The Ecological Spirituality of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Abstract

For Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1888-1955) the sense of the spirit of the Earth and its evolution within the unfolding of the universe was a source of inspiration in both his scientific work and his theological reflections. This dynamic, unfolding universe and its expression in Earth's life systems was a primary source of revelation for him. He was continually meditating on the vast complexity of the Earth and the nature and formation of the universe. The book of nature is where he encountered the in a vibrant and sustaining manner. There are rich resources in Teilhard's thought that can help us in our contemporary efforts to articulate a meaningful ecological spirituality. Indeed, Teilhard's ideas are both timely and timeless. As the deleterious effects of climate change become more evident around the world, we need to bring into our discussions of ecological responsibility the sense of geological time that Teilhard's work provides. The rapidly expanding extinction of species and the devastation of ecosystems reveals just how much we are in need of a large- scale evolutionary framework to understand and interpret our loss. For we are now realizing that our destructive activities on the planet are causing the end of a geological era, the Cenozoic period, when millions of life forms blos- somed forth. Not since the dinosaurs went extinct sixty-five million years ago has Earth lost as many species as at present. We find ourselves in the present moment in search of a deepening sense of the divine—as infusing the natural world in a manner that would prevent our continuing environmental destruc- tion. This pervasive sense of the divine milieu is at the heart of Teilhard's ecological spirituality. Teilhard's comprehensive vision of the Earth and its interconnected life processes evolving over time is an important counterpoint to the modern in- strumental view that nature is to be used exclusively for human ends. More- over, Teilhard's optimism about life's unfolding and the human participation in that process brings a well-spring of hope for the critical work ahead of creating a sustainable future. This is true even though the scale of the global ecologi- cal crisis that we are facing was not evident in his lifetime. For many years there has been a belief that science and policy alone would be able to solve