Contemplative Curiosity: Teilhard de Chardin on Truth Setting the World Ablaze
A Spacious Spiritual Practice
For this practice, settle into your space for 10-ish minutes of presence. Let’s connect to the present moment by noticing what comes up as we read these selections. We aren’t approaching these words with the intention of an outcome, though it’s possible something will stick with us. This invitation is to enter in and notice what it stirs in you.
Practice Instructions (use them or skip them!):
What is it like around you in this moment? What is it like inside?
Read the following quote (either silently or aloud) 1-2 times. Imagine the words being poured out into your hands. See if a couple of words linger that you can turn toward with curiosity.
What do you notice? Are there words or phrases that linger? Or perhaps you have a felt sense of the entire quote.
Read the quote again.
What do you wonder? As you hold what you noticed, or the entire quote, is there a question that arises in you? Is there a cascade of questions? Sometimes writing these down helps us gently excavate our inner landscape.
Bookmark it. Is there a word, phrase, or question you’d like to carry with you (in a journal, to explore in a conversation with a friend, to spiritual direction)?
Savoring & Appreciation. You took some moments to be present. This was the invitation. Whether or not you experienced something that sticks with you, consider savoring the experience.
“Truth has only to appear once in one single mind for it to be impossible for anything to prevent it from spreading universally and setting everything ablaze.”
Contemplate the image. You may try a similar exercise with the image above. What do you notice? What do you wonder? Are you drawn to the image? Do you resist it?
Who is Pierre Teilhard de Chardin?
Pierre Teilhard de Chardin (1881-1955) was a paleontologist and Jesuit Priest from France. He wrote prolifically during his time on Earth, but all of his writings were published and circulated posthumously. The world was not yet ready to embrace his way of seeing during his lifetime.
I first heard these words by Teilhard in my spiritual direction training program and then encountered him in depth in Cynthia Bourgeault’s Eye of the Heart: A Spiritual Journey Into the Imaginal Realm.
Teilhard’s work has deeply nourished and instructed me, not only in word and concept, but in the way he lived. He has become a teacher, a guide, a spiritual director.
More Soulspace Blog Posts Featuring Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
There Was No Contradiction In His Soul: A Collage of Visual Art, Audio Readings, A Practice, Songs, A Written Reflection, and An Invitation
Listening From the Depths: Bibliomancy as Spiritual Practice
My name is Kirsten. I write, collage, and practice spiritual direction in Vashon, WA. Describing what spiritual direction is feels like trying to “catch a cloud and pin it down.” Here's what's freshly alive in me: Spiritual direction is spacious accompaniment. Together we attune to the deep and the timeless. We hold questions no one else can answer for you and listen deeply to what arises. We open to what you sense and ground intuitions in rhythms and practices that anchor you as you live into what is emerging. We notice what is—obscurity, pain, fear, longing, wonder, delight, hope—and invite it into the home within you where true belonging and wisdom are always, already present. If this sounds like something you want to try, I offer a free one-hour exploratory session. To begin a dialogue about working together, contact me here.
