Living Spirituality

Thursday, May 23, 2019

Thursday Thoughts - May 23

Science is fallible and sometimes gets it wrong. Granted. Some theologians use this as a foil to discount science all together, whenever it goes against their theology. “Oh yes” they quip, “science is often having to revise its findings, frequently changing its views, and therefore it’s untrustworthy.” But this is absurd. There is no reason to entirely discount the stable findings of science, which are not going to change. Furthermore, science is frequently self-correcting and capable of offering new and better understandings for where it was in error. Thus, theologians should stop making excuses for not accepting valuable scientific data concerning human evolution and the cosmos, and recognize its potential significance for and justified challenge of some of their theological interpretations regarding who God is and what God does.

Monday, May 20, 2019

Reflection for the Week - May 20

If we start to ask questions about Divine action, it may challenge our faith in the God we think we know. Some believers will not want to go here. But, I’d wager it is worth asking just what view of the natural world and God we have when we assume that God is clearing traffic jams to ensure we’ll make a flight for vacation. The picture that God somehow reaches in from the outside to generally keep everything going or to act in particular ways should be carefully re-examined. Yes, I know. Exploring these types of issues will be difficult, yet in light of what we now are beginning to discover about how the natural world works, simplistic scenarios of Divine action are no longer viable, but have to be challenged. And then? Well, we’ll have to see where this takes us when it comes to knowing God. Robert John Russell has done some excellent work on this topic. Here’s a valuable recent book he edited and contributed to.

https://www.amazon.com/Gods-Providence-Randomness-Nature-Perspectives/dp/1599475677/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=robert+john+russell&qid=1558360920&s=gateway&sr=8-4

Thursday, May 16, 2019

Thursday Thoughts - May 16

Feelings are highly significant, though they are not decisive when it comes to knowledge. In order to assess whether feelings are trustworthy or deceptive, it is crucial that they be in dialogue with the rest of who we are, including reason and sense observation, so that we have a more holistic perspective. We should not stop, however, at an interpersonal dialogue. We are obliged to interact with a multiplicity of other informers if we are to have our feelings and the whole of our lives refigured, and to begin to know in the light of being known.

Wednesday, May 15, 2019

Living Spiritual Rhythms - May 15

To hear and read the story of Mark is to enter a narrative world of conflict and drama, possession and dispossession, subversive reversals of perspective, intrigue, mystery, and strange riddles, with Jesus as its central protagonist. It is far from a simple or nice story, filled with easy answers or a basic list of rules to follow. Readers, in contrast, are challenged to participate in the story and to lose their lives for Jesus’ sake in order to find them. What? Outrageous! Yet, as the world of self-serving power, greed, and control is shattered, readers are invited to embrace a possible world that will lead them to life after death.