Is Humanity Evolving?

Herein I make references to the concepts of Teilhard de Chardin, a scientist, Jesuit and Theologian who has stated that evolution is God’s plan ‘which is the underlying principle of all that is.’  Evolution is transformation.

It is easy to see how we have made progress with our technology.  In the life span of our oldest senior citizens society has moved from horse drawn carriages to supersonic jets for transportation; and from the cumbersome stationary telephone to smart phones that we carry in our pockets for communication.  The without—the material things—are so much more obvious, right there before our eyes.  We can weigh, measure and take apart the ‘things’ of the world and come to understand them and make improvements, but that isn’t evolution, it is production. The evolution is represented by the inventiveness.  In the within—the non-material thoughts and feelings—which are out of sight, there is nothing to weigh and measure so until recently they have been overlooked—yet in that within is the driving force of our advances. 

So what is that driving force?  Let’s call it consciousness—a word bantered around much these days but is still ill defined.  The agreed definition is that the word refers to ‘awareness by the mind of itself and the world.’  (Teilhard calls that reflective awareness.)  It was Sigmund Freud (1856 -1939) who initiated interest in the study of the mind by dividing the mind into two parts: the conscious and the unconscious.  Later Carl Jung added the concept of the collective unconscious, defined as ‘the part of the unconscious mind which is derived from ancestral memory and experiences that are common to all mankind.  (The way our humanness preserves consciousness).

Let’s return to our question: Is humanity evolving?  It’s an important question.  I postulate that if the question were asked in a survey, answers would fall into 3 groups. The smallest group would be those who say ‘yes’; the next group, a bit larger but more emphatic, would say ‘NO!’ and the remaining largest group would be made up of those who just shrug or say ‘I never thought about that.’  It’s an important question because a ‘yes’ answer opens the door to hope whereas the ‘no’ answer keeps company with fatalism. 

The essence of evolution is transformation from a lower state to a higher state. Here we need to consider the law of complexity-consciousness.  This law reflects the tendency for creatures to become more complex and at the same time to increase in consciousness.  We can see this operative in species development which, over billions of years, simple one-cell creatures grew increasingly more complex eventually developing spinal cords and brains which enabled them to have more freedom while rudimentary awareness increased to allow a choice of reacting patterns.  Initially evolution focused more on the without until Homo sapiens appeared, then evolution turned inward.  The within in humanity became the focus for evolution.The human is not merely ‘another creature, the human was God’s plan from the beginning.  Teilhard calls mankind ‘the flower on the tree of life.

From 800-400 BC a major evolutionary step was represented by the Axial Age when, throughout the then inhabited world, clusters of humanity simultaneously and independently produced thinkers and philosophers who laid spiritual groundwork which became the foundations of human civilization.

It is easier to see evolutionary advances from a distance . . . look all the way back to the early Homo sapiens.  The emergent humans came with the inherent ability for speech, but speech had to be invented . . . and they found ways to turn their grunts and vocal sounds into words—a gigantic evolutionary step forward without which civilization could not have been accomplished.  Those sounds-become-words needed ways to be captured and preserved . . . marks on objects became letters which became permanentized words . . . with time, more and more ways to preserve words came into being . . . writing on clay tablets, parchment, paper . . . all came to be from human effort.  Then came the marvelous invention of the printing press which hundreds of years later gave way to the computer.  We take those long-past innovations for granted, but stop for a moment and realize how transformative each of those steps was.  Those were evolutionary advances because the scope of what was possible had expanded.  The without of the shapes and forms are only incidental, the wonder lies in the non-material—the expansion of consciousness within the human mind.

It seems hard to accept that humanity is evolving when we can see so much humanly produced evil . . . but it make sense from the point of view of our freedom.  God gave the human free will.  That means God does not control us; we can choose our ‘next step’. The important thing to remember is that with the expansion of consciousness comes the advancement of knowledge.

Let’s think of an early human taking a new path and coming upon a tree with red objects hanging down. His tribe hadn’t encountered apples before.  He picks and bites into one and finds it tasty and good to eat.  He has three choices: He can take some back and share them with his tribe; he can eat his full and return to his tribe saying nothing thereby keeping this secret pleasure to himself; or he can lie to his people, telling of his encounter with a tree with large red berries and many dead animals around who must have eaten the poison berries—thus insuring no one else will eat them.  Humans are free to use their knowledge in any way.

