To not be resigned to death in the midst of chaos and uncertainty is a challenge and a destiny. Fighting against addiction and abuse - the injustices of tolerance – takes hard work and deep commitment. As things fray from the peaceful center to the edges of despair and back, death frequently looms large on the horizon of existence. It perversely seeks to convince us that this is the final space. Frantic attempts to escape from this lie only enslave us and lead to false release. By contrast, life, worn as it may be, is a hopeful adventure worth embracing.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
Monday, May 27, 2019
Reflection for the Week - May 27
Our reading strategies for the biblical text, self, other, and the world should have a similarity. That is, not too objective, nor too subjective (walking a tightrope might be a good image). These phenomena are not to be mere objects of analysis and study or simply personal subjects of possession and interest, but understood as related and distinct in tension. Falling into compartmentalized or collapsing approaches will lead to a short circuiting of making necessary tensional connections that will challenge and enhance our lives, while helping us recognize that we are in the midst of a complex living adventure filled with convictions, doubts, and questions concerning life and its emerging possibilities.
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.
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.
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