{Take & Read}

Reading Adam Hamilton’s Enough: Discovering Joy through Simplicity and Generosity is a good way to start 2012.  Hamilton challenges the pervasive realities of consumerism, instant gratification, and materialism that despite their lure ultimately enslave us and diminish our quality of life.  He reminds us that “it is a gift to be simple.”  Joy comes from our spiritual lives and relationships, including our relationship with God, and seldom from ownership.  His work is countercultural in a society whose prosperity and quality of life is based on unsustainable lifestyles and practices, and in which growth in overall spending and consumption is considered a sign of health and well-being.

As I read Hamilton’s book, I was challenged to say something about time and prayer.  Many people have time for everything except prayer.  In three decades of ministry and mentoring pastors, I have heard scores of pastors confess the following: “the tasks of the church are so great, with so many programs and responsibilities, that I seldom have any time for prayer, meditation, retreat, and study.”  Professional, personal, and family life suffers when we neglect to balance the inner and outer journeys.

It is equally difficult for laypeople to find time for prayer.  Consider today’s young couples or single parents – up with the children at seven, getting themselves and the children ready for work, daycare, or school, going to work, and coming home to dinner, getting the children bathed and bedded down, and having an hour or so to relax.  No wonder our spiritual lives suffer and we find ourselves going from one activity to another without any sense of coherence to our lives.   No wonder so many couples are simply trying to catch up, not to mention enjoy their family life and relationships.

It is frankly difficult to find an antidote to this sense of busyness.  We are addicted not only to consumerism, but to seeing time as a commodity in which we must pack as much into a day as possible, often multi-tasking, and seldom slowing down simply to reflect on our lives.  Even this morning, as I prepared to write this essay, I was tempted to grab my coffee and cereal and place them on the arm of my arts and crafts chair, so I could eat and write simultaneously!  I wanted to “save” time as a commodity that might otherwise be in short supply.  I was convicted by the theme I was writing – so I set aside the computer and enjoyed a quiet, reflective breakfast, mindfully eating my morning cereal as I gazed at the woods behind our home.

Can we pray in a busy life?  Do we have enough time for prayer?  While these days my vocational life isn’t as busy as it once was, I still seek to live by the following affirmation: “I have all the time, money, and energy to flourish and serve God.”  The issue is having “enough” in terms of personal and spiritual resources, and living by abundance rather than scarcity in terms of time, treasure, and talent.

There is no one pathway to simplicity of life, but let me suggest a couple ready to hand ways of experiencing simplicity in daily life:

• Simply breathe. We can’t live without breath, but many of us barely notice our breath. Our breath is hurried and shallow, reflective of our personal stress.  Take a few minutes in the morning, noon, and evening simply to pause and breathe gently and deeply.  Let your breath be a way of monitoring your overall well-being moment by moment.
• Breathe between tasks. I have a practice of taking a deep breath and praying “I breathe the Spirit deeply in” when I move from task to task – placing a call, picking up the phone, turning on my computer, starting the car, bathing my grandson.  Thich Naht Hanh similarly breathes his prayers: “Breathing in, I feel calm. Breathing out, I smile.”  Breathing our tasks weaves our day together in such a way that we are spiritually-centered amid a variety of tasks.
• Living prayerfully. Prayer doesn’t need to be long and involved.  The apostle Paul says “pray without ceasing.”  I pray a quick “bless you” when: I wake up and see my sleeping wife; I greet my grandson as he awakens; I purchase groceries; interact with co-workers; encounter a neighbor on a walk; greet a group to whom I’m speaking; respond to an e-mail; and other tasks throughout the day.
• Do One Thing at a Time. A curious line pops out in Mark’s Gospel: “For many were coming and going, and they [Jesus’ disciples] had no leisure even to eat.”  (Mark 6:31)   Mindful living involves being present to the task of the moment: play with your child, prepare dinner, write a note, work on a document, as if it is the only thing at the moment.  Experience the fullness of every task and encounter.
• Move with the Spirit. Take a few moments throughout the day to get out of your chair and move.  This isn’t an exercise program, but a way of calming the spirit, relieving stress, and being present right where you are.
• Give Thanks. Gratitude connects us with the universe, opening us to divine energy and relatedness.  When we are thankful, we always have enough. Say “thank you” often, and give thanks throughout the day for the blessings you are receiving.
• Let Your Words be Prayers. Speak prayerfully, breathing your words, making you’re your words loving and caring (even in conflict), in all situations.  Ask yourself, “do these words bless, heal, and unite.”

These tips are not “one more thing to do” in a busy life, but a way of living.  It is not “what” you do, but “how” you live your activities.  In the “how,” we discover a spaciousness to our lives, experience a greater sense of centeredness, and move from scarcity to abundance in such a way that we truly have “enough” time to pray, love, and enjoy this good earth, our families, and our vocation to be God’s partners in healing the world.

Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, pastor, and author of twenty two books, including Process Theology: A Guide to the Perplexed, Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living,  Philippians: An Interactive Bible Study, and The Center is Everywhere: Celtic Spirituality for the Postmodern Age.  His most recent text is Emerging Process: Adventurous Theology for a Missional Church to be released in January. But, above all, he seeks to share good news in ways that transform lives and heal the planet.  He may be reached at drbruceepperly@aol.com.

