Synopsis. The heavens declare the goodness of God. Creation itself – from the smallest organisms to the expanding universe – are generative, life-supporting, and beautiful. Such a trajectory means that the guiding energy or force behind it is supportive, creative, faithful, reliable, consistent, generous, caring, and many other words that, taken together, simply boil down to one word: love. The Bible says that God is loving, so much so that it goes further to say that God is love. For those struggling to believe in a greater being, perhaps you can settle with the reverse of God is love: love is God. In light of the beautiful creation in which we live and the love of God that is energizing, guiding, and inhabiting it all, how are we to respond to such good news? Perhaps we should entrust our allegiance and our passion to following in the footsteps of Jesus who invited us to consider that such a giving of ourselves to what he was teaching would in fact save our lives. And perhaps not just our lives, but the lives of many others and the planet we call home.
I have fantastic news! As it clearly states in Hezekiah 6:14, “The world does not suck!” Look it up! Unfortunately, our “if it bleeds, it leads” consumer-influenced 24-hour news would have us believe otherwise. Yes, there is bad news to be sure: the war in Israel and Ukraine (and other battles we hear little about), preventable diseases still killing people, climate change, oppression in many forms, dictators, etc. It can be overwhelming when such news becomes our primary focus. And yet the non-sucky Good News dwarfs the suckfest by comparison. Every single day, plants thrive, people thrive, animals thrive, ecosystems thrive. Love happens far more than rage and hatred. While the circle of life is certainly a thing – Alfred North Whitehead referred to it as perpetual perishing – this also means there is perpetual regeneration as one moment ceases to exist leading to a new moment at every turn. Isn’t it amazing that creation doesn’t simply die? Isn’t it incredible that there is so much beauty in the world, so much life, so much that is incredible? Have you ever wondered why? If the undercurrent of all that exists was indifferent, or purely utilitarian, regenerative creation that is also beautiful wouldn’t make sense.
Perhaps this is why the Psalmist declared “God's glory is on tour in the skies,
God-craft on exhibit across the horizon” (Psalm 19:1-2 MSG). Perhaps the revelation of creation is what led Yoga teacher and spiritual leader Sadhguru to put into prose:
"Every moment there are a million miracles happening around you:
a flower blossoming, a bird tweeting,
a bee humming, a raindrop falling,
a snowflake wafting along
the clear evening air.
There is magic everywhere.
If you learn how to live it,
life is nothing short of a daily miracle."
– Inner Engineering: A Yogi's Guide to Joy
Bruce Epperly noted that “God is never fully understandable, but we can stand in awe of divinity, amazed at God’s constant and ubiquitous creativity and love for us and all creation. This awe, wonder, and mystery is the beginning of wisdom and the inspiration of ethics. Reverence and wonder lead to appreciation and affirmation, and to honoring of life in its manifold forms.” (Praying with Process Theology, 122-123) It is the role of religion to help us bring the picture together. As Alfred North Whitehead noted, “Religion is the vision of something which stands beyond, behind, and within the passing flux of immediate things; something which is real, and yet waiting to be realized; something which is a remote possibility, and yet the greatest of present facts; something that gives meaning to all that passes, and yet eludes apprehension; something whose possession is the final good and yet is beyond all reach; something which is the ultimate ideal, and the hopeless quest.” (Science and the Modern World, 191-192). This is what captivated Jesus and why he taught, lived, and modeled what he did. He was overwhelmed by an experience and vision of God as absolutely loving, like a devoted Daddy/Abba. Seeing and experiencing such love corrected his vision regarding how he viewed all people as well as how he read and interpreted sacred scriptures. The natural response to love is love, with love’s goal being to help everyone and all things grow in love. The wholeness conveyed is the very essence of the Jewish understanding of salvation – a much more robust vision than simply the forgiveness of sins. As Bruce Epperly explains, “Process theology sees salvation, or wholeness, as a universal, moment-by-moment, lifelong, and everlasting process... Process theology sees salvation as involving the totality of our lives, political, economic, ethnic, sexual, family of origin, and planetary. God’s quest invites us to become saved persons in ‘safe communities and a healthy planet.’” (Praying with Process Theology, 129).
