Say It Ain't So!

Here we go....  "If I've told ya once..."

Malachi 3:6 "For I am the LORD, I do not change; Therefore you are not consumed, O sons of Jacob.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

James 1:17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning.

Psalm 102:24-27: "So I said: "Do not take me away, O my God, in the midst of my days; your years go on through all generations. In the beginning you laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them and they will be discarded. But you remain the same, and your years will never end."

Process Theology?  Huh???

Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, the Swiss physician/researcher, in her seminal work on the grief process (On Death and Dying, 1969) developed a five stage model of the emotional and psychological response to "negative" change (typically grief, tragedy, catastrophic losses.) The model has since been found to be an accurate description of the emotional process that occurs whenever a change of significance occurs in someone's life.

The five stages go kinda like this:

(1) Denial - "You gotta be kidding me!  God can change??? I don't think so!"

(2) Anger - "Who IS this guy that proposes that theory?  What? More than one person thinks it's possible?  Those idiots!  Don't they read the Bible?  What are they talking about?"

(3) Bargaining - "Well, maybe I heard it wrong.  Guess I'm going to have to do some research and poke some holes in this thing.  Maybe it will go away if I just ignore it and I can hang on to my old idea of God... I don't have to accept this thing right now, do I?  After all, it got only 5 minutes of class time!"

(4) Depression - "What's the point? Why are we studying this stuff if just anyone can make up anything and get it published?  If it sounds plausible (to someone) and there are enough big words and convoluted logic, I guess it earns a place in the Wiki-leagues.  OMG I cant go on!"

(5) Acceptance - "Well, I guess it's going to be okay… can't fight it, I may as well learn about it.  It's not going away, and I need to know what people are talking about.  Whether or not I believe it!"

Diagrammatically, the process kinda looks like this:

http://www.care611.com/2012/01/04/grief-cycle/

In Unity, this is called "chemicalization".

I guess I need a new definition of "absolute". These definitions don't work (for me) when used to describe "God" in the same sentence as the phrase "process theology".

Absolute, the--Divine Mind; unlimited Principle; the almighty One; the all-pervading Spirit; the Infinite; the Eternal; the Supreme Being. The one ultimate creative Mind; the Source of all things. That which is unconditioned, unlimited, unrestricted, and free from all limitations. The self-existent God.Revealing Word, p. 7-8

absolute

noun

1.

something that is not dependent upon external conditions
for existence or for its specific nature, size, etc. (relative ).

2.

something that is free from any restriction or condition.

3.

something that is independent of some or all relations.

4.

something that is perfect or complete.   Copyright © 2012 Dictionary.com, LLC

At church, we just finished the fall sermon series on the book “The 5^th Agreement” by Don Miguel Ruiz.  His website says “The Fifth Agreement uses doubt as a tool to discern the truth.”    It goes like this:  “Be skeptical, but learn to listen”.

Right now, I’m skeptical.  

And I’m listening.