For Teilhard, the seeing of Christ in all things was the most powerful source for Christian renewal, for the transformation of humanity, and for the responsible, reverential care of our planet. —Ursula King, Christ in All Things
Theologian Ursula King considers the wisdom of the Jesuit priest, scientist, and mystic Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881–1955), who considered Christ’s incarnation in the physical world:
God’s word to humanity is not primarily the word spoken in a book, in sacred literature, but it is a word that is incarnate, not only as a human being, but present as an element in all beings, in all created reality, all of which needs completion, fulfillment and redemption. God is incarnate in matter, in flesh, in all of creation, in the cosmos. The incarnation of Christ becomes extended to the dimensions of the cosmos; it is an event and mystery of cosmic extension. As [Teilhard] writes in “The Mass on the World”: “Through your own incarnation, my God, all matter is henceforth incarnate.” God is “incarnate in the world.” We are all together “carried in the one world-womb; yet each of us is our own little microcosm in which the Incarnation is wrought independently with degrees of intensity, and shades that are incommunicable.” Teilhard firmly believed that everything around him “is the body and blood of the Word.” [1]
Teilhard writes:
That is why it is impossible for me, Lord—impossible for any [one] who has acquired even the smallest understanding of you—to look on your face without seeing in it the radiance of every reality and every goodness. In the mystery of your mystical body—your cosmic body—you sought to feel the echo of every joy and every fear that moves each single one of all the countless cells that make up [humankind].… Every affection, every desire, every possession, every light, every depth, every harmony, and every ardour glitters with equal brilliance, at one and the same time, in the inexpressible Relationship that is being set up between me and you: Jesus! [2]
King summarizes Teilhard’s contribution to an expansive understanding of Christ’s Incarnation:
In one sense Teilhard’s vision was a uniquely personal one…. Yet he also knew that the importance and strength of this vision transcended the limits of his own life, that it could fire people’s imagination, inspire their efforts, and give them hope…. His vision of the dignity of human life embedded in the larger web of cosmic life, his emphasis on global responsibility, action and choice in shaping the future of humanity on our planet, and the need for life-affirming spiritual goals can inspire people of all beliefs and none. For Christians Teilhard de Chardin is a remarkable, shining example of creative Christian renewal that believes in life, affirms life as a task to be done, a work to be achieved, and celebrates life as a most precious and wonderful gift to be loved and experienced as a sign of the Spirit who sustains us all.
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| Dear friend, (From Kurt Thompson, an author recommended to me by Keith) Beauty reveals itself on its terms, not ours. We humans often live as if beauty is something we assess and determine. But we are not the origin of beauty. We recognize it; we mirror our creator when we fashion it. But we do not own it, nor are we its master, any more than we own God. |
| Moreover, and speaking of God, as Hans Urs von Balthasar reminds us, beauty is not an attribute “of” God, something “about” him. Rather, he is beauty, and any and all that we “discover” that is beautiful is merely one more way in which God is revealing himself. Not that God is ever reducible to that revealed aspect of beauty—but we can never encounter true beauty without encountering the God that is its essence and from whom it emanates. How mysteriously beyond words is it then when in Jesus, God becomes as we are in order to draw us forth as the living, pulsating beauty that he also is? |
| We, who are his mirrors. His images. His likenesses. In this Advent season, may we look to gaze upon each other as the beauty the Spirit is revealing, one to another, that we may reflect the incarnation of the God who is Immanuel. Warmly, Curt |
