Greetings, WesleyNexus Colleagues:
Maybe you have all seen this report already…
The latest from the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) —
a synthesis report focused on the climate crisis, its impacts and future risks,
and what we can do to fight back – is a clarion call to massively fast-track
climate efforts by every country and every sector and on every timeframe.
As global temperatures continue to rise, extreme weather like heat waves,
major hurricanes, and drought are becoming more frequent, intense, and deadly.
This month’s newsletter focuses on the report and what it means for a persons of faith.
Here is the link to the IRCC website….https://ww.ipcc.ch/
Contents:
“The Cross of Creation” by Simon Davis and Chris Polhill
The Big Picture: A Path Beyond Hope and Fear with Rev. Michael Dowd
A Reflection on Finding Hope in the Face of the Latest Report from the ICCC, by Rev. Dawn Stewart
Lovett Weems to speak at WesleyNexus Breakfast
Discovery & Faith Sixty Percent: How the Faith-Science Relationship Impacts Faith Formation
Reflections on Climate Change by Maynard Moore
Provisions for the Journey: Reflection from Rev. David Stum, March 20, 2023
What Do We Mean By Soul by Rick Barr
AI, ChatGPT Answers What is the Soul in Process Theology
Thanks continue to go out to our generous contributors. We encourage you to share comments, articles and insights that will help us all weather these difficult times.
Blessings,
Rick Barr and the rest of the WesleyNexus team
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“The Cross of Creation” by Simon Davis and Chris Polhill
I have long wrestled with the theological meaning of the cross. The blood-laden songs of Lent sung in our worship services often leave me cringing and wondering how to preach and make meaning from this moment in our faith story. I find this writing below from Simon Davis and Chris Polhill to be exceedingly meaningful for me in light of the latest news on climate change and the approach of the Christian reflection on the cross.
Rev. Dawn Stewart
“The Cross of Creation” by Simon Davis and Chris Polhill from A Heart for Creation, Worship Resources and reflections on the Environment by Chris Polhill at www.ionabooks.com
The Cross of Creation
We are crucifying creation.
Look! See, in Christ’s blood poured out –
the extinction of the planet’s species,
the richness and diversity of life
depleted and diminished.
In the muscles and sinews of the Christ,
straining against the cross,
the stress of ecosystems, breaking down,
the ozone layer depleted and
global climate changes.
The nails – work of human hands –
our technology,
pinning down the movement of living creatures,
asphyxiating life through pollution,
killing the forests and its creatures.
The crown of thorns,
brutal use of creation by human hands:
where the poor suffer most
and the rich are protected.
Did we unwittingly cry: ‘Crucify him!’?
Christ looks from the cross.
‘Behold,’ he says, and changes relationships.
Behold creation, its suffering and pain,
and see it as a family
worth our struggle to change.
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The Big Picture: A Path Beyond Hope and Fear with Rev. Michael Dowd
April 6, 2023, at 4:00 PM Central time, 5:00 PM Eastern time
Presentation Overview:
No one needs convincing that we are living in challenging times and an age of breakdowns. Even those who lack a Big Picture understanding of our global predicaments feel the stress. So, how do we cope? How can we get off the rollercoaster of hope and fear? And, importantly, how can we be of support to others who are confused, angry, depressed, or filled with fear, blame, or guilt?
About the April 6th presenter:
Rev. Michael Dowd is a bestselling TEDx speaker, eco-theologian, and pro-science advocate whose book, Thank God for Evolution, was endorsed by 6 Nobel Prize-winning scientists, noted skeptics, and by religious leaders across the spectrum. Michael and his science writer, evolutionary educator, and fellow climate activist wife, Connie Barlow, have spoken to some some 3,000 religious and secular groups across North America since 2002. Their work was featured in The New York Times, LA Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Newsweek, Discover, on television throughout the U.S. and Canada, and on the cover of the UU WORLD twice, in 1997 and again in 2006.
