On most quiet mornings I awaken to a sense that I am cradled by God… a bit like “surround sound.” In those moments, I feel blessed by the universe. God’s presence holds me and lifts me into the day.
I am reminded of John Cobb’s book title, God and the World (1965). “The Size of God” by Bernard Loomer is another title that comes to mind as I describe God’s intimate embrace.
I am awakening to God and my relationship with God. God’s animated loving energy feeds my soul. Process Theology describes this radical image of God. I am grateful for my expanding awareness. The powerful images described in Process Theology inform my work in the world.
The expansive relational image nurtures my imagination, empowers my voice, and tells me that my thoughts, feelings, and what I do affects all of existence on some level… and affects God. Another way to say this is to say God beckons us to participate in the dynamic co-creative process.
One of the stories of Process Theology and the image of God that it offers takes my imagination back to the turn of the 20th Century. Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung were pioneering Depth Psychology at a time when science and religion were at odds.
Both Freud and Jung rejected a traditional view of God and at the same time were not aware of Process Thought and Alfred North Whitehead−the grandfather of Process Thought/Theology. Process and Reality by Whitehead was published in 1929. Whitehead as a physicist and mathematician was a daring researcher and synthesizer. He wrote about God at a time when the world of science in general did not dare.
Evidently, Whitehead lost a son in world War I. This event may have inspired his vision. (This is conjecture on my part). My husband and I lost an eighteen-month-old son while living in Air Force base housing in Biloxi, Mississippi in 1975 toward the end of the Viet Nam War. My husband Danny was drafted as a physician.
We now refer to Matthew’s tragic drowning accident as a wartime casualty.
I reflect upon that life-altering event and wish I had had a Process Relational vision of God in my awareness at the time. I kept wondering, “How can I make sense of this?” A very kind chaplain said, “Matthew has a guardian angel.” I immediately rejected such an idea. I was desperately trying to gain a perspective.
Fortunately, Danny and I were able to grieve openly with one another and with our living son and daughter. Two young men received Matthew’s kidneys. I realize now that Matthew’s creative loving energy lives on in his siblings Douglas and Karin. He continues to be a part of Danny and me and his essence continues in the Body of God… universal memory.
After all, Process Theology tells us all of existence continues to influence and participate in God and thus the World forever. All is intertwined in the web of life. I write this blog entry with tears in my eyes and the desire to underline what Process Theology has to offer as a theological/philosophical foundation for our lives.
In loving process, Barbara Booth Keiller, PhD