{"id":68,"date":"2009-07-10T22:53:46","date_gmt":"2009-07-11T02:53:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/evangelicalgateway.wordpress.com\/?p=68"},"modified":"2009-07-10T22:53:46","modified_gmt":"2009-07-11T02:53:46","slug":"on-finding-god-in-unexpected-places","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/philosophicalfragments\/2009\/07\/10\/on-finding-god-in-unexpected-places\/","title":{"rendered":"On Finding God in Unexpected Places"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

New material went up today on the Faith@Work Consultation<\/a> at the Evangelical Gateway<\/a> at Patheos.<\/p>\n

Let me give you some of the background for an article<\/a> I contributed.\u00a0 One of the aspects of the monastic life I most appreciate is the way in which one is surrounded constantly by \u2018pointers\u2019 toward God.\u00a0 This is a deliberate, designed part of the monastic life.\u00a0 Wherever you turn, you are reminded\u2013whether by a cross, by an icon, or simply by the spire of the church\u2013to direct your thoughts heavenward and remember God.\u00a0 The pealing of the church bells, chanting the hours, everyday disciplines\u2013everything became an occasion to remember God.<\/p>\n

\n\"The\n<\/p>

It can be difficult, without such \u201chabitual reminders,\u201d to remember God in the midst of our daily lives.\u00a0 There was a time in my life when I sought to create my own habitual reminders, from putting up crosses and icons, or significant words in places I would often see them, and I even sought to make it so that I would remember God whenever I tied my shoes.\u00a0 The specifics may seem flippant, but the idea is serious: prayer is a discipline of attention<\/em>, and the attention wanders.\u00a0 Especially, of course, in contemporary society, where \u201cattention spans\u201d are famously short, it can be difficult to harness our attention and direct it consistently toward God.<\/p>\n

\n

\"In
In the busy-ness of contemporary life, it can be hard to be still and know that God is God.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

Yet remaining in prayer in every moment, holding every thought captive, is what would be required to be constantly aware that we live, move and have our being in God.\u00a0 Some faiths, including the Christian faith, have sought to control breathing as a means of prayer, since in this way you are always bringing your attention back to God and God\u2019s grace.<\/p>\n

Of course, it can be easier to remember God in some places than in others.\u00a0 I, like the vast majority of people I know, am possessed of the most keen awareness of God when I am out in the natural beauty of God\u2019s creation. Growing up in California, I was surrounded by natural beauty of all kinds.\u00a0 One of my favorites was Yosemite National Park.\u00a0 Twice I was on top of Half Dome during a meteorite shower, and the streaking lights in the midst of the most brilliant midnight sky was simply awe-inspiring.<\/p>\n

\n\"The\n<\/p>

My other favorite location was anywhere amongst the California redwoods.\u00a0 An old-growth redwood forest is nature\u2019s version of a cathedral.\u00a0 Your thoughts are drawn irresistibly upward.<\/p>\n

\n

\"The
The redwoods are nature's cathedral.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

These thoughts returned to me when I attended Princeton Theological Seminary and took courses with the well known Diogenes Allen.\u00a0 At one point he described one of the great teachers of the church\u2013I believe it was Saint Bonaventure, but I\u2019m not certain\u2013who preached regularly to craftsmen and laborers.\u00a0 He taught them that their \u201ctechne,\u201d their craft, the works of their hands, bring glory to God.\u00a0 This was an early instance of the theology of work.\u00a0 Where God is glorified in the works of nature, God is glorified in the works of man because of the creative ingenuity that was required to make creative creatures<\/em>.\u00a0 When Bonaventure taught, of course, he would have been referring to bridges and houses, statues and furniture.<\/p>\n

\n

\"The
The crafts of our hands glorify God--for God gave us hands and the minds to use them.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In the contemporary context, we are rarely surrounded by the extraordinary works of nature that lead our hearts to rejoice in God and our souls to \u201cmagnify the Lord.\u201d\u00a0 Rather we spend our time surrounded by the works of human hands\u2013the products of our \u201ctechne,\u201d our techn-ology.\u00a0 What if our technology could serve as a \u201chabitual reminder\u201d of God?\u00a0 Why is it, after all, that our computers and bridges and skyscrapers don\u2019t lead us into worshipful prayer?\u00a0 Do they carry the stench of human hubris?<\/p>\n

\n

\"Only
Only an omnipotent creator could create creative creatures.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

In my view, we need to recover a sense of the works of our <\/em>hands as habitual reminders toward God, because the works of our <\/em>hands show, more than any forest or ocean or mountain ever could, the creative power of God\u2019s hand<\/em>.\u00a0 Only an omnipotent Creator could create creative creatures.\u00a0 The inability to see technology as a pointer toward God leaves us\u2013in the vast majority of our days\u2013feeling cut off from God; if we could recover this sense, then we could redirect our attention throughout each day and every day, striving ever more and more to rest in constant communion with God.<\/p>\n

This is the background for the article here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New material went up today on the Faith@Work Consultation at the Evangelical Gateway at Patheos. Let me give you some of the background for an article I contributed.\u00a0 One of the aspects of the monastic life I most appreciate is the way in which one is surrounded constantly by \u2018pointers\u2019 toward God.\u00a0 This is a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-68","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nOn Finding God in Unexpected Places - Philosophical Fragments<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New material went up today on the Faith@Work Consultation at the Evangelical Gateway at Patheos. 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