Is humanity advancing? Clearly that is the case, but because of equal opportunity between the negative and positive uses of our abilities we are now in a precarious position unless and until we consciously and collectively choose for the good.

To Build A Better World

Series:  Long-Term Vision   #7   final 

I want to bring together the various themes of my writing.  This blog began 5 years ago with an all-encompassing poem; then I wrote about observations from the world of our times and humanity’s search for God. Throughout I’ve made references to Teilhard de Chardin, a scientist and theologian.  In 2015 herein I wrote a 7 part series outlining some of his concepts. Although he is well known among theologian, the revolutionary nature and complexity of his writing makes him little known to the average person so I strive to make his ideas more understandable because he is the key to the integration of science and religion—which are NOT incompatible but rather two sides of the coin of knowledge.  Science seeks the when, where and how of the world while religion seeks the who and why of existence.

 The revolutionary concept of our time is the realization of the interconnectedness of all life.  We are moving toward unifying our world, not into sameness but with respect for our diversities.  Peaceful co-existence is the goal.  That understanding begins with evolution and consciousness—both new concepts to the 20^thand 21^stcenturies.  Evolution is the underlying principle of all that is.  Consciousness is the unique human quality that allows for our freedom and the ability to shape our world.  Darwin gave us the mechanistic understanding that life evolved from simple forms to more complex ones (complexity).  Teilhard gave us the understanding of the non-material dimension of life (consciousness) whereby, over long spans of time, rudimentary awareness in lower creatures increased to become reflective awareness in humans. He identified ‘the law of complexity-consciousness’.  Our human consciousness continues to expand to ever see greater order and 'rightness'.

All that exists follows an ordered pattern of development.  The coming-to-be of materiality resulted not from random happenings (though randomness is involved) but in a discernable order.  We can see a relentless directionality from lower to higher order.  Telescopes show us the order of the universe, we have discovered the order in our solar system, science tell us of the order and delicate balance of the elements that make up our world, we know of the order to new life coming into existence, and we have all lived through the ordered pattern of growth and development from childhood to adulthood.  We will collectively come to see a higher order in recognizing the interdependence of all of life and act accordingly; harm to any part affects the whole. 

A dictionary definition of order: 1) a condition of logical or comprehensible arrangement among separate elements of a group; 2) prescribed arrangements among component parts such that proper functioning or appearance is achieved. Note the words logical, comprehensible, prescribed, and functional.  Order is a product of conscious intent.The overwhelming presence of order in life and the universe points to ‘something’ consciously guiding the process, because order follows intent.  

I choose to call the ‘something’ Mystery God.  Others can choose other names or no name—but what I see is an ordered universe and beings with consciousness capable of long-term vision, people that can formulate and reach for goals.  And I see in those beings of every race and culture a shared desire for a sustainable world at Peace.  Not all, and not soon, surely not in my lifetime or my children or grandchildren’s, but it is enough to join the flow of life striving for unity that will one day realize all life’s interconnectedness.

Some would consider that ‘seeking God’ (source of love, truth, goodness, hope . . .).   Or others may prefer to consider it as seeking ‘indestructible rightness’, by whatever the name; our goal is to build a better world.

The Royal Wedding

series:  Long-Term Vision  #3

If you watched the royal wedding on TV last week you heard Bishop Curry’s wonderful sermon on love. He made several references to Martin Luther King but he also quoted the contemporary theologian and mystic Teilhard de Chardin whose works are still unknown to the majority of people.  It is Teilhard’s writings that are the underpinnings of all that I write about—they are the fruit of long-term vision.  He was a paleontologist looking back at the earth’s beginning and ahead to its future trajectory of love’s realization by humanity. 

Bishop Curry ended his sermon with a paraphrase of the famous Teilhard quote: “Someday, after mastering the wind, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love and then for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire.”

Look carefully at what those words are saying—for humans to have discovered how to capture and control the energy of fire provided us with the possibility of all the great inventions to follow.  Fire was not invented by man, but he discovered how to utilize it to his advantage . . . we cannot imagine our world without that discovery.