I am a big fan of Paula Huston’s work.  Her book The Holy Way: Practices for a Simple Life is one of my favorites and I attended a writing workshop with her a few years ago through the Image Journal in Santa Fe.  She is a generous teacher and writer and when I received her newest book for the season of Lent for the Patheos book club, my heart felt like singing.  Paula is gifted at bringing together rich resources from the tradition, refreshingly honest stories from her own experience, and practical ways to apply these in everyday life.  She is also a fellow Benedictine oblate and monk in the world, so I count her as a kindred spirit.

Her newest book Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit (from the wonderful folks at Ave Maria Press) is a true gift for the season.  Her reflections are rooted in the stories of the desert mothers and fathers, those wise elders whose voices still ring across time in our hearts today.

Lent is that marvelous season that calls us to return to God with our whole hearts.  Each year we hear this invitation on Ash Wednesday, each year we are marked with a reminder of our mortality, and each year Lent ushers us on a pilgrimage of the heart toward releasing all that keeps us from a full embrace of the holy presence in our lives.

In Simplifying the Soul each week has a theme with suggestions for simplifying in different areas of our lives: in money, the body, the mind, the schedule, relationships, and prayer.

I have to admit as I opened her book and saw the table of contents I was immediately drawn to week four on simplifying the schedule.  As someone who is deeply committed to cultivating contemplative spaciousness in my life, I still find myself often overloaded with commitments.

Her first reflection in this section is about social and professional ambitions and St Benedict’s call to us to become content with anonymity.  While I am not one to flutter about at many social events, as someone who runs my own business, anonymity is a hard thing to reconcile with my need to put my message out in the world.  Rather than suggest we eliminate things from our schedule as I am anticipating, however, Paula suggests the opposite: welcome in interruptions as the face of love, pray the Hours, attend a worship service, go for a walk and say prayers, invite someone who is lonely to tea.  I find myself a little irritated at first, these are things to add to my schedule, not simplify.  But quickly the hubris falls away and I laugh gently at myself and my expectations.  I am left with Paula’s deep wisdom that emerges from her own heightened self-awareness and rootedness in the monastic life.  Of course these things she suggests we add are to help re-orient our perspective.  To remind us that our schedules aren’t all about work and meetings and outings.  We must create space for a new kind of orientation to take hold.  One that sees love and the open-hearted quest for God as the center of our lives.

This book would make a wonderful self-guided retreat or to gather with a group and reflect each week together the ways you have been nourished and challenged by her invitations.  I highly recommend you consider making this journey for Lent.

Stop by the Patheos Book Club from January 16-31 for more about this book>>

Christine Valters Paintner is a writer, artist, spiritual director, retreat facilitator, and teacher. This post first appeared at her website Abbey of the Arts.

This month in the Patheos Book Club, we’re featuring God Theories, by Ken Ungerecht.  We invited Ken to respond to a few questions about his inspiration for tackling such a daunting subject and what he hopes readers gain from engaging the conversation.

What motivated you to write God Theories, and what conversations do you hope it inspires?

The direct inspiration for the creation of God Theories came from reading an on-line survey that asked the question – Do you believe in the Creationist Theory, the Intelligent Design Theory, or the Evolutionary Theory for the origin of life? Now, if that question had simply appended “or some other theory” I am not sure the book would ever have been written. But that choice was not there and so I thought “Wait a minute. There is something mighty wrong if people think those are the only choices we have for such an important question. I can believe in aspects of all three of the ones mentioned, but not completely in any of them. And in none of them will I find other important concepts that I do believe in.”

It was that reaction to the survey that moved me immediately to the computer to begin the process of writing the book. But the impetus for doing that was probably simmering for a long time. Our world is an amazing, beautiful, and wondrous place. But it is also in deep crisis. The ongoing battles between religion and science and between the various religions have probably had more to do with creating that condition than any other single factor. Today the political process has essentially been brought to a halt. There are many reasons for that unhappy fact, but rigid and literal religious beliefs are often at the very heart of a large number of them.

I believe we need to bring a greater degree of logic and reason to the process of forming our spiritual beliefs. I would consider God Theories to be my contribution towards that effort.  My ultimate motivation for writing God Theories was to try and help stimulate the open exchange of ideas we are going to need if we are going to create the kind of world I believe it was always meant to be.

Who is your ideal reader?

My ideal reader would be anyone who is a seeker of Truth.

Do you expect this book to change anyone’s mind? About what?

Based on the response of several people who have already read the book I would have to answer with a very confident yes.  But changing beliefs is usually a gradual process and if you were to ask me, for example, if I expected an ardent atheist to suddenly become a confirmed believer in a Divine Presence after reading the book, I would have to say probably not. But, if that person is truly an open minded seeker of Truth, I would also expect him or her to examine that atheistic belief in conjunction with the many ideas presented in the book that provide compelling evidence to contradict it.  I would further expect that examination to produce some kind of a change in that person’s set of beliefs even if that is nothing more than a move from the complete rejection of a belief in a Divine Presence to at least a consideration of the possibility of the idea.

Likewise, reading the book may not completely change the mind of someone with a religious belief that is maintained largely or entirely by faith and passion.  But new ideas may be considered that might enhance or modify that belief.