Michael has delivered two TEDx talks and a program at the United Nations. He also conducted three online conversation series: “The Advent of Evolutionary Christianity” (AUDIOS) in 2011, “The Future Is Calling Us to Greatness” (AUDIOS) in 2015, and “Post Doom, No Gloom Conversations” (AUDIOS) from 2019 to the present. In 2016, Michael and Connie were honored as “UU Religious Humanists of the Year”. Michael’s passion is sharing the inspiring side of science in ways that offer both practical tools for living in chaotic times and inspiration for engaging in the vital work of courageous love-in-action
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_RbRUwhTBTXq0XamDNgOQeg
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The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS)
IRAS is an international society of learners and thinkers, natural and social scientists, philosophers, theologians and people from many other backgrounds and professions. IRAS cultivates a community of informed and respectful inquiry and dialogue at the intersections of science with religion, spirituality and philosophy in service of global, societal and personal well-being.
IRAS Webinar Series
For 65 years, The Institute on Religion in an Age of Science (IRAS) has held summer Conferences on Star Island, off the coast of Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Due to the pandemic, we had to postpone our 2020 Star Island conference until the summer of 2021. In order to continue to engage with IRAS themes and the IRAS community, with Star Island’s generous support, we launched a live webinar series: Science, Religion, & Society.
https://www.iras.org/webinar-series.html
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A Reflection on Finding Hope in the Face of the Latest Report from the ICCC, by Rev. Dawn Stewart
Read Ezekiel 37:1-14
Read 5 Things We’ve Learned from the UN Climate Report by Matt McGrath, 20 March 2023
In worship, I recently preached on The Valley of Dry Bones passage from the prophet Ezekiel. I came to realize that this was a powerful message of hope for me in the face of the grave reports from the latest UN climate report. The scripture is about hope in the midst of seemingly unredeemable pathos and desperation.
The prophet tells us: “The hand of the LORD came upon me, and he brought me out by the spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of a valley; it was full of bones. He led me all around them; there were very many lying in the valley, and they were very dry.”
This image of death and devastation is clear. The valley is full of bones. There are very many. And they are very dry. The death and devastation here is old. It feels completely irreversible.
The damage from climate change looms large. The death and devastation is real. In the Horn of Africa, there are real valleys of dry bones containing human and animal remains from those who died of drought. Human-induced global warming of 1.1 degrees Celsius has already spurred changes to the Earth’s climate that are unprecedented in recent human history. Some climate impacts are already so severe they cannot be adapted to, leading to losses and damages. And the impacts of these problems largely have and will continue to have the greatest impact on those with the least ability to do anything about it. Our damage to our earthly home feels completely irreversible. Is there hope we ask?
God knows our question: Mortal, can these bones live? We like the prophet might respond: Only you know God. Only you know.
And God speaks to the prophet and says: “Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the LORD. I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. I will lay sinews on you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live; and you shall know that I am the LORD.”
And so the prophet prophesied as God commanded. And the bones came to life. And God revealed to the prophet that the bones are the bones of Israel. And that God would bring the nation back to life.
I learned several things from this passage in light of the real damage of climate change and the sense of hopelessness many of us feel in the face of climate change.
• First, God brings the prophet to the valley of the dry bones. God sees our places of death and leads prophets to bear witness to them.
• Second, the healing of the bones is done through a sacred partnership between the prophet and God. The prophet’s role in this story is essential. He must be open and available to journey with God, to listen to the word God speaks, and to speak that word to the people. Who are the prophets speaking to the world of the fragility of the Earth?
• Third, it takes the winds of the spirit to bring the bones back to life. The spirit is the force that restores, renews, revives life. For me, this means surrendering to imagination, change, and creativity in the face of climate change. Traditional modes of addressing this problem will not work.
• Finally, this story reminds us that God has power to bring life not just to individuals, but also to communities, nations, and even the whole of Earth.
There are prophets all over the world crying out about the condition of our Earth. There are literal valleys of dry bones due to drought in Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya in Africa, in India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka in Asia, and in our own desert Southwest. I believe in the power of God to bring life and hope to the world. And yet I believe that it will take our cooperation….a willingness to listen to science, a willingness to change our behaviors and invest our resources in change – which means leaving behind fossil fuels and quickly implementing carbon dioxide capture technologies. May the prophets speak, may we listen, and may the Spirit of God bring life and hope to the people of the world.
