Discovered by Fire?

As the first post on this blog, it seems appropriate to lay the groundwork by explaining that I've named this post after one of my absolute favorite quotations by a controversial 20th century Christian named Pierre Teilhard de Chardin:

"Someday after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tides and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love. Then for the second time in the history of the world, man will have discovered fire."

What captured me then, and still captures me now, about this quote is the reminder of the unlimited potential, indeed power (if that word were not so laden with negative connotations), that lies in Love. But interestingly, when I first came across this quote (and clipped it out) in a secular magazine, the words 'for God' had been taken out, and replaced by the ever innocent "..." --presumably so as not to offend those who believe in Love but do not believe in God. At the time, I didn't even think to wonder what words had been taken out, assuming they must have been irrelevant to the overall meaning.

When I re-visted this clipping recently, after having come to believe in Christ and embracing the Christian journey several years ago, I found I had an ambivalent sense about this statement--drawn as I still was by the power of Love, but hesitant of mankind's ability (or right) to harness that energy for his own desires and machinations. So I looked up the original and found the complete text. Ahhh, put the missing words back in the quote and it makes great sense again. Now it leaves me only wondering if in the end can we really say that we harness love and discover fire....or will it ultimately be more truthful to say that we are harnessed by Love and discovered by fire?

More importantly than my own ponderings, however, this discrepancy in quotation shows that there are those (and I could have once counted myself among them) for whom the word God is immensely troubling, while the word 'love' remains pure. And yet we are told that God is love (I John 4:8). When secular magazines are quoting Christian mystics without reference to God, we see that we have come to a time and place where people are shying away from points of division while still trying to reap the hope contained in the original vision. The danger here is that in attempting to rid ourselves of the points of division, we also lose the point of genesis of the whole vision. My hope is that we will come back to these important discussions...not shying away from conflicts but looking at them directly, authentically, compassionately and lovingly...trusting that there is always a greater place and Truth to which we are being led.