It is important to emphasize, however, that my purpose in writing the book was not an effort to change anyone’s mind to my way of thinking as much as it was to simply encourage more frequent and honest examinations and updates of our beliefs than it seems we do.

You’ve mentioned that one of your reasons for writing this book was your concern about the way that science has often been seen as an antagonist to the ideas of spirituality—whereas you believe they are complimentary.   How does science actually support a belief in God, in your opinion?

I think we can say with a great deal of confidence that there will never be a double-blind experiment that has as its hypothesis either the statement “God exists” or “God does not exist”.  In other words, the concept of God will never be proven or disproved by a singular scientific experiment.

However, contrary to what many scientists might want to believe, scientific conclusions can be derived in ways other than from double-blind, repeatable experiments. They can arise from the systematic analysis of a set of experiments or events, whether repeatable or not. They can also be the result of valid mental and mathematical exercises.

No single one of these will ever prove or disprove the existence of “God”, but any one of them could prove, or at least provide evidence for, the existence of spiritual or psychic phenomena that we might associate with the possible existence of “God”.

But, while no one of these proofs in and of themselves will ever definitively prove or disprove the existence of “God”, we may be able to use a set of them to extrapolate a conclusion one way or the other. There is a great deal of scientific evidence that can be applied to this effort.  I personally believe that an honest examination of this material overwhelmingly supports the existence of that Intelligence that we have come to call God.

Some of this evidence comes from the scientific disciplines themselves, particularly from the field of Quantum Physics. I think we are just beginning to comprehend what this field of study will offer in our efforts to determine a greater understanding of who we are and the universe in which we live.

A great deal of solid thinking also comes from the so called “Intelligent Designers”. This group has been much maligned by many sources as putting forth what they call a “pseudo science”. To some extent that label has been well earned and I personally will not follow them to all the places that their thinking takes them. But they have also put together some powerful arguments to support the central idea that a Greater Intelligence must be involved in the creation and functioning of our universe.

If a spiritual aspect is an integral part of the human condition, as I believe it is, then it would also follow that there must exist a set of Truthful Principles that does accurately describe the characteristics and functionality of that aspect. The vastness and obvious complexity of the concept of the Divine would virtually guarantee we will never be able to completely identify or understand all of these Principles. But, if we can collectively begin to identify and prove just a few of them, we will have laid a foundation upon which a true spiritual understanding can be built that will literally and profoundly transform the world. I think that is something it is ready for.

The scientific approach to gathering knowledge typically involves a cyclic or spiraling process of speculation, gathering evidence, formulating proofs, performing additional speculation, gathering more evidence, formulating more proofs etc.  In God Theories I have attempted to incorporate each of these activities in unique ways with the intent of helping gain a greater understanding of just who and what we are.

It is important to remember that the production of legitimate scientific conclusions requires not only sound logic, but also the existence of valid and truthful assumptions to which that logic is applied. I will submit that God Theories does, in fact, make careful use of both of these necessary ingredients to prove far beyond any reasonable doubt several key spiritually related ideas.

One of the more intriguing theories in your book asserts that “none of us could have possibly come into this world by chance. “  Can you, in a nutshell, explain what you mean by that?

There are many reasons why things happen in our world, but they can be divided into two major categories:

1. By chance – This implies the lack of conscious intervention
2. Not by chance – This implies the use of conscious intervention

These two categories are mutually exclusive. If something happens and it can be conclusively proven that it could not have happened by chance then it must have happened not by chance and vice versa. If something happens not by chance it must have happened by choice or, in other words, through some application of conscious intervention.

Two people, assuming they have the requisite qualifications, can make the conscious choice to have a baby. They cannot, however, consciously direct the particular sperm to unite with the particular egg that would be required to begin the creation of the particular body that will be used by that baby.

In other words your parents may have made the conscious choice to have a baby nine months or so before you were born, but they did not make the conscious choice to have you. That happened because of a chance combination of a particular sperm and a particular egg.

Or did it? Might you have been born even if a different sperm/egg combination had resulted in the creation of a different physical body?

In my book I demonstrate that the mathematical possibility of any particular person ever being born into our world by chance is an absurdity of unimaginable magnitude. In other words, the existence of the Essence of who we are cannot possibly depend upon the creation of a particular physical body. It is utter nonsense to think it does. That would imply that this Essence must exist, both prior to the creation of any body that it does use while in the physical realm, and then, following the demise of that body as well.

I believe that our universe has sufficiently demonstrated that it functions in a manner that will never require us to believe in absurdities.  It surely contains great mysteries including many we will likely never completely comprehend. It offers all manner of opportunity for human experience including many we might rather do without.  But I think we would be pretty hard pressed to consider it a ridiculous invention. I’m quite confident none of us would be here if that is what it was.

So, if none of us could have possibly come into this world by chance the obvious question is: Where does the conscious choice come from that causes such an event to happen not by chance?  Well, that is an interesting question and, as you might expect, it does generate some speculation and discussion in the book.

What was the hardest thing about writing this book?