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Baltimore Washington Annual Conference
Lovett Weems to speak at WesleyNexus Breakfast
On June 2 at the annual WesleyNexus breakfast event, Dr. Lovett Weems will be the featured presenter for discussion. Dr. Weems, Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Church Leadership at Wesley Seminary will summarize his forthcoming report on the churches that have dis-affiliated to join the Global Methodist Church, and respond to questions from attendees. All persons, lay and clergy, are welcome to attend at no extra charge by selecting the special meal option when registering for Annual Conference. A meeting room will be assigned in the BWCUMC program material.
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Discovery & Faith
Sixty Percent
How the Faith-Science Relationship Impacts Faith Formation
Saturday, April 29, 2023
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Perceptions of conflict between faith and science have long been known to contribute to the loss of 60% of our youth from both the church and the Christian faith. This workshop will discuss how those perceptions of conflict impair faith formation in children and youth. We’ll explore practical approaches and solutions to this challenge that can be implemented within your existing ministries and budget. Participants will be equipped and resourced to help their students experience a better, healthier understanding of the faith-science relationship. This workshop will be offered in a hybrid format, in-person and via Zoom.
Mark your calendars and stay tuned for details about registration.
Hosted by the Frederick District of the Baltimore-Washington Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Https:/www.discoveryandfaith.org/
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Reflections on Climate Change by Maynard Moore
Our planet revolves, but that movement is east and west, which means that Winter is coming to Antarctica, and that may be the only thing that keeps another of its major ice shelves from collapsing. Fifteen years ago, scientists from the British Antarctic Survey announced that there had been an enormous fracture on the edge of the Wilkins ice shelf, and the fissure has only increased in the years since. Thisprovince of ice, a body of permanent floating ice about the size of Connecticut, lies on the western edge of the Antarctic Peninsula, the part of the continent regarded as most vulnerable to climate change. Scientists flew over the break — itself covering some 160 square miles — and what they saw is remarkable: huge, geometrically fractured slabs of ice, and the rubble of a catastrophic breach. A great swath of the ice shelf is being held in place by a thin band of ice.
What matters isn’t just the scale of this breakout. Changes in wind patterns and water temperatures related to global warming have begun to erode the ice sheets of western Antarctica at a faster rate than previously detected, and the total collapse of the Wilkins ice shelf is now within the realm of possibility, some would say inevitable. It also comes as a reminder that the warming of Earth’s surface is occurring much faster at the poles than it is in more temperate regions. It is easy to think of ice as somehow temporary, but scientists say that the Wilkins ice shelf may have been in place for at least a thousand years.
Nothing dramatizes the urgency of global warming quite like a fracture of this scale. But perhaps the most remarkable thing about this scientific report is that no one seemed to notice. Of course the story made the news, but it was hardly front-page, above-the-fold stuff. Given the sheer quantity of newspaper ink expended on polar exploration in its golden age, and after all the costs and casualties racked up over centuries of navigation, you’d have thought it might merit a little bit more of a splash.
You might also think that here was an almost perfect, simple, visual way to demonstrate to the wider public that climate change is very, very real. This is something that matters greatly to those advocating our need for change in the face of a warming world. For, while the climate crisis has been in the public consciousness solidly since the 1980s, there has been no galvanizing image or idea to drive home with immediacy the need for action.
Of course we know about the Montreal Protocol in 1987 that successfully implemented a remedy for the depletion of the ozone layer. Then there was global agreement with the Kyoto Protocol in 1997 to curb carbon emissions, but it was killed by a huge advertising campaign in the U. S. generated by the so-called Global Environment Coalition funded by the tobacco industry – and the U. S. never ratified the agreement. Meanwhile, Greenland has rapidly begun to melt, and the Arctic ice sheet is thawing at a pace heretofore unanticipated.
It raises a fundamental question for climate change politics: how do you show the public something that doesn’t seem to be happening which, when it does finally become visually apparent, we will no longer have time to solve the problem? This question is
further compounded by other factors. The first of these is that we are not very good at understanding time. Our memories are remarkably short-term and centered on the experiences of people alive right now. The bigger the amount of time we are asked to reckon with – like the vast gaps between major earthquakes along the planet’s significant fault lines, for example – the harder we find the time gaps to fathom.
