What psychologists can learn from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

I have been reading a lot of Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit priest, geologist, paleontologist, and philosopher who was active in his career during the first half of the 20th century.

I first heard of Teilhard in my college years, but one of the great pleasures of retirement is having time to dig deeper into material you didn’t give enough attention to when it was introduced.

There is also the attraction of a philosopher who has produced a theory of human development that includes the spiritual dimension of life and goes far beyond the work of classical psychology to encompass the evolution of the human person in the context of the evolving universe itself.

Add to this the absorbing story of a charismatic scientist, adventurer, and man of deep compassion and abiding faith, and you’ve got the makings of a hero. But, more than a hero to emulate, what I discovered is a source of wisdom who has something to teach us all about living well.

Teilhard was born in 1881 and died in 1955. His most notable books are “The Phenomenon of Man” and “The Divine Milieu,” where he sets down and explains his theory of the evolution of matter, life, and the human person.

With the perspective of a geologist and paleontologist, Teilhard traces the development of the universe or matter, what he calls the Geosphere, over billions of years. It culminates in the appearance of life, the Biosphere, which, after millions of years, gives birth to the Noosphere and the emergence of human life.

An early proponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution, Teilhard extended the concept to all of creation. He believed that evolution is directed toward continual, if not uninterrupted improvement, in a progression where simple elements combine to form complex systems and consciousness emerges in proportion to complexity and reaches a critical threshold in humans.

With the appearance of human life, consciousness becomes aware of itself, reflective thought becomes possible, and language develops to facilitate collaboration and the building of societies from tribes to nations to global alliances.

The goal of evolution, according to Teilhard, is unification culminating in the universe arriving at what he calls the Omega Point where all personal centers of consciousness converge. In Teilhard’s words, “All that rises must converge.” And the energy that drives this cosmic unification? Nothing less than love itself.

Teilhard identifies the Omega Point with God and reconciles his scientific observations and conclusions with his Catholic faith and priestly vocation. Even so, his teachings and writings were considered too controversial by the Church and his books were not published until after his death.

He was ordered to resign from an influential teaching position in Paris and posted to an out-of-the-way paleontology laboratory in China. There, in what appears to be vindication by Divine Providence, he became part of an expedition that discovered the skull of an early hominid that came to be known as Peking Man.

Silenced and exiled by his Church for teaching the theory of evolution, Teilhard found important evidence supporting evolution from his place of exile.

So what does this man of science and faith have to teach us about living well? What does he have to say to psychologists who share the same concerns about improving the quality of human life? I see his wisdom in the following areas though I’m quite sure there are more that I have yet to recognize: perspective, patience, hope, human endeavor, spirituality, community, and love.

Perspective. When you look at the world through the lens of geology and paleontology and see the billions of years it has taken for the earth to become what it is today compared to the brief three to four million years since our first hominid ancestors appeared, you can’t help but develop perspective.

Suddenly, our modern digital age is just another view from the window of the train that carries us through time. Some generations will pass mainly through dark forests under brooding skies while others will enjoy more sunny vistas. All will see some of each. The track rises gently, turns back, and rises once more, repeating the sequence repeatedly, each time moving farther up the mountain.

Each generation knows only the part of the journey visible outside its window. Perspective teaches us that there is more to this trip than we can see in a lifetime. It teaches us humility. In a lifetime less than a second on the cosmic clock, we cannot expect to change the world, but perspective urges us to improve the little bit of it that we can see from our window. And it forgives us if we fail.

Patience. A cosmic perspective brings us patience. Teilhard tells us that we are naturally impatient to reach our goals “and yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability and that it may take a very long time.”

Hope. Hope motivates us to embark on the journey to make a positive contribution to our corner of the world and sustains us when we feel overwhelmed by the task. We long for something better and trust that, with the help of God, we can make it happen, one infinitesimal step at a time.

Human Endeavor and Spirituality. Teilhard believed that the universe is in the process of becoming spiritualized, that spirit is evolving from within matter. Spirit is not opposed to matter; science is not opposed to faith.

In this context, human endeavor is properly directed at deepening our understanding of the natural laws that govern our existence and finding ways to improve the quality of our lives. For some, this formula for human endeavor may be enough. For the person of faith, like Teilhard, work is given added meaning when accompanied by the intention of contributing to the inexorable advance of all creation toward a point of spiritual convergence, the Omega Point, which Teilhard identified with God.

Whether or not one agrees with Teilhard’s theory, I think there can be little doubt that his emphasis on the importance and dignity of all work is consistent with what we psychologists consider good mental health.

It was Freud, after all, who gave us the famous definition of mental health as the ability to love and to work. We are fortunate not only to be able to do the work of psychology for our own wellbeing but to be in a profession dedicated to helping others to become their best selves and live their lives to the fullest.

Community. According to Teilhard, all the elements of the universe, from the tiniest subatomic particles to the unfathomably large galaxies, are driven to connect. Humankind is no different, and with our unique capacities for reflective thought and language, we connect on progressively larger scales from families to global communities. Every day the news brings more evidence of the fragility of our connections as dissension and violence tear the fabric of what unity we have managed to achieve. Once again, we psychologists are privileged to be able to use our skills to heal these divisions. Teilhard reminds us of the importance of our work and encourages us to persevere.

Love. Love for Teilhard, is the energy of attraction that draws the universe together and moves evolution forward toward its ultimate goal of union with God at the Omega Point. He is not referring to romantic love but to a much deeper force. Teilhard’s love is an essential part of the universe that brings all living and non-living matter together to form systems of increasing complexity and consciousness. The concept is radical but the experience of love is as human as it gets.

And so after all of our traveling through science and faith with Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, we find ourselves back at the beginning with the centrality of love. We are home but, like all travelers, changed by the journey. Teilhard has provided for our consideration a more expansive and cohesive theory of ourselves and the universe we inhabit and, in doing so, has affirmed the value of our work. We don’t have to agree with all that he says, but it’s hard not to be grateful for his offering.