I think the most difficult thing in writing the book was in attempting to express ideas that I believe passionately in a way that does not appear to make me arrogant. No one wants to be perceived as being egotistical regardless of whether or not they are.  I have learned that in writing a book, especially one that involves an analysis of spiritual ideas, that can often be a very difficult feat to accomplish.

How did the writing of this book affect your own spirituality/faith life?

Forty years ago I would have considered myself to be an agnostic. I thought that the concept of God was one that could never be proven one way or the other and I was pretty much ready to let it go at that. My conversion from that belief was an intellectual one. I suddenly realized that our world simply could not possibly be the way it is without some kind of outside conscious intervention. Once I realized that I knew, at least for me, there was nothing more important that I could ever do than trying to learn all I could about the Consciousness that had to be involved in that intervention. An open minded exploration of that idea from virtually every conceivable point of view has been my passion ever since.

My own conversion from agnosticism to a confirmed belief in a Divine Presence primarily involved the logical mind. But that does not mean I think that an emotional or experiential one is any less valid. I believe in God for many reasons besides the fact that it’s logical. I have had many things happen in my own life that could never be rationally explained. I do not question these kinds of stories when I hear them from others unless there is some compelling reason to do so. Surely Truth can be found in domains other than that of the rational and it is important to explore these places to try and find it. But, when we do, we would be well advised to at least keep a tether to logic and reason.  They are critical and integral ingredients of the mix that makes up our spiritual understanding.  We have all too often seen the kinds of tribulations that are produced when they are missing.

I have long believed that Life is an incredible and eternal Gift from a God/Goddess that knows us and loves us unconditionally. I believe there are many things that are an inherent part of that Gift. These include the ability to love and to receive love, to think, to feel, to wonder, to discern and to make choice. I believe that our primary responsibility is to learn how to receive that Divine Gift, to learn to allow in the positive energies that come with it, and to learn to make it fun.

So writing this book did not affect what I believe to any great extent.  That was, and is, a continually expanding and changing progression that would have been happening whether I had written the book or not. But, without doubt, the process of writing the book has brought a focus that has helped to make more cohesive many of those beliefs. I believe, and hope, it has also enhanced my ability to express them more clearly, both to myself and to others.

Name one person you hope reads this book. Why?

I hope one person who reads this book is the one who can, and will, take from it ideas that he or she will expand upon and will then use to more elegantly help create the kind of world I believe our Creator always intended it to be.

What do you hope is the most important take-away your book has for the reader?

I hope the most important thing that a reader of my book could take away is an increased desire to explore more honestly the mysteries of the incredible Being that they truly are and a greater sense of gratitude for the amazing fact of that existence.

For more on God Theories, visit the Patheos Book Club.

[Editor's Note:  This post is part of a blogger roundtable on the new book Simplifying the Soul: Lenten Practices to Renew Your Spirit by Paula Huston, now featured at the Patheos Book Club.]

I have been a professional multi-tasker for many years.  Throughout most of my career, I have balanced pastoral ministry, teaching, writing, administrative leadership, and lecturing throughout North America.  Beyond that, I have sought to be an attentive and loving husband, father and grandfather, and faithful friend.  I coached youth baseball and basketball while being active as a university chaplain, professor, and leader in my denomination.  Sometimes, it has gotten pretty complicated, juggling my many vocations and interests; but, I have also made time to meditate and run or walk three to four miles each morning for over thirty years.  I have tried to exemplify Martin Luther’s comment:  I have so much to do today that I must take extra time for prayer.

How do we live a simple life in a complex world in which much of the complexity is often the result of our own gifts and choices as well as the necessary demands of work and family?  How do we avoid what Larry Dossey describes as “hurry sickness” or “time sickness,” the impact of constantly being on the go, imprisoned by the devices that are meant to make our lives easier?

These days no one asks you to do less!  Nor frankly do gifted and committed people choose to do less when they see the impact of their actions on their communities, religious traditions, political decision-making, and planetary survival.  Yet, our personal and corporate survival involves doing less – or doing more in a more centered and simple way.  While the art of simplicity, as Paula Huston says in her new book Simplifying the Soul, may involve downsizing in terms of our possessions and schedules, it may equally involve a vision of simplicity and practices that help us live simply throughout complicated days.

For me, authentic spirituality and theology involves joining vision, promise, and practice. We need a life philosophy or theological vision that guides our decision-making and serves as our daily and long-term compass.  We need to believe the promises of God that we can have abundant life and live well by focusing on what’s truly important for ourselves, our families, and our communities.  We can find personally appropriate spiritual practices that simplify our spirits, fit our lifestyle and personality type, and add zest to our lives.

My vision involves seeing God in all things and all things in God.  Although I have written over twenty books on spirituality, theology, and ministry, the sense of God’s companionship guides and theologically-spiritually grounds my day to day life.  I look for holiness everywhere.  As a writer, I resonate with Carrie Newcomer’s words:

The empty page

The open book

Redemption everywhere I look.

But, as Newcomer proclaims  in “Holy as a Day is Spent,” every moment from going to the grocery store to watching the geese fly overhead can be an invitation to holiness.  This is the heart of Brother Lawrence’s vision of “practicing the presence of God,” whether in a busy kitchen cooking dinner, buying groceries, or celebrating communion.    My vision of divine presence invites to believe the promise that help is always on the way, that I have the resources to respond to each incoming challenge, and that I don’t need to be in charge of the universe.  I can simplify my life by taking momentary as well as planned Sabbaths for refreshment and reflection.   Guided by the words, “God in all things, all things in God,” I always have enough time, talent, and treasure for creative simplicity in responding to the challenges of the day.

