What is the meaning of 'evolution.'

Evolving

“People responded to Jesus, but equally he responded to them.  He felt their appeal, whether they were rich or poor, young or old, saints or sinners…he ignored the barriers that mores erected between people…he hated injustice because of what it did to those he called, tenderly, ‘the least of these.’  Above all he hated hypocrisy, because it hid people from themselves and precluded the authenticity he sought to build into relationships.”

                                                            Houston Smith

                                                            The World’s Religions

“Our deeper understanding tells us that a truly evolved being is one that values others more than it values itself, and that values love more than the physical world and what is in it.”

                                                            Gary Zukav

                                                            The Seat of the Soul

          According to psychologist Abraham Maslow, we human beings evolve based on our ability to meet our needs, beginning with our physiological need for food, air, water, sleep, etc.  From there we move up a pyramid through need for safety, love and belonging, esteem (both self and other), to self-actualization.  Only at the upper levels of the pyramid do we gain the capacity for morality.  In other words, if I am lacking in the ability to meet my most basic needs, I will do whatever it takes to meet them.  That will be my priority.  I will not be concerned about my own safety or yours, or whether I have the respect of others, until I can meet the basic necessities of life.  Now think about how much of the world lives without those requirements. 

          If we as a species are to rise to the level of self-actualization, we must gain the problem solving skills to bring the rest of the world along.  So long as there is the vast divide between those at the top of the pyramid, and those at the bottom, we will all be stuck at the level of safety.  Those at the top will be concerned with protecting themselves (and their property) against the persistent threat of those desperate souls at the bottom. 

          We are witnessing this very clash in the civil strife in the Middle East.  People who don’t have jobs and can not provide for their families, some of whom live on what we would consider pocket change, are rising up against their leaders who possess and control the wealth and power.  We see tiny concession being made to appease the masses, but these efforts now are being met with anger instead of appeasement.  It is a cooking caldron of discontent.  The level of anger in our own country has not been seen before in my life-time.  People who don’t have jobs, people who have lost homes and the ability to provide for themselves and their loved ones are frustrated and angry.  These are needs after all, not wants.

          I don’t have answers to this, but I do believe we are standing on the precipice of evolutionary change.  We as a species will either figure out how to live more equitably, or we may devolve into chaos.  All people of faith should be thinking deeply, praying always, and acting on their beliefs to do what they can in to contribute to the solution. 

                                                           

                                                  In all things give thanks,

                                                  Jane