DEATH, CONSCIOUSNESS, AND TRINITARIAN PANENTHEISM

(Some rambling thoughts today.)
1.      I like the concept of panentheism.  That is, all that exists has its beingness within God, but with God still being distinct.  (This is different than pantheism in which all that exists is “God.”)

2.      I like the concept of the Trinity being like an eternal system, in which the “parts” exist only in relationship in the whole (systems theory).

a.      There are many analogies for trying to comprehend the incomprehensible relationship of the Trinity, but one I like most I find/infer in John 1:1 and Genesis 1.  (Background: in this oral culture, what one uttered was by one’s breath/spirit.  Therefore, words had a vitality to them such that they could bless or curse.)
The Father, is the one who utters the Word/Logos (Son) by his Spirit/Breath.
The Spirit is of the Father and expresses the Word/Son.
The Word, through the Spirit, is of the being of the Father and communicates the Father.

3.      Since God “speaks” by God’s Breath/Spirit all that exists into creation (Genesis 1), and through God’s Logos/Word all such things were made (John 1:3), a panentheistic way of looking at creation makes sense to me.  Moreover, that leads me to think about how creation as I know it seems to exist and develop in a similar “systems-theory” approach as the Trinity.

4.      It seems to me that consciousness of our being-ness and consciousness of God are aspects of our nature as emergent systems.  As I mentioned in a note in the previous post, an experience of the Presence of God could be a real neurological event initiated by God in whom we all exist (panentheism).

5.      This leads me to be comforted about the death of ones I love.  I believe I picked up in a writing by John Polkinghorne the idea that who we each were in our consciousness at death exists in the “memory” of God, awaiting to be restored at the resurrection of the dead.  I like that idea but would extend it to saying that who we are exists within the “memory” of God throughout our lives as well as after our physical deaths.  Thinking about how I and my loved ones exist in the “memory” of God, then, comforts me with the promise that I will continue to have relationship with them at the resurrection of the dead.

Application:  Thoughts like this fill me with wonder.

Praise you LORD!  I will extol you with all my heart in the council of the upright and in the assembly.  Great are your works of the LORD; they are pondered by all who delight in them. (adaptation of Psalm 111:1 – 2).  Amen!

 

“ENSISTENCE” MATTERS MORE THAN EXISTENCE

Sometimes the wondrous mysteries of life move me to worship.

We tend to think of our lives in terms of existence.  Existence means “out-stand.”  That is, the focus is on separation.  To coin a term, I have been thinking about my “ensistence” (in-stand).  The focus is on inclusion.  My life, all life, exists only because it “ensists.”

Big Bang: a quantum flux within a quantum vacuum led to the structure/information of waves that have different “particle” properties (concepts beyond me).  Point: they exist because they ensist in a quantum field of differentiations.

Jump to the level of life:  Once the process of enzymes forms peptides etc. (again beyond me) that leads to ability to draw on an energy source that leads to self-replicating informed structures.  Point: life exists, because it ensisted within that primitive biosphere (e.g. solar energy, solvent, chemical “soup”).

Jump to humans:  Humans have multiple layers of relationships of ensistence that allow them to exist (please forgive the coined words): en-quantum-fielded, en-mattered, en-bodied, en-natured (whole world of “nature”), en-social-relationshiped, en-cosmic-ordered, and theologically, I would add en-God (panentheism).  Moreover, it is the unique combination of each of those layers of ensistence that leads to each uniquely marvelous outcome of our existences.

Cognition: The nature of cognition is so incredible.  Cognition is not just a function of my brain.  It is embodied in my total neural system through which I experience the world.  It becomes extended as my body interfaces with external objects (e.g. use a tennis racket or hammer long enough and the neural system treats it like a member of the body).  It dwells embedded in my physical, cultural, and linguistic systems (e.g. I “think” in English).  More significantly, I believe my cognition ensists within the “mind” of God such that a “seeking” person can be informed by and moved by God -- can know God.

Wow.  I’m at a loss for words.  My eyes are starting to tear.

Thank you, Lord, that I am a part of all this, that I “ensist.”  Help me to care responsibly for all the spheres of my ensistence without which I would not exist.  Amen.

P.S.  Kant, thinking he is addressing a human limitation when he states, "It is quite impossible for a human being to apprehend the infinite by his senses,"* is actually foisting a human limitation upon God in whom we "have our being" (Acts 17:28).  *The Conflict of the Faculties, 7:63.