A Resource for Spiritual Directors & Companions
April 2024
Volume 18
Issue 2
Letting go can be hard. In fact, it is one of the hardest things any of us can do. Who wants to let go of friends, loved ones, expectations, beaches, sunshine, children, music, nature, realizations, and enlightenment experiences, among so many others?
No one.
But hard as it is, releasing all of these is inevitable. Thus does God or the Universe, or however you might describe the ground of all being, dictate. We will eventually be forced to relinquish our very own being in the process as well. And while this may appear stark and depressing, from one perspective, it is also quite powerful and inspiring in its own fashion. The way forward counsels release, surrender and acceptance. Not in some fatalistic way, but as an acknowledgement of the true essence of all things, and so that we might properly align and flow.
So it is that being able to lay things down becomes the key to true spiritual growth and spiritual maturity. These are the opportunities for us to give up fairy tales and illusions, dreams, hopes and expectations, in favor of the only thing that remains, and the only thing that matters, Love. A Love that constantly demonstrates its own eternity, and that is the only thing that self-validates in perpetuity. While particular actions and outcomes come and go, when everything else is gone, the Universe keeps flowing in Love.
And although we have a tendency to overcomplicate things, it really is that simple.
In this light, our “losses” are really the building blocks of true spiritual breakthroughs. Ones that allow us to see that death, for instance, is not an ending, but, like birth, simply a part of an ongoing flow of the true, essential, nature of all things.
And thankfully, this isn’t meant to be a solitary journey.
As our human architecture reveals on so many levels, we are designed to function optimally in pairs, particularly in how we give birth to each other, in both our physical and spiritual dimensions. And whether you call these particles ying and yang, or plus and minus, among many other designators, the truth is that these seemingly discrete elements only really function when they are combined to create a harmonious whole, at which point they transcend themselves.
Which is where the spiritual companioning relationship come in, as it allows us to see ourselves, each other, and all manifestations more clearly as unified and inseparable. A companion walks with us for as long as we need them, allowing us to process and overcome our obstacles, to discern the way forward, to recognize that we are not separate from anyone or anything, and to absorb that everything we undergo is an invitation to solidify our connection to the eternal core.
And then, to paraphrase what a wise person once said, thousands of candles will be lit from a single candle, and the life of that original candle will not be shortened, as Love and insight never decrease by being shared.
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Book Review:
by John F. Haught
Reviewed by Monique CM Keffer, MA
Ed. note – this review originally was published in Presence Journal, June 2022, Volume 28, Issue 2.
Though the current world crises are overwhelming in their number and complexity, many of these challenges have something in common. Climate change, combatting COVID, and social media’s religious content misinformation all contain clashes between religion and science. Uniting these two clashing forces to face global challenges and find hope is imperative. Trailblazers in this endeavor include, among others, Al Gore, Francis Collins, and Pope Francis. All were influenced by Jesuit scientist Pierre Teilhard de Chardin. So, of course, going back to this source of their inspiration would be invaluable. Authors like John F. Haught agree, as they provide new takes on Teilhard de Chardin’s genius. Haught’s recent book, The Cosmic Vision of Teilhard de Chardin deftly outlines Teilhard de Chardin’s scientific and religious-based writings featuring an ever-growing cosmos. Using Teilhard de Chardin’s “lines of thought” (xvii), Haught’s text provides a fascinating viewpoint from which to discuss the future of the universe.
Haught, a theologian, authored numerous publications about cosmology, evolutionary biology, geology, and Christianity. The Cosmic Vision thoughtfully and carefully examines topics through the lens of Teilhard de Chardin’s vision while allowing readers to form their own conclusions. Subjects include evolution and creationism, religion’s changes, morality, suffering, and ecology.
Spiritual directors and those in similar roles are urged to pay attention to not only an individual’s spiritual path but also “the coming to fulfillment of an entire cosmic history” (88). Teilhard de Chardin discusses intrinsic individual growth as part of the expansion of the whole universe. Along these lines, Haught points out how Teilhard de Chardin extends a hand to those who long for “more” but cannot reconcile the existence of a god. He writes, “The majority of scientifically educated people has given up on such a project, settling into their impressions that the immense universe of contemporary natural science has outgrown … the idea of God…” (84). However, Haught goes on to show, through Teilhard de Chardin’s ideas, how readers can reshape their ideas about religion to allow for contemporary thought.
Through The Cosmic Vision of Teilhard de Chardin, Haught outlines Teilhard de Chardin’s insights, opening up possibilities for approaching both present and future global adversities. Human beings do not simply observe and interact with their environment. They are an integral part of the “becoming more” of the entire universe. Therefore, readers are empowered as they understand their place in a natural world filled with a force of love—what Christians and other religions call God. As physicist William H. Bragg famously said during a lecture he gave at Cornell University in 1919, “Sometimes people ask if religion and science are not opposed to one another. They are: in the sense that the thumb and fingers of my hands are opposed to one another. It is an opposition by means of which anything can be grasped.” Perhaps today, that “anything” can be hope.
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Invitation to Morning Light
Michael McCabe is a spiritual director, lay chaplain, and teacher in private practice after serving teachers and students for over forty years. He has written one novel and numerous non-fiction works including histories, texts, and an early book on personal computing. Michael and his wife, Becky live in Arizona. You can reach him at [email protected].
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Visiting a cherished friend,
would you not approach her home
with tenderness –
your footsteps like the strokes of a paintbrush?
Would you not stop in the garden before you even walked through her gate,
to behold where she lived,
to taste the air –
and the moment –
with your skin
as well as your eyes?
Would you not pause
as you raised your hand
with knuckles bent to knock,
and unfold your fingers
that you might touch –
feather-soft –
the lintel
or the doorknob
or the threshold at your feet –
head bowed
and receiving?
Steven Crandell is a writer, currently focused on how to welcome “the flow of the present.” (Eckhart Tolle) Steven woke up the other morning to find he was still breathing. He enjoys breathing. Figured it was going to be a good day. It was. You can reach him at [email protected].
Our Sponsors
While particular actions and outcomes come and go, when everything else is gone, the Universe keeps flowing in Love.
And although we have a tendency to overcomplicate things, it really is that simple.
In this light, our “losses” are really the building blocks of true spiritual breakthroughs.
Our Sponsors
Publisher: Spiritual Directors International
Executive Director and Editor: Rev. Seifu Anil Singh-Molares
Production Supervisor: Matt Whitney
Web Designer: Ann Lancaster
Submissions: [email protected]
Advertising: [email protected]
Contempla is published four times a year. The names Spiritual Directors International™, SDIWorld™, and SDI™ and its logo are trademarks of Spiritual Directors International, Inc., all rights reserved. Opinions and programs represented in this publication are of the authors and advertisers and may not represent the opinions of Spiritual Directors International, the Board of Directors, or the editors.
We welcome your feedback on any aspect of this issue of Contempla, or on SDI as a whole. Please send your comments to [email protected]
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