I have found the following practices helpful in simplifying a daily life that involves on a daily or weekly basis: writing, teaching, preparing for talks throughout the country, getting to ready to sell our home to move closer to the grandchildren and family, weekly trips to see our current grandchild as we await a second, outreach in terms of job hunting and securing invitations for speaking engagements and retreats, and responding creatively to my wife and friends, a number of whom are going through difficult times.

First things first, begin the day with silence and study. Take time for silence at the beginning of your day.  Open to a creative wisdom and calm.  Feast upon great ideas that draw you closer to the divine.

Second, breathe! Take a moment to breathe throughout the day – intentionally and as you move from task to another.  I take a deep prayerful breath as I hear the cell phone ring, turn on the computer, check e-mail or Facebook, start the car, and go from one task to the other.   Prayerful breath weaves your day together as a tapestry of transformation.

Third, bless! I make it a point to bless silently – and sometimes verbally – every situation and person I meet.  I simply breathe and say “God bless you” in my imagination.  The practice of blessing simplifies the day by reminding you that in every event you are called to one thing, “bless the world.”

Fourth, move with the Spirit. A good life involves motion.  I try to walk three to five miles each day.  In addition, I often take short walks during teaching sessions or when I’m leading a retreat or at work.  These might only amount to a three minute walk around the building but they restore my soul.

There are many other practices of simplicity and Paula Huston has done an excellent job of categorizing daily spiritual practices specifically for a Lenten retreat aimed at de-cluttering our lives and souls.  But, these four, along with taking time for Sabbath-keeping and regular retreat times can transform and simplify your spirit so that you discover God in all things and all things in God.  For me, that’s what it means to live simply in a complex world.

Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, pastor, and author of twenty two books, including Process Theology: A Guide to the Perplexed, Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living,  Philippians: An Interactive Bible Study, and The Center is Everywhere: Celtic Spirituality for the Postmodern Age.  His most recent text is Emerging Process: Adventurous Theology for a Missional Church to be released in January. But, above all, he seeks to share good news in ways that transform lives and heal the planet.  He may be reached at drbruceepperly@aol.com.

Whether or not we are aware of it, all of us think theologically whenever we try to discern the meaning of our lives, fathom the reality of suffering and tragedy, and discover our place in the universe.  Despite the universality of theological reflection, the technical language and conceptuality employed by most theologians is often perplexing to educated laypersons and pastors, who are tempted to ask what difference theology makes in the living of our days.  This critique is often leveled against process theology which, despite its claim to arise from reflection on human experience – everyday, scientific, and religious – remains shrouded in highly technical and obtuse philosophical and theological language.  George Bernard Shaw once noted that the professions are conspiracies against the laity, and this complaint can surely be leveled at those who employ the intricate and often obscure language of process theology.  Laypersons often shake their heads in bewilderment as they hear process theologians try to explain their theological insights with words like “concrescence,” “prehension,” “primordial, consequent, and superjective natures of God,” and “hybrid physical feelings.”  While process thought’s esoteric language is intended to reflect the novel world view articulated by process theology, many readers barely get through the first paragraphs of works by Alfred North Whitehead, Charles Hartshorne, and their followers.

Still, I am convinced that process theology can be accessible to laypersons and pastors.  Any theology which claims to describe the ultimate generalities that characterize our lives must ultimately mirror people’s language and ordinary experience.  In over thirty years of professional life, I have joined classroom and pulpit, computer and hospital bedside, and contemplation and action, as a seminary and college professor, administrator, pastor, and process theologian.  I have learned that theology, at its best, seeks to transform people’s lives by providing an insightful vision of reality that enables persons to find meaning, inspiration, and challenge.  I have found this connection between vision and practice especially to be true for the movement in contemporary theology, described as process theology.  Once persons begin to understand process theology’s innovative ways of describing God’s relationship with the world, the problem of evil, human creativity and freedom, and the non-human world, they recognize the significant contribution process theology makes to religious life, social transformation, and ethical behavior.  They also discover how different process theology is from more traditional theologies and the theology they often grew up with.

I have found that theology matters most when it addresses “matters of life and death.”  When people try to make theological and personal sense of life’s inevitable challenges to our spiritual, emotional, physical, and relational well-being, then theology comes alive and can change peoples’ lives.  An accessible theology responds to the perplexities that threaten to overwhelm us intellectually, emotionally, relationally, and spiritually as we face what Episcopal priest Alan Jones has referred to as the “unfixable” events of life.  The following encounters in the course of my professional life reveal why theology is important and why new ways of looking at God, the world, and ourselves can transform peoples’ lives and inspire hope and creativity in difficult situations.

