Teilhard’s Synthesis as Impetus for Greater Care for Our Earth

Early in life, Pierre Teilhard de Chardin knew he must love both God and Earth with equal passion. Yet, it took him many years to formulate his famous phrase “communion with God through Earth,” (Teilhard de Chardin 1968a, 57) and many more years to articulate in a profound way how the interaction of incarnation with evolution provides a framework for this formula. Today, it is recognized that a deeper sense of matter/spirit, of incarnation/evolution, allows the tapping into the sacredness of matter in a way that will motivate us to develop a flourishing humanity as well as a flourishing Earth. This article explores these concepts.