I love this exchange between Teilhard de Chardin and a young Jean Houston (14 yrs. old)—long before she knew who the old man she walked in the park with twice a week was! BUT she knew he spoke truth worth listening to!
Jean Houston: He said and this is exactly what he said; I was taking notes because I knew I was in the presence of greatness …
“We are being called into metamorphosis, into a far higher order, and yet we often act only from a tiny portion of ourselves. It is necessary that we increase that portion. But do not think for one minute, Jean, that we are alone in making that possible. We are part of a cosmic evolutionary movement that inspires us to unite with God. This is the lightning flash for all our potentialities. This is the great originating cause of all our shifts and changes. Without it there is nothing but struggle and decline.”
And I said to him, “What do you call it? I’ve never heard of it. Can something as great as that even have a name?”
“You are right,” he said, “it is impossible to name.”
“Well, try to name it, Mr. Tayer. I’ve heard that once a thing is named, you can begin to work with it.”
He seemed amused and he said, “I’ll try.” And then he said, “It is the demand of the universe for the birth of the ultra-human. It is the rising of a new form of psychic energy in which the very depths of loving within you are combined with what is most essential in the flowing of the cosmic stream.”
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