Our grasp of future time is likely worse. It requires imagination and the ability to take a long view. But we live in a world dominated by the problems of the now to the exclusion of almost everything else. If it isn’t going to affect us now, it is probably not going to be bothered with. This stems from another problem that affects us as an animal: we are very bad at understanding risk. This is because our brains have two processes for assessing risk. The first, from our amygdala, governs the fight or flight response. It is one of the most primitive parts of us, and most likely something our forebears evolved before they had even crawled out of the oceans. It reacts to frightening situations, like a tiger springing out of the jungle when you’re picking mangoes; flooding your system with the adrenaline required to help you react quickly. But, as anyone who has ever suffered from anxiety will tell you, it is fundamentally flawed and can also trigger this response to threats that don’t even exist. It is not rational. It can actively harm us, provoking rage and fear when they ought not to exist.
The second aspect of deficient risk assessment is in our neocortex. Here the synapses are primarily focused on our individual well-being. And we find it impossible how little old me could possibly affect an entire planet because we think of it on individual terms. We don’t, can’t, imagine “us” as the 7.9 billion of us there really are. There is another problem. We’ve been talking about climate change since the 1980s. We are overexposed to it. It has not suddenly sprung upon us like a tiger in the jungle, nor like the “hole” in the ozone layer. For all this, these quirks of human nature that stand in our way as we grapple with climate change in the twenty-first century, people are much more concerned with inflation than making a commitment to an idea that something might get done. In an America that could lead the charge on climate management, as it had done on CFCs, it will require a broad bipartisan consensus in Congress that this is a good and right thing to do.
In reality, some 250 million people live within a meter of high tide marks around the world. We know from the work of climate scientists that, even though we cannot see it with the naked eye, big changes can strike a melting glacier incredibly fast. And they may prove irreversible. In the case of the Thwaites glacier on the tip of the Wilkens fracture, that would be very bad news for us indeed. Not for nothing has it been dubbed by journalists as “The Doomsday Glacier,” because the Thwaites is what is known as a “threshold system.” This means that it is the one whose melting will fundamentally switch things from threat to failure. In the Thwaites’s case, that means it will hold. . . until it doesn’t. And what the scientists working on the International Thwaites Glacier Collaboration are trying to determine is how stable is it, and when might be the point of no return. In fact the west Antarctic ice sheet, bottled up by the Thwaites, is perhaps the most important tipping point in the Earth’s climate system. To quote Ian Howat, a glaciologist at Ohio State University, “If there is going to be a climate catastrophe, it is probably going to start at Thwaites.” Why it is of such concern is this: unlike other glaciers on land, which are melting thanks to contact with warmer air than normal, the Thwaites is melting from below.
Warmer ocean water is eating away at its base. This matters because the ice sheet behind it sits upon a giant soup bowl. What this means is that once the warm water gets below ice, it can flow down the slope of the bowl, weakening the ice from below. Through a mechanism called ‘marine ice-cliff instability,’ you can get what amounts to a runaway collapse of the ice sheet that could raise global sea levels very high, very fast.
Latest studies show that the net rate of ice loss from Thwaites is more than six times what it was in the early 1990s. Or, to put it another way, change is happening fast, right now. And it does not look good. However, at both Kyoto and Paris, this very solvable issue never came up. And it wasn’t on the agenda for the C0P26 Conference held in Glasgow in 2021 either. The melting can be mitigated by reducing the amount of methane being released into the atmosphere, which builds up the temperature of the oceans. The significant issue remaining is how to bring along with the hundred signa- tories to the recent methane agreement, the other three of the top five methane emitters, Russia, India, and, largest of all, China,
Is there nothing to be done about a collapsing polar ice sheet except to witness it? It may be too late to stop the warming decay at the boundaries of Antarctic ice, yet there is everything to be done. Humans can radically change the way we live and do business, knowing that it is our one chance to generate a radical change in the natural world around us.
But here we come up against another obstacle. If you ask most people, “Do you want to protect the environment?” the answer is usually “yes.” If you follow that up with, “At what cost to yourself?” the subtext of their reply usually boils down to, “As little as possible.” But everything comes at a cost.