Teilhard and Bishop Curry are saying we have yet to discover the essence and energy of love.  The Bishop’s talk is titled ‘The Power of Love’ (go to Google or YouTube to find it).  We’ve romanticized and sentimentalized love, we have given its name to what isn’t love and we have failed to recognize its great power to change the world.

Love isn’t a human invention any more than fire is; love is of God and from God—but too often we treat it lightly, not recognizing its powerful potential.  At it core love is unselfish, sacrificial and redemptive. To choose to accept it and live it requires courage, selfless sacrifice, and long-term vision.

God awaits humanity collectively to live by love and that will take eons of time, as one by one we individually awakens to the true nature of it, live it and by our example pass it on.  As Teilhard said . . . if we harness for God the energy of love, for the second time we would have discovered fire . . . only with love can we change the world. 

of The Stations

I’ve written a book of spiritual fiction:  The  Stations: by B. Sabonis-Chafee*

I don’t think it has yet found its audience, or been realized for what it is.  It is a story, yes . . . but more, it's a spiritual journey.

It is set between 1951 and 1999 (beginning before Vatican II and ending before the arrival of the 21^st Century).

This story is written in honor of Jesuit priest and Paleontologist, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin.  Teilhard saw and understood before others the meaning of evolution and human freedom.  He died in 1955 in N.Y. City where he had been exiled by the Church and the Order that he loved, having been forbidden to publish any of his writings (some 20 volumes).  He sacrificed himself because he knew the truth of the Science he had studied and the Religion he had embraced.  He held the faith that because ‘God is Truth’, therefore the truth he’d been privileged to understand would survive his death.  Immediately following his death—when his Jesuit Order and the Vatican were no longer controlling—those not so confined began publishing his works, which are now held in high esteem.  His vision is of unity; leading humanity to realize that our world is a singular interacting unit and that Science and Religion are not in conflict—rather, they are two sides of the same coin of human knowledge and understanding.

The book I have written is not about Teilhard but rather about a fictional artist who is commissioned to create grand Stations of the Cross for a proposed shrine.  In the story, as the artist searched for what he is to say with these stations he suffers a ‘dark night of the soul’ before he awakens to what Teilhard was pointing to, and he, like Teilhard meets resistance as he gives expression to the interconnectedness and interdependence of all life in our one world.  His stations exemplify the range of human potential—its wonders and its horrors—which IS the story of Jesus’ Passion.

Throughout the story each station is described with both its traditional and contemporary theme as the artist seeks to move others to realizing what we are, who we are and how we relate to the God of the Universe.

                                                                                                         * available: Amazon.com

Post of August 11, 2015

In looking back over my blog archives I found an entry missing, it is part of my Teilhard Series of seven which ran between June 28 and October 1, 2015.  I don't know why it disappeared nor how to put it back into its appropriate place so I enter it here, out of sequence.

Teilhard is one of the greatest thinkers of the 20th Century.  He was a noted scientist and a mystic.  He saw beyond Darwin's identification of the 'without' of evolution to its 'within' of pattern, direction and goal.

Teilhard Series - 5th  (evolution)

What is evolution?  Some say it is the scientific theory that explains how species became what they are through changes over long periods of time.  Some say it is the ‘crazy idea’ that claims our most distant ancestors were apes.  Others say it is an idea expounded by atheists to prove there is no God.  And still others say it is a lie spawned by the devil to lead people astray.  A dictionary describes evolution as the gradual development of something, especially from simple to complex form.

Darwin’s explanation of evolution did not include pattern, direction and goal; that is what Teilhard’s work shows us.  From atoms clustering to form molecules, then cells; to human consciousness continually building to greater awareness, there is movement toward increasing complexity.  The goal is realization of the interconnectedness of all that exists.

Although evolution is implicit in all of Teilhard’s writing, he actually uses the word sparingly.  As a scientist he worked with the data that discloses the pattern that is hidden behind all life-struggles at all stages: the simple moves to the complex and so opens to new and greater possibilities.

            Evolution is the underlying principle of all that is.

