Living Spirituality

Thursday, March 21, 2019

Thursday Thoughts - March 21

Protest is a negation of relativism.

Wednesday, March 20, 2019

Living Spiritual Rhythms - March 20

Having serious questions about the nature of the biblical text should be considered a privilege. Getting concerns about authority, history, and the universe out on the table, is essential. Taking time to work through questions and learn from them will be rewarding, though we may not find many answers. Don’t worry, confusion can be exciting. Thus, instead of a blind acceptance of the biblical text, we should be promoting a spirit of openness that welcomes questioning it.

Monday, March 18, 2019

Reflection for the Week - March 18

The Trusting Primate
Many people are intoxicated with suspicion. They claim they are suspicious of everything. And why not? What’s worth trusting? After all, heroines and heroes have all but disappeared from the scene these days, except in fantasy stories.

As that is the case, this view may have something going for it. But I wonder if such elevated toxicity levels could be a problem, since it seems that no one is entirely suspicious. Here’s why. Trust always precedes suspicion, thus suspicion presupposes trust because we have to trust the accuracy of our suspicions, or we wouldn’t have them. I’d wager humans are first strike trusting primates and can’t help but trust, and this may indeed be a revealing insight concerning an important dimension of who we are.

Friday, March 15, 2019

Cool expo - Early Picasso - Beyeler, Bale, Suisse

Thursday, March 14, 2019

Thursday Thoughts - March 14

The patron saints of reductionism and polarization in contemporary Christian thought frequently dominate disputes over language, philosophy, theology, science, and their interaction. Let’s move in a different direction in order to create a space for dialogue, mediate one-sided extremes, and offer a hermeneutic of relation and distinction, which depicts a new vision for engaging with these contested issues. In doing so, I’d wager, we’re after something like a perceptive and tension-filled wisdom that goes beyond modernist and postmodernist dead ends and thus offers a valid way ahead.

Wednesday, March 13, 2019

Living Spiritual Rhythms - March 13

Not exactly sure how evolution came about, but as far as we can tell its pros and cons have been around for billions of years. Viruses and bacteria, for example, appear to be both beneficial and detrimental to survival on the planet. Thus, how we configure God in light of the natural world informer and through the veil of life and death is becoming increasingly important for having a valid theology. Such a configuration process can no longer be ignored and should now be embraced, as we explore that which nature seems to be telling us concerning this unfathomable and mysterious God character. To discover deeper truths will require the sacrifice of a myriad of superficial ones. Be that as it may, the journey must go on.

Monday, March 11, 2019

Reflection for the Week - March 11

Empirical data is a persuasive informer, which can tempt us to believe it’s all there is. Yet, numerous difficulties arise here, not least the aspect that so much of our lives are non-empirical. Consider, for example, thoughts, emotions, imaginations, and a self-referential talking to ourselves. These ‘invisibles’ are a strong argument against the reductionistic tendencies of empiricism and for a reality that includes the unseen.