Yes, we must continue to recycle. We must continue to change to low energy light bulbs, We must continue ton compost our food waste. But the most significant thing we can do is VOTE. The only way we can make progress is to ensure that “climate change deniers” are replaced at every level of government, from the school board in each county up to the President of the United States. And once gone from any decision-making responsibility, we must make certain that they never return. Of course, progressive legislation will carry costs. And the cost of action affects us all. In the short term.
The cost of inaction is incalculable. And forever.
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Provisions for the Journey: Reflection from Rev. David Stum, March 20, 2023
Provisions for the Journey is a Facebook group created by Rev. David Stum, retired United Methodist minister in 2022.
Temperatures are rising ever so gradually, even though March seems to be leaving like a lion this year. Birds are joyfully chirping a variety of tunes, and flowers are pushing their way heavenward. Those of us on the east coast are experiencing our annual dose of spring fever, anticipating t-shirts and shorts and the promise of spending more time out of doors.
Accordingly, for the next month or more, our Provisions Facebook posts will focus on the good earth, the wonders of nature, and the beauty of creation, with messages about mindful walking, contemplative gardening, healthy eating, Native American spirituality, and other related subjects that you suggest. As you might predict, we begin this series with two poems, one by the Old Testament prophet Job and the other by the modern-day prophet Mary Oliver. Read them slowly and often:
Job 12: 7 – 10
“But ask the animals, and they will teach you, or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you;
or speak to the earth, and it will teach you, or let the fish in the sea inform you.
Which of all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this?
In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind.”
Yes! No! by Mary Oliver
How necessary it is to have opinions! I think the spotted trout lilies are satisfied, standing a few inches above the earth.
I think serenity is not something you just find in the world,
like a plum tree, holding up its white petals.
The violets, along the river, are opening their blue faces, like
small dark lanterns.
The green mosses, being so many, are as good as brawny.
How important it is to walk along, not in haste but slowly,
looking at everything and calling out
Yes! No!
The swan, for all his pomp, his robes of grass and petals, wants only to be allowed to live on the nameless pond.
The catbrier is without fault.
The water thrushes, down among the sloppy rocks, are going crazy with happiness.
Imagination is better than a sharp instrument.
To pay attention, this is our endless and proper work
About Provisions for the Journey By Rev. David Stum
Imagine being transported to a desolate place, like in the television series, “Alone.” Your assignment is to select five items/provisions to take with you on this journey, and write about them.
When I did this activity, instinctively my mind gravitated toward physical objects: compass, pocketknife, matches, tent, food, etc. Had I been a little more creative, I would have instead included the emotional and spiritual qualities I would need to survive: courage, confidence, strength, faith, etc.
This new Facebook page aims more toward the latter qualities than the former objects because the journey is an interior one. The questions to be addressed are…
…what feeds me?
…what nurtures me
…what inspires me
…what sustains me
…what motivates me
…what heals me?
For a long time, I have collected stories and quotes and passages which speak to these questions and have read and reread them as part of my own meditation practice. For a long time, I have yearned for some venue through which to share a few of these provisions with others, especially family members, not so much as a monologue as a dialogue in which we can share with one another and be enriched by one another.
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What Do We Mean By Soul by Rick Barr
I came across an article by evolutionary biologist David Barash while surfing the web with the intriguing title of “Stuck with the soul”. Below the title was an equally intriguing statement that “the idea of the soul is obviously a nonsense, yet its immaterial mysterious nature has deep hooks in the human psyche.” He then proceeds to proclaim “few ideas are as unsupported, ridiculous and even downright harmful as that of the ‘human soul’. Given that I have been dissatisfied with many ways we use the concept, I read on to see what it was about the soul that was and is so harmful.
In the essay, Barash focuses on the soul as the immaterial thing that resides within us that is immortal. While numerous variations exist within religious traditions, these two features appear to be universal. Cartesian dualism affirms this difference between body and soul with the soul intermingled with the body while one is alive and then released once the body dies. Death is therefore not really real but a passage of the soul from one plane of existence to another, perhaps heaven or hell or cyclical rebirth. This cycle focuses on humans. Animals and plants are left out of this movement. Non-human species are useful to us but have limited intrinsic value. We humans are both different and of greater value than the world in which we live.
