Currents of Faith: Open and Unfolding Reflections

For a process theologian, one might suppose, it is always time for candor. But from the process perspective, various desiderata should always be considered. When candor is cruel or dangerous, it may have to be set aside, at least for a while. On the other hand, when candor is too long postponed, the values for whose sake it is postponed may themselves be endangered.

When I was young I used to hear the story that the leaders of the Russian Orthodox Church, at just the time when the Bolsheviks overthrew the rather moderate Mensheviks, were holding a great national conference on vestments. This story was told, not to deny the importance of proper vestments in worship, but to illustrate the inability of Christians, and, indeed, people in general, to make sound judgments of relative importance. As a youth I was shocked, and I naively assumed that we American Protestants would never make mistakes of this kind.

It is ironic that just as the neo-conservatives have visibly asserted American global rule, and also made us aware that from the beginning American foreign policy has been imperialist in nature, our global reach is receding. Our ability to shape human history is dramatically declining. Since process theologians can never support imperialism, the end of empire is good news.

We all want power. We should not be ashamed of that. Jesus was very powerful, and so were Socrates and Buddha. The question is, what kind of power? Do we want the power to control and limit others, even to injure or kill them? That is not the power embodied in Jesus, Socrates, or Buddha. Their power was the power to inspire, to persuade, to enable, to empower, to liberate to wider horizons, to open minds to the truth, in short, to lead into authentic life. That power is divine. It is the power God exercises in each of us all the time. It is the kind of power God gives us. It is the kind of power of which no one can have too much."

by Pat Patterson

I have a deep sense of sorrow and depression.  Our country is, I believe, in a period of profound criminality and loss.  It is an era marked by war, murder, and the unleashing of violence in Iraq and Afghanistan; increasing control and exploitation by corporations in the global economy resulting in bourgeoning poverty; denial of devastating assaults on the environment; and erosion of constitutional, civil, and human rights.  The escalation of destruction on every side gives me a sense of despair, and I wonder if redemption is possible.

Whitehead told us more than once that it is more important that a proposition be interesting than that it be true.  He added that truth adds to interest.  I would add that interest adds to the importance of the question whether the proposition is true.

Philosopher Alfred North Whitehead told us that morality is largely a matter of the breadth of consideration of the consequences of an action. He also made clear that issues should be viewed in as wide a context as possible. Judged by these principles, we Americans are not doing well. Last year this nation was guided by the press into discussing Katrina with little attention to the role of global warming. As a result the likelihood is that the probable increase of frequency and intensity of storms is playing a small role in post-Katrina planning. An even smaller role is assigned in this context to considering how we might reduce our contribution to the increase of storms.