Drawing Close to the Source

Spiritual Evolution II

“Love is the affinity that draws together the elements of the world...Love, in fact, is the agent of universal synthesis...Love is a sacred reserve of energy; it is like the blood of spiritual evolution.”

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Teilhard de Chardin died in 1955, just about the time Darwin's theory of evolution was getting broad acceptance in scientific and cultural circles. He was a Jesuit priest, who embraced the theory of evolution as a miracle, not conflicting in any way with creation stories in the Genesis. He wrote, “How great is the mystery of the first cells which were one day animated by the breath of our souls! How impossible to decipher the welding of successive influences in which we are forever incorporated! In each one of us, through matter, the whole history of the world is in part reflected.”

My daughter-in-law asked just this week who Ian, my son and her husband, was like in our family—he's the eternal extrovert, while the rest of us are pretty reserved. Jake and I began naming off people generations back who contributed to this one personality trait. When you begin to put elements like appearance, personality, disposition, and health together in one person, you realize what an amalgam of historical characters we are. For instance, in my childhood, everyone commented on how like my father I was—blue-eyed, sandy-haired, serious, introverted. But as I have aged, it's almost as though my mother has emerged out of me. I now look almost identical to her. When you look at your own body, whose genes are represented there? Whose hands do you see, whose eyes do you gaze into in the mirror. Whose words come out of your mouth?

Teilhard de Chardin believed love to be the organizing force—the energy of love pulled the universe together and united it in a single whole. Just as the love of our parents created us in their likeness, the creators and the created come from a common Source and then contribute back to that Source. Like the liquid blood flowing through our bodies animates, warms, oxygenates and nourishes, love is our spiritual blood-line. Without blood, we quickly die, and without love, we become husks of human beings. Here's the paradox—it is more important that the power of love flow out of us, than it is for us to be on the receiving end. In terms of nourishing and supporting our souls, we must love.

If we are evolving as human beings, love becomes more and more a factor in our souls and in our personalities. It extends beyond ourselves and our families. Eventually, we see beauty and love when we look at everything in creation. We move ever more into love as the operating principle from which we function. In other words, our personal evolution moves us closer to the Source. Conscious evolution is possible, and if ever the world needed humanity to evolve toward love, this is the time.

                                                        In the Spirit,

                                                             Jane