Helen knocked on my seminary study door one rainy winter afternoon.  She immediately confessed that she had trouble believing in the God of her childhood, whose character had been unquestioned throughout most of her life.   When Helen’s nine year old daughter was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer, she sought the counsel of her conservative Baptist pastor, who challenged her to “Have faith in God,” and then added, “Remember, Jesus’ words to the woman with the flow of blood, ‘your faith has made you well.’  If you just trust God, your daughter will get well.”  When her daughter’s condition continued to deteriorate, he suggested that her “lack of faith” and “questions about God’s nature” might be the reason for her daughter’s tenuous health condition.  He also counseled her that “God has a plan for everything and that her daughter’s illness was intended to test of her family’s faith.  If they passed the test, they would all be spiritually stronger, and her daughter would recover.”

As her daughter’s condition continued to show no improvement, Helen’s pastor’s theological counsel no longer worked for her.  Trying to make theological sense of her daughter’s condition, Helen realized that according to her pastor’s viewpoint, “Either I’m to blame, or God’s testing us beyond our abilities.”  And, then, she became angry, “How can God hurt my daughter as a way testing my faith?  It’s not fair.  A loving God would never hurt a child to test her parents.”   Helen’s search for a cure took her to a new age healer, who promised that “if you focus on positive affirmations, you will find peace and your daughter will get well”; but then, like the Baptist pastor, berated her for her “negative thinking” when her daughter’s condition remained tenuous.  As if to take Helen off the hook for her spiritual immaturity in this lifetime, the healer added one more explanation for her daughter’s condition: “Perhaps her illness is the result of something that happened in a previous lifetime.  Your daughter is sick because you and your daughter may have made a spiritual agreement to deal with issues of suffering in this lifetime. Perhaps your daughter chose to be sick so that she could learn certain spiritual lessons.”

With a countenance mirroring the gloom of the day, Helen came to me, as a last resort, with the question, “Am I really fully responsible for my daughter’s health?  If so, I’m not spiritually strong enough to change her health condition.  If this is a matter of my spiritual maturity, what can I to do to help her?”  Over the course of a few meetings, she reflected on her childhood images of God as a distant judge and task master, ready to condemn us for the slightest doubt or misdeed.  The Baptist pastor and new age healer both confirmed her childhood belief that illness was directly the result of our sinfulness and that somehow the impact God or karma was at the root of her child’s suffering.  Together, Helen and I explored the possibility of alternative images of God and explanations of suffering which avoided the pitfalls of divine punishment and linear cause and effect explanations relating to behaviors and outcomes.  We also considered the possibility that God neither caused nor wanted her to daughter to suffer, but is the source of healing possibilities and compassionate companionship.  We explored the possibility that God might not be in control of everything, and that chance, reflected in the impact of DNA and the environment, as well as purpose shapes our lives. While Helen is still seeking a god she can trust to be her and her daughter’s companion as they face the medical treatments that lie ahead, she has come to realize, in her words, that “the only God I can trust is a God who loves rather than constantly tests us, and accepts our imperfections and tries to help us do better.”  Our conversations about the alternative vision of God found in process theology have given her hope that she can find a God who is truly on her and daughter’s side, a God who unambiguously wants her daughter to get well.

In pondering the challenges that confront persons like Helen, other spiritual leaders proclaim that without apology that everything–from good health to personal trauma–come from the hand of God.   As Rick Warren, author of the best-selling Purpose Driven Life, asserts, “God has planned every detail of your life without your input.” According to Warren, all the most important events of our lives, even the most painful ones, are “father-filtered” and intended for our growth. God not only allows us to experience pain, but places challenging and painful experiences in our lives as opportunities for growth and tests of fidelity.  God smiles on us when we obey “him” completely follow the script that “he” has written in advance. Even though God is the source of tragic obstacles to faith, failure to find our purpose in life and deviating from God’s clear plan for our lives leads to meaninglessness in this life and divine punishment in the afterlife. While images of a God who plans everything in our lives may be comforting to some persons, others come to hate a God who determines everything and punishes those who don’t come up with the right responses to God’s tests of their faith.

Audrey was a refugee from a fundamentalist denomination.  Now, in thirties, she had become an accomplished physicist.  Recently, she had begun to ponder cosmology and the origins of the universe.  While she could not accept her childhood faith’s belief in a “young earth,” no more than 10,000 years old, and its identification of evolution with atheism, she was equally dissatisfied with atheistic denials of purpose in the universe.  As a physicist, she had come recognize that the “elegant universe” she studied at both the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels could not just be the result of some cosmic accident.  She admitted that she believed that “there’s some sort of wisdom at work in the evolution of galaxies and our planet.”  She confessed that she needed to find a world view that honored science and its methodology and yet made room for meaning in the universe.  “I know that I can no longer believe in the God I grew up with, but I’m searching for something besides humanity to give meaning to the universe.   Can I be a scientist and person of faith, too?” she asked.  Audrey chose to audit my class on process theology and explore the possibility that God is the ultimate source of the evolutionary process.   She has discovered that faith and science can complement one another and that believing in God inspires, rather than censors, human creativity and scientific discovery.

These encounters remind us that theology is not just reserved for scholars, but, as liberation theologians have long reminded us, emerges from our experiences of pain, struggle, and, I would add, personal perplexity.  As I said earlier, people become theologians when they ask questions relating to life, death, suffering, and beyond.  While we can’t help being theologians at such moments, the issue is whether our theologies will lead to hope or despair, and action or passivity, in times of personal and planetary struggle.

