wide enough. This imo. is why “Religion” is evolutionary. As the times of history passes, changes of life occur, and people such as Jesus, and others offer thoughts and questions which provoke the consideration of wider and deeper perspectives. That, obviously, has occurred in science as well.
However, once wider and deeper perspectives are found… question
S arise as to how does one make them work on an individual and social basis?
Here is where yourselves and readers could offer your own spiritual practices that bring a felt/experience of wider/deeper perspectives of God, Love and Life. These“Practices” can be of a wide variety…from contemplations, to meditations, and to various art forms..from breathing and movement meditations, to poetry, song, and visual arts. I explore many and will offer an exercise, two poems, and a set of current readings I have discovered that are “evolutionary”.
An exercise on the naturalness of Loving.
Everyone has experienced at least a few moments of feeling “Love”…whether it be while holding a newborn animal, puppy, baby, bird or other animal; or while holding hands with a friend that listens; or feeling a gentle wind across ones face while looking at the stars or a beautiful vista. There is always a moment somewhere in one’s history that speaks of love.
Find such a moment in memory. See, hear, feel that memory as deeply as possible…AND as you do so feel that, not how you feel Love in your heart. Continue feeling that and as you breathe..feel that love in various places in your body…from the heart area to the stomach.. and
then even to the toes and fingers if you can and want.
Begin to notice that the feeling of that love seems to have a “Flow” to it with your breath
and heart. Stay with that feeling of that love for while…allow it to permeate your body and mind. It will naturally do so if you have asked for and allowed this.
I first discovered this exercise while petting my beloved cat…then noted it happened as well just by memory and extending the feelings of memory with breathwork.
A Spiritual Poem…on this exercise.
The Path of Faith
The angelic oak tree breathes
Bright sunbeams
Exhaling crisp fragrant air
Breathing the Creators
Love in
Love out
The acorns drop groundward
To fertilized soil.
Planting the same
Gentle faith
The inward Knowing
Without any labored toil
Love in
Love out
A different form
A different experience
Yet some acorns fall on barren ground
Ground marred charred
With memories of mistaken paths
Nevertheless
It was deemed
That there shall be everlasting
Return
Return to
Breathing Love in
Breathing Love out
We too
And all our relations
All angelic children
Are having the same discourse
Different forms
Different experiences
Returning
Returning
Breathing Love in
Breathing Love out
The path of Faith.
New Spiritual Perspectives in these times.
A spiritual medium has in recent times published what I feel are radical new and deep perspectives regarding God, the nature of our world, and other spiritual perspectives: The Joseph Communications by Michael Reccia. The works not only offer various new perspectives; but also why they are necessary in our times. Yet the underlying principles of these works are the same as all spiritual works…God is Love, Oneness, and Continuous exploration of Love, Beauty in All Creation. Pertinent to current world dilemmas is the book “The Fall”.