This perspective described by Barash is in conflict with numerous scientific disciplines ranging from physics, to chemistry up through biology and ecology. It is ethically problematic as well, with everlasting punishment, hell, of particular note. (Amy-Levine has a Ted Talk on “Life After Death: Jesus, Judaism, and Justice” where hell and the soul in Jewish thought are discussed. It is both insightful and quite funny.)
Barash closes with a sigh. “So, does this leave those of us who maintain in our hearts and non-existent souls that the whole business is a load of nonsense and hurtful to boot? Let’s face it: soul-belief is liable to persist about as long as souls themselves are purported to endure. Soul-skeptics can make their arguments but should probably also recognise that this concept fits so neatly into the human psyche that it will not be readily dislodged. We’re not stuck with souls, but most people are likely stuck with believing in them.”
Perhaps a better ending would be to change how one thinks of the soul. Process theology has done so by transforming our understanding of the soul as immaterial and immortal to the network of unique, particular relationships that makes us who we are individually as beings. Not only human beings but animals, plants and inorganic beings can have souls if understood this way. Patricia Adams Farmer refers to this as “Fat Soul”. “But what is Fat Soul Philosophy? For that matter, what is the soul? When you think of the soul, what image comes to mind? A huge white mass of ghost-like ether inside of you? Think again, this time in terms of a process-relational view of the world. Whitehead’s philosophy dispelled the whole “ghost in the machine” view of identity. In fact, he dispelled the modern mechanistic world view altogether! As far as metaphors go, machines are out; flowing rivers are in”. Energetic, relational flow in this world replaces the immaterial, immortal substance that Barash finds offensive and false. Quoting process theologian Bob Mesle, “a soul is not a thing, it is not something which stands untouched by the events of your life. Your soul is the river of your life; it is the cumulative flow of your experience. But what do we experience? The world. Each other. So your soul is the cumulative flow of all of your relationships with everything and everyone around you. In a different image, we weave ourselves out of the threads of our relationships with everyone around us”.
For Christians, this comprehensive flow of all relationships include the particular and unique relationship that we have with God, the creator. As we celebrate Easter this month, perhaps we can understand the cross and the resurrection of Jesus as the means by which we humans, and for that matter, the whole world, enlarges the soul of each of us as individuals, as communities of faith and even the earth as a unique, particular and ever evolving whole. The Easter story leaves no one nor anything out. No particular being of any kind is omitted. As Christians, we can see the cosmic story of the universe as transformed by the unique, soul expanding event of Easter.
Given the recent report issued by the Six IPCC Assessment Report on climate change, this “fat soul” understanding is of particular importance. If humanity is to survive, we must develop new means to exist on the planet we call home. James Lovelock and Lynn Margolis used the Greek term Gaia to refer to the interconnecting ecology of planet earth, noting that the global ecology will take care of itself, though not necessarily to the benefit of the human species.
By transforming our understanding of soul to the deep, dynamic and expansive relationships that make us who we are, we can better understand Jesus’ commandment to love God and love neighbor. They are two sides of the same coin. To love neighbor means not only to love other humans but to value, appreciate and care for all creatures and beings, great and small.
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AI, ChatGPT Answers What is the Soul in Process Theology
What is the soul in process theology?
As an AI language model, I do not have personal beliefs or perspectives. However, I can provide an explanation of the concept of the soul in process theology.
Process theology suggests that the soul is not a fixed, unchanging entity but rather a dynamic and evolving aspect of our being. According to process theology, the soul is intimately connected to the ongoing process of growth and change that characterizes all of life.
In this view, the soul is not a separate, immortal entity that exists independently of the body or the physical world. Rather, it is an emergent property of the complex interactions between our bodies, our minds, and the world around us.
Process theologians argue that the soul is not something that we possess, but rather something that we are constantly becoming. As we engage with the world and with one another, our souls are shaped and transformed, evolving over time in response to our experiences and interactions.
Overall, the concept of the soul in process theology emphasizes the importance of ongoing growth and transformation, and suggests that our spiritual lives are intimately connected to our experiences in the world around us.