This blogpost is adapted from the book Process Theology: A Guide to the Perplexed, by Bruce Epperly.

Bruce Epperly is a theologian, spiritual guide, pastor, and author of twenty one books, including his latest Process Theology: A Guide to the Perplexed, Holy Adventure: 41 Days of Audacious Living, Philippians: An Interactive Bible Study, and The Center is Everywhere: Celtic Spirituality for the Postmodern Age.

Popular emergent church leader, blogger and theologian Tony Jones visited eight emerging churches to discover the most significant practices of these congregations. He shares his findings in his latest book The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement (read an excerpt here).  We caught up with Tony for a quick Q&A about the book and the future of the Emerging Church Movement.

Why do you decide to write this book, at this particular time?

Well, honestly, it was my PhD dissertation, and the clock was ticking — I was tired of being ABD (“all-but-dissertationed”). But, in all seriousness, I thought it was time for a thoughtful, scholarly look at the Emerging Church Movement.  Lots has been written about the ECM, and even more has been said about it, but most of that has been unsubstantiated innuendo. I think the ECM is a potential future of the church, and a very positive one at that, and I want the story to get out.

What conversations do you hope this book inspires?

I hope that church people read this book, look at their own churches, and scream, “It doesn’t need to be like this!” I hope that they’ll see there are other ways to run a church, be a pastor, preach sermons, etc.  Everything about their churches can be rethought, reimagined.

Do you expect this book to change anyone’s mind? About what?

I think that this book will rehabilitate the image of the Emerging Church Movement in people’s minds.  They’ll read it and, since it’s based on actual research, it will trump a lot of the falsehoods that they’ve heard about the movement — for instance, that the ECM isn’t robustly theological.

What surprised you most in your research for this book?

I can’t say that I was surprised, but I ended up being disappointed that two of the churches that I researched are ultimately not, in my opinion, emerging churches: Vintage Faith Church in Santa Cruz, CA, and Pathways Church in Denver, CO.

What are some of the practices that define an emerging church from any other church?

In the book, I outline several practices that are common to ECM churches, and then I unpack those theologically.  One is communion, which is practiced weekly at most ECM churches.  While this won’t seem surprising to an Episcopalian or a Catholic, it is a noteworthy practice among post-evangelicals, many of whom grew up with communion only four times per year.  Another practice is dialogical preaching, which pushes the act of biblical interpretation back out to the congregation.

What was the hardest thing about writing this book?

To write a doctoral dissertation for Princeton demanded more nuance and more erudition than anything I’d written previously.  Writing a book that was both acceptable at Princeton and, finally, readable, was the biggest challenge. There’s a reason that scholarly books are so often unreadable — it’s because of what the academy demands.  I tried to overcome that and write a book that is both scholarly and readable.

You get to organize a book club with three people to read and discuss your book. Who do you want to be there? And what do you think they’d think about your book?

John Wesley, Jan Hus, and Clement of Rome.

I think Wesley would love the fact that the ECM is unafraid to challenge conventional wisdom.  Jan Hus would probably want us to be more radical (and he might ask if we’ve got a fire extinguisher).  And Clement would, I hope, see similarities with the practices in his primitive church in Rome.

What one of two words of encouragement or advice would you give to emergent churches across the country?

You’re on the right path.  Don’t quit.  And be even more adventurous than you’re being.  Take some chances.

Often, the best book ideas come while you’re writing a book. Have you started the next one?

Yes, I’m writing a book on prayer.  I’m basically trying to convince myself that there’s an intellectually credible reason to pray.

 

Visit the new Emergent Village Voice blog at Patheos – featuring some 50 voices across the country – and join the conversation on the emerging church.

 

 

Our Between Heaven and Mirth Twitter Book Club continues today with a new excerpt, below. Join the conversation by reading the excerpt and tweeting a response, or a question for author Father Jim Martin – and don’t forget to include the#patheosmirth hashtag!  You can follow the whole Twitter conversation here: https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23patheosmirth

Between Heaven and Mirth, by James Martin, SJ

Excerpt 8:  Does being joyful mean that I’m supposed to be happy all the time? (pp. 171-172)

No. This is something I would like to underline, since it is a concept that is particularly important to understand in a book on joy. Sadness is a natural response to pain, suffering, and tragedy. It is human, natural, and even, in a way, desirable; sadness in response to a tragic event shows that you are emotionally alive. If you weren’t sad from time to time, you would be something less than human. The Jesuit priest and clinical psychologist William A. Barry echoes this: “If you’re not saddened by certain things, you’re not normal—for example, when a loved one dies or in response to natural disasters. Sadness is part of life.”

Although we’ve discussed, for example, the possibility that Jesus smiled and laughed, the New Testament tells us outright—without our having to read between the lines—that Jesus broke down in tears after the death of one of his friends. When Lazarus, the brother of his friends Mary and Martha, died after a brief illness, Jesus traveled to the tomb, and, in one of the simplest and shortest Gospel verses, we are told, “Jesus began to weep.” Jesus’s weeping is seen as proof of his compassion, of his humanity. “See how he loved him!” say those in the crowd. If Jesus was sad, surely we can be sad.

