Standing in the monastery library in 1980, I was browsing Teilhard de Chardin’s book The Divine Milieu. I came upon a sentence that impacted me profoundly and settled my soul that was full of doubts about my life.
He was writing to his cousin Marguerite: “Oh Marguerite, while I give my body and my soul to the courses and the forces of the universe, and my whole being going over continents and oceans, my whole being passionately rises and falls, taken up watching of all the earth’s tints and shadows, you lay motionless on your bed of sickness, silently deep within yourself you were transforming into light the world’s most grievous shadows. For the eyes of the Creator which of us, tell me, which of us will have the better part?”
Since that time, I have felt a kinship with Teilhard and his deep understanding of contemplation. In May 2024, PBS featured a documentary on his life, his Jesuit vocation, his struggles with the Vatican in their rejection of his scientific discoveries of evolution, and much more. I recommend this program which you can find at: Teilhard: Visionary Scientist*.
*The life of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French priest-paleontologist-visionary who was suppressed by his Jesuit order for advocating evolution, is revealed in a drama of personal awakening, the search for meaning, scientific adventure, unresolved conflict with authority, and the power of love.