Donna: I think your “same song” awareness is very important, and I will be addressing that idea in part 2 (or 3) of this first post. I look forward to exploring it with you.

I have found myself revisiting these points in a recent obstacle/opportunity on my job. Even though the obstacle “appeared” to be new, it was, in fact, a often repeated pattern of my life. Same song, second verse, with new characters. The pattern is to take on a big project or life event, seemingly with the support of others, only to find they can’t or don’t see it through. I make the “herculian” effort because I can’t bear (ego) the failure, it was a worthwhile project, etc, etc. But this time, I did recognize the pattern and was more conscious in the decision to finish the project. But I do want to discover the origin of this complex and to be able to recognize it sooner rather than later. I WILL be calling you. Great job on this website.

Friends may know that “process theology” is a form of contemporary theology which builds upon the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. Process theology offers a way of thinking about God which is compatible with modern science, available to people of many different religions, and also available to people with no religion, but who are spiritual seekers of the kind Christopher helps.

The word “God” names a world-soul who or which is everywhere at once, within each person and living being, yet also beyond all of them added together. This soul is akin to a womb within whom we live and move and have our being. The womb might also be called the Deep Listening or the Deep Empathy, because it shares in the joys and sufferings of all living beings all the time, such that they become part of the Womb’s experience.

This idea of God “sharing in the sufferings” of living beings is thematized in Christianity with the symbol of the cross. the cross represents divine suffering, divine vulnerability. From a process perspective the Womb then responds to what is felt, moment by moment, day by day, month by month, with a fresh possibility for responding to the situation at hand, relative to the condition of the recipient. If I am sick with a terminal disease, the fresh possibility may be simply to respond with courage; if I am considering getting married, the fresh possibility may be to take the risk. It is the best for the situation at hand. We humans experience these fresh possibilities with help from our imagination, intuition, reason. The process of experiencing them is called discernment.

Christopher shows that the psychological process of receiving these fresh possibilities involves a transition within our own hearts and minds: a move into the realm of the Possible. The needed step is then to respond to that possibility, and that response is our own. Not even God can make us respond. But in the response itself we grow.

What I appreciate about Christopher’s post this time around, is his recognition that there is no situation we face in life which cannot be approached with such openness, such hope. In the Christian tradition this hope is symbolized by the theme of resurrection, new birth. Regardless of what crosses we face, there is a possibility for new life, if we approach the situation not simply as “test” but also as “opportunity.”

The wisdom of Christopher Carrick’s spiritual direction is that he recognizes this. With gentle questioning, open inquiry, a kind heart, a wise mind — he helps other see opportunities in tests, see possibility where walls seem to block the way. He finds fresh vocabularies by which to do this. He uses the word “God” but is also sensitive to people for whom this word cannot work. This flexibility of spirit — on Christopher’s part — is itself a fruit of the Spirit whom process theologians name God.