The notion that you must be cheerful at all times in order to demonstrate belief in God is as ridiculous as it is common. “Get out of the tomb!” one otherwise well-meaning friend said to me when I shared my sadness over my father’s death. “Aren’t you a believer?” (She was referring to the idea that I was focusing on death rather than resurrection.) But even the saints, those avatars of belief, were downhearted from time to time. Like Jesus, they were occasionally sad because they were human.

What do you think ?  Do you feel pressure to be happy all the time as a person of faith?  Is unhappiness a sign of less joy?  Tweet your thoughts, and include the #patheosmirth hashtag to join the Twitter conversation!

Buy Between Heaven and Mirth here.

Visit the Patheos Book club here.

Our Between Heaven and Mirth Twitter Book Club continues today with our next excerpt, below. Join the conversation by reading the excerpt and tweeting a response, or a question for author Father Jim Martin – and don’t forget to include the#patheosmirth hashtag!  You can follow the whole Twitter conversation here: https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23patheosmirth

Between Heaven and Mirth, by James Martin, SJ

Excerpt 7: Laughing in Church (pp. 142-144)

Despite the seriousness of the call to preach the gospel; despite the ancient traditions of Christianity; despite the place of suffering in Christian spirituality; despite the sober writings of the church fathers; despite the grave issues that have faced the church throughout history; despite the fallout from some painful recent history, like the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic Church; and despite widespread theological divisions that keep Christians separated, churches can still be, from time to time, very funny places.

For that we should be grateful. Thank God for salt, leaven, and light.* Thank God for salt in bland times, for leaven in flat times, for light in dark times. Humor is salt, light, and leaven. Humor is a gift to the church.

For all its dignity and grandeur and gravity, the Christian church is, like any institution, manifestly human. With that humanity comes some laughter, both intentional and unintentional. This is a gift from God, who wants us to enjoy ourselves, to appreciate the absurdities of life, and not to take ourselves so seriously, particularly in religious institutions, where it’s easy to become deadly serious.

Is it any wonder that many people find religious settings stultifying? “The lack of humour and irritability into which we in the contemporary Church and contemporary theology have so often slipped is perhaps one of the most serious objections which can be brought against present-day Christianity,” wrote Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German theologian and a Vatican official.

Levity is still considered excessive in some churches. (Believe me, I’ve visited them and worshipped in them.) And when bishops, priests, sisters, brothers, ministers, pastors, elders, pastoral associates, music ministers, hospital chaplains, directors of religious education, and religious education teachers act as if they have the weight of the world on their shoulders, that no job is as difficult as theirs, and that they alone are responsible for doing God’s work, then we’re in trouble.

What do you think ?  Are churches too serious?  How can we bring laughter and levity into worship?   Tweet your thoughts, and include the #patheosmirth hashtag to join the Twitter conversation!

Buy Between Heaven and Mirth here.

Visit the Patheos Book club here.

The Between Heaven and Mirth Twitter Book Club continues this week with our next excerpt, below. Join the conversation by reading the excerpt and tweeting a response or a question for author Father Jim Martin – and don’t forget to include the#patheosmirth hashtag!  You can follow the whole Twitter conversation here: https://twitter.com/#!/search/%23patheosmirth

Between Heaven and Mirth, by James Martin, SJ

Excerpt 6:  Humor Deepens Our Relationship with God (pp. 97-98)

One of the best ways of thinking about our relationship to God is as a close personal relationship or an intimate friendship. It’s not a perfect analogy, but it can be quite helpful.

Like any relationship, for example, our relationship with God often starts with infatuation (as when everything about the spiritual life seems easy and wonderful); it goes through exciting times (when prayer is rich and worship is satisfying) and sometimes dry periods (when the spiritual life seems at a standstill). Like any friendship, our relationship with God requires that we devote time to it; it requires a willingness to listen, a tolerance for silence, and a desire for real honesty. All the things that we can say about friendship we can say, by analogy, about prayer.

Obviously, a relationship with God isn’t exactly the same as a relationship with a friend. None of our friends created the world ex nihilo (though some act as if they had). But thinking about our relationship to God in these terms can help to show us where our spiritual life might be lacking.

For example, would you say that you were a good friend if you never spent time with your friends? Or if you never listened to them? If you were never honest with them? Yet some people approach their relationship with God in those ways. Again, the metaphor of friendship with God can help us see our spiritual life in a fresh way.

In that light, our relationship with God–like any relationship–can use some humor from time to time.  That is, it’s okay to be playful with God and accept that God might want to be playful with us.

The Book of Isaiah says, “The Lord delights in you.” One of my spiritual directors used to quote that whenever I would tell him something wonderful or unexpected that happened to me.  ”The Lord takes delight in you, Jim!” hi would say.

What a strange thing that was to hear! Previously, I had imagined God creating me, caring for me, maybe even taking an interest in my life, but certainly not delighting in me.  But why not?  Doesn’t a parent delight in a child?

Join the Patheos Book Club by tweeting your response to one of these questions (include the #patheosmirth hashtag):

• Can you allow yourself to think of God as playful?
• Can you allow God to be playful with you?
• Can you imagine God delighting in you?

Visit the Patheos Book Club on Between Heaven and Mirth for more resources on this book.