Jesus also recognized that living in and by love was countercultural in his day. It still is. Yet he beckons still: “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. For those who want to save their life will lose it, and those who lose their life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit them if they gain the whole world but forfeit their life? Or what will they give in return for their life?” (Matthew 16:24-26 NRSV) Instead of threatening us, such words should ring out as a great invitation to something bigger than ourselves, and not just for ourselves. Epperly notes that “The cost of discipleship can be personal, spiritual, and intellectual insecurity.” (Praying with Process Theology, 124) Choosing to follow in the counter-cultural footsteps of Jesus can feel quite lonely in a culture that elevates individual wellbeing and comfort above all else. Loves calls us forward anyway, as our source, goal, and hope. Yet, in good rabbinical fashion, Rabbi Hillel asks, If I am not for myself, who will be? If I’m only for myself, what am I? If not now, when?
The Good News of Love compels and woos us to be agents of wholeness, bringing everything together toward wellbeing. Theoretical Physicist David Bohm reminds us that “As human beings and societies we seem separate, but in our roots we are part of an indivisible whole and share in the same cosmic process.” Bohm believes that we are truly all connected, that we are part of the whole and the whole is part of us. He believes that we are called to bring about greater wholeness through more conscious living. This is pretty religious talk from one of the earliest quantum physicists! Yet it fits with theologian and philosopher Teilhard de Chardin who recognized that “God and the world form a complementary whole.” When we act in love, we are acting in congruence with the whole, helping the whole become more whole.
But we don’t always say yes to love’s invitation. When we choose ways other than love, we create problems for ourselves. Etty Hillesum, a Jewish woman who was murdered at Auschwitz, knew well that “each of us moves things along in the direction of war every time we fail in love.” Instead of failing in love, perhaps we should rather focus on falling in love. Pedro Arrupe invites us to consider that “what you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.” Teilhard de Chardin agreed: “Love alone is capable of uniting living beings in such a way as to complete and fulfill them, for it alone takes them and joins them by what is deepest in themselves. Love alone can bring us to the threshold of another universe.”
I think the reason we are still captivated by Jesus despite the Church’s innumerable deterring failures is the love that he embodied. Such love that calls us to look after each other is breathtaking and inspiring at a core level for every person with a heart (and it’s nonsense for those who have lost their heart!). Jesus ensured his followers that following him would lead to an abundant life – not riches, but abundance. As if love begets love. I think he was right.
Each day affords a new opportunity to sow more seeds of love (cue Tears for Fears). Every day is new, and God greets the dawn with us. Hundreds of years ago Meister Eckhart recognized that “God is the newest thing there is, the youngest thing, and when we are united with God we become new again.” Embracing each day’s beauty is not denial but defiance. We choose to trust that love prevails and is with us wherever we go, whatever we’re going through, even if we blow it. Love holds us and forever calls us forward. What a beautiful way to enter each day. What hope! When we choose to swim in reality, we can join Michael Buble and say, I’m Feeling Good.
A closing prayer:
Adventurous Spirit, give us adventurous spirits. The world awaits those who risk safety to bring justice and healing to the world. The world is desperate for Godward souls who are willing to lose their well-planned and predictable lives to embark on the high hope of adventure. Life and love abound for those who venture toward God’s horizons of hope. Let us follow God’s adventure, let us embrace God’s healing vision, and let us let go of certainty to bring life and light to the world... Holy One, give us hope. Holy Adventure, give us a glimpse of another world. Holy Life-giver, awaken us to a new vocation as Earth Healers. Confident that we can change, let us risk taking new directions, sacrificing destructive ways of life for our great-grandchildren’s futures. Let our wealth be relational and spiritual. Let our treasure be the beauty of holiness and the transformations of the spirit. Grant us peace that passes understanding and faith that moves mountains and changes weather patterns. Amen. – Bruce Epperly, Praying with Process Theology, 125, 133