Bill Wilson, SJ

  In this article I would like to start with Savary’s Second Basic Principle, “Evolution is happening continually on every level of being and it has a direction.” And the Third Basic Principle, “The Law of Attraction-Connection-Complexity-Consciousness is the law that is giving evolution its direction.”
    So evolution is happening continually on every level. This means that everything is affected by the evolutionary process, not just the biological realm, but the emotional, social, and spiritual realms as well.
    If I am to be involved in the divine process or the divine will, then I must continually evolve at all levels. But sadly that is not the case for many of us. We can stay stuck in a childhood spirituality where we practice our devotions and accept what is handed out, but don’t take the time to explore how the divine is working within my own being.

  In this article I would like to start with Savary’s Second Basic Principle, “Evolution is happening continually on every level of being and it has a direction.” And the Third Basic Principle, “The Law of Attraction-Connection-Complexity-Consciousness is the law that is giving evolution its direction.”
    So evolution is happening continually on every level. This means that everything is affected by the evolutionary process, not just the biological realm, but the emotional, social, and spiritual realms as well.
    If I am to be involved in the divine process or the divine will, then I must continually evolve at all levels. But sadly that is not the case for many of us. We can stay stuck in a childhood spirituality where we practice our devotions and accept what is handed out, but don’t take the time to explore how the divine is working within my own being.
    We are reluctant to ask the question, “how does the divine want me to evolve?” As John O’Donohue has stated, “sometimes we are misled by the promises of gurus and systems outside ourselves. We believe that salvation can only come from outside. This is the great falsity of all colonization, be it territorial or spiritual. It robs the native land, or the native soul of its own indigenous treasures and resources.” (Four Elements, page 19)
    What St. Ignatius taught, and evolution reveals, is that the divine has an impact on us individually and socially and that impact is to have us grow and develop “to our full stature” (St. Paul) or to greater consciousness.
    This means I need to discover within myself the treasures and resources that the divine, through evolution has placed within my own being. What are the resources and treasures that I have been given so that I can make my own unique contribution to the evolutionary process? How do I assist the evolutionary process in its direction and in becoming more conscious?
    This means that we cannot stay stuck but as Andrew Cohen states, “the character of the evolutionary impulse is relentless ecstatic urgency. It is non-relative Absolute expressed as an energetic compulsion to BECOME. You find yourself animated by that same inspired energy and intelligence that initiated the creative process.”
    This means that we are involved in a far grander and more dynamic process than we previously imagined. Let’s continue to be excited and enjoy the ride.
Bill Wilson is a facilitator with ‘Programs in Earth Literacies.’ (www.earthliteracies.org).