Nothing in the known world materializes in a ‘poof’ from nothing; development comes through gradual change programmed in the pre-existing state that holds the blueprint for the final product.  Throughout Teilhard’s life-long study of development in all aspects he came to realize that everything unfolds in a direction from simple to complex that expands possibilities for the organism evolving.  Within the earliest stage of the simplest form there exists the possibilities of the ultimate form . . . within the acorn is the potential oak tree, within the egg is the potential bird, within the DNA is the blueprint of the person, and within the energy leading to the explosion of the ‘big bang’ was the universe that came to be.  There is direction: movement is always forward from simple to complex.  We can search all the way back to the ‘primordial soup’ wherein we see and recognize a pattern emerging: elements with affinity join to form new units.  As pointed out in my last blog, our material world took shape through the building of layer upon layer moving from the inorganic foundation to developing the layers necessary to support the emergence of life, then the layer of teeming life forms, and ultimately life that birthed thought which enables humans to discover, evaluate and create. 

            Evolution is the name for the process by which all comes to be.

Even thinking is an evolving process.  We have discovered so much about how our world works!  How do we discover what we know?  By beginning with the simple and expanding to the complex.  We see and wonder, we ask questions and follow leads; we have new thoughts and ideas and test them against what we understand from previous discoveries . . . and if the new discovery contradicts what we thought we knew we re-define our knowledge.  All that thinking, analyzing and concluding takes place in a realm that is not material.  Our ability to think and reason is a quality of our being—a unique human quality.  In the modern world we’ve come to over-value the material—the ‘things’ of life that can be weighed and measured—but we take for granted and overlook the non-material, yet it is with those non-material qualities we have changed the earth we occupy.

Teilhard de Chardin calls us to consider the non-material realm of our existence that he calls the ‘within’ of things, and he does so by study of the material substances that he calls the ‘without’ of things.  He maintains “the internal aspect of things as well as the external aspect of the world [need] be taken into account.” He was a respected scientist devoted to the study of science but also a Jesuit—a man of faith.  He believed in evolution and believed in God as the author of the process.  He saw no conflict between them.  The world has order and is intelligible, that bespeaks design by an intelligent source.

Not a random happenstance; Teilhard sees meaningful order in life.  We see all of nature as balanced and purposeful.  The earth and sky provides conditions for trees and plants to produce their yield; all living creatures are provided with the means necessary to develop and flourish.  When given the freedom to exist in their environment there is a natural balance between predator and prey and each species instinctively knows how to self-protect and seek appropriate shelter and sustenance.

Only the human, gifted with intelligence, has the ability to alter the course of nature . . . and/or to disrupt it so as to threaten the planet’s very existence.  That quality—intelligence—must have a better purpose!  It will be discovered when humanity comes to truly recognize that all of life is interconnected—with that realization we will ‘learn to think in a new way’.

Our World

About a year ago my friend Jane, unknowingly, presented me with a challenge as she gave me a little ‘world pin’.  She is part of a group about which I know only that they have created and distribute this lovely little lapel pin of planet earth with its oceans and continents.  In our conversation she casually said, “Just what is the world? . . . the world, the earth, the planet, is it all the same?”  I think I responded with something like “well not exactly”. 

I went on to expound (yes, I do do that!) about Teilhard de Chardin and his explanation of the formation of the earth’s layers that evolved over an incalculable span of time; first there coalesced the Barysphere and Lithosphere—the metal core and rocky crust; next, those layers were overlaid with the Atmosphere and Hydrosphere—air and water; which were the necessary precursors for the Biosphere—all life forms.  Over eons of time, an array of vegetation and animal life slowly appeared, advancing in form from simple to complex.  Teilhard defined that as the ‘law of complexity-consciousness’, which drives evolution to ever reach for greater intricacy and more freedom by complexifying nervous systems and increasing consciousness.  The process ultimately brought forth the rational and reflective creature—the human species.  This wasn’t just ‘another species’ but the very axis and arrow of evolution, adding a new layer to the planet.  That layer, Teilhard named the Noosphere—the thinking layer.  With thought and freedom, human choices have shaped the emerging world in which we live: a world of buildings, roads and machines; a world of languages, music and arts; a world of laws, institutions and philosophies . . .

Evolution is on-going change.  Only humans have the ability to initiate change, both within the self and in the world they inhabit.  It is imperative that we awaken to the power humanity has to determine the destiny of this awesome interacting system—our world.

