Re: Become God's People: Renew Our Heritage with God
David, I respond so positively to much of what you say about heritage and renewing it to inspire us to become better "helpers". I would hope we could emphasize the parts of our heritage which draw us together and broaden our community rather than focus on the heritage that separates us one from the other.
I have a hard time with defining God as the best of purely HUMAN values , actions and goals. I am currently reading Bishop Spong's A NEW CHRISTIANITY FOR A NEW WORLD, in preparation for his coming to Clearwater at the end of Feb.( Incidently, I really hope that there are some of us that would like to go to hear him,so I don't have to go alone). Anyway, in this book he describes the death of Theism,that is, a belief in a paternal Transcendent God who intervenes in history and acts as protector or helper. But, he defines God as the Source of Being and Becoming , both beyond and within the being of this universe. He sees Jesus as he who most freely, lovingly and fully lived so as to reveal this Source.
I really like this definition of God. We can know God through examining Being in its broadest sense. Yet as source, God is "More", the way Borg says,also. We commune with this God by living to our most loving, our most full extent.
Does it make a difference whether we believe in a Source of Being or not when we are our most loving,our most authentic, our most whole. What do you all think? Maybe not. But, for me, I feel part of a bigger spectrum of meaning to believe in a two universe model. ANd it is hard for me to believe that the source of being was simply a grand accident. So, in that way it seems truer to speak of God as source of Being and not simply define God as the best of human value and action.
