Activation of Energy

Book excerpt: The renowned Jesuit thinker explores science, theology, and the course of human evolution. Following in the footsteps of his earlier works, this collection of essays from Pierre Teilhard de Chardin brings greater clarity to the stunning potential of human energy if it is properly channeled, as he describes, “upward and outward.” While energy wrongly directed appears as depression, drug addiction, and violence, this legendary scholar—a priest who earned a doctorate in geology and studied the sciences extensively—promises that spiritual energy channeled correctly will become a true force in the universe, far outdistancing the potential of technological advance. “Like other great visionary poets—Blake, Hopkins, Yeats—Teilhard engages the reader both intellectually and sensually.” —The Washington Post Book World