Our planet is an object in a solar system that orbits the sun in harmony with other planets—Jupiter, Mars, Venus, etc.  At the planetary level it is but one of many similar objects.  It differs however, because of being surrounded by continually re-circulating air and water, thus providing what is necessary to support life.  The interaction of these elements is a unique process, fully integrated with the myriad life forms animating our earth.  Just as the Biosphere changed the planet into the living earth (fondly referred to as ‘Mother Earth’), the newest layer, the Noosphere, changed it into the world of thought and action we occupy.

Over the past year my thoughts kept returning to the challenge of that question, ‘are they the same?’  I now realize I found the question so significant because it points to the basic God/human interaction—together we co-create the world.

When I speak of God, I’m not referring to a remote Being far away in the heavens who counts sins and grants favors.  Knowledge of the nature of God is of a dimension beyond human comprehension.  When I speak of God I mean that dynamic Mystery beyond my understanding that brought order out of chaos.  I look at the known evidence of life and the magnificent balance of the uncountable elements necessary for the universe to exist—yet there it is and here we are!  So I say, “Thank you, Mystery God” and I think of the wonder of human consciousness that can seek Truth, Justice and Love and can express love, compassion . . . and hope.

The evolutionary process is still unfolding; the God contribution has been set before us, ours is underway as we explore our capacity for both good and evil.  We’re given this playground free and clear, no strings attached.  Our ultimate challenge is for the human family to learn to act cooperatively in supporting the preservation of our common home.  We can make it flourish as it was meant to, or we can destroy it by our collective violence, greed and selfish choices, so reducing it to a dead planet left empty in its orbit around the sun.

So my friend’s question about ‘sameness’ can be answered both yes and no.  Either word refers to the same whole unit, but the world comes into being thru the God/human interaction.  We’ve been given planet-earth, flourishing with life and potential; and too, we’ve been called to consciousness and freedom to do with it what we will.  Ultimately ‘our world’ is our answer to Mystery God.

God of the Universe

God of the Universe . . . ?!!    Who can grasp that?

      God, You are the generating spark of the Big Bang

                        From which all that IS arose . . .

            Your being surrounds and engulfs all of Creation

                        Containing All within yourself . . .

      The life-process unfolded over eons of time:

-from ‘the without’, generating myriads of forms and shapes

continually complexifying toward ‘something more’;

                        -from ‘the within’, a rudimentary light of consciousness

                               was growing ever brighter, expanding toward knowing,

                        -till finally there emerged the reflective creature

                               able to realize the wonder of which it was a part.

      God, You brought forth life through evolution,

                                    everything is interconnected;

                        a process continually advancing forward to greater being.

                                    You are Greater Being,

                                    And you offer that to humanity.

      You have gifted us with consciousness

            to become cells of Your Being

                        You are All

            yet you fit yourself into the depths of our nothingness.

God of the Universe . . . I am awed!

            Although I try, I can’t grasp the full measure of that.

            

A Warning ?

I deviate from my series distilling Teilhard’s concepts to inject some impassioned thoughts that interrupted my reading as I searched through his books.  He was a visionary who weaves together the strands of human knowledge that arise from two seemingly disparate ways to understand life and the world—science explores the material aspect of being to understand function, religion searches the spiritual dimension to seek meaning—Teilhard sees they are not disparate, but rather interdependent.  What follows are my thoughts combining with his wisdom.

            God doesn’t need us—

            there is a vast universe God is nurturing—

            if this tiny planet self-destructs

            its disappearance will hardly be disruptive . . .

            its loss can be easily compensated for.

            But we need God—

            the unknown God beyond our understanding

            who gives order and balance to the evolving universe.

            A God who calls forth human reason and compassion

            inviting our creative participation in a sustainable world.

            A God who calls forth love and morality

            thus enabling life to flourish.

            There are uncountable galaxies and planets

            beyond our knowing—

            but what we do know of

            is that which we have been given to shepherd—

            this terra firma upon which we stand;

            it alone provides for our continuation . . .

            its fate depends upon us and our choices.

            Only by our active recognition

            of need for the order and balance

            which is represented by a loving God

            who calls us to acknowledge our interdependence

            can we survive our individual selfishness.

Deuteronomy 30:19—“This day I call the heavens and earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses.  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live . . . “     (NIV)