We Are One

      We are one, after all, you and I;  Together we suffer, together we exist,  And forever will recreate each other.

Pierre Teilhard De Chardin Cited in Prayers for Healing

Father DeChardin was a Jesuit priest and also a professional paleontologist. In that way, he represents the admirable example of simultaneously being a man of faith and a man of science. For me, he has been a heroic person. Not just because he endured with much grace the fearful and withering criticism of a frightened reactionary Vatican Curia, but also because he was truly a visionary; someone whose grasp of nature and the cosmos gave him precious insights into the mysticism and the mystery of the whole of life.

For far too long, the Western worldview from the pews has been fearful and suspect of what science reveals and what science can teach us about the world we live in and enjoy. While this skepticism can be seen as centuries old-The Roman Catholic hierarchy finally forgave Galileo only 40 years ago! 

There is today, the stubborn and stolid resistance to science that can be readily found among many of the conservative churches and evangelical communities. For me, that refusal to listen to the dictates of science and outcomes of research clearly contributed to the spread of Covid.

Such ignorance and avoidance has contributed greatly to the overall poor health of our American society as those attitudes correlate closely to conservative religious beliefs, Biblical literalism, and to the woeful lack of scientific modern education.

In this quote, DeChardin cogently delivers the essential and awesome fact in a simply compassionate observation: That we live interdependently; That there is no real or true separation between humans, and I would also add between humanity and nature- if we wish to evolve, if we desire to survive.

Hostility between science and religion is tragically unnecessary. The value of each in our lives focuses on answering different questions: “[Religion attempts to answer the questions about the “Whys” of life while science seeks out the answers to the “Hows” of life]” (MLK]” 

There is no legitimate apprehension that can be maintained except among those who refuse new knowledge because their tribal fears are dysfunctionally familiar and more comforting when one’s view of the world remains narrow and homogenous to their culture.

If Teilhard is correct, and I truly believe he is, then whenever we refuse to see our unity and equality we defeat the purpose of our lives and risk our existence. When we refuse to transform our approach to living on this earth and living and relating to one another, then we carry our ignorance and our prejudices forward into the next generation, and the next, and the next…