Always love reading what you share! And "the heat...is currently challenging my sense of sanctification"...YES. I do NOT do well in much above 70F so this was very relatable. 🤪👊😊
Thanks for sharing your delight in the discovery of an intriguing new theological concept, and the anticipated joy of exploration you feel at the discovery. Lately I’ve been experiencing more fear and pushback when I share theological discoveries and explorations with friends and church fam, thanks for making me feel seen and (as) normal (as any of us are 🙃). 💝
I love your summary of Macfarlane's Is a River Alive. I've always loved his writing too, and I'm a third of the way through this one and feeling the same longing you are - for that faith-based sacramental view of creation. That said, I've been searching for years for a Christian nature writer who addresses Creation as an alive being and have yet to find one (though my search is far from comprehensive). You say, "I also wonder if Christianity needs to be more articulate about the real character of creation" - and I say, yes! Look at all the Psalms where the wind, the ocean, the trees, etc. are so very animate. Isaiah has similar imagery, and so does St. Paul. When Jesus calms the storm, he speaks to it, and it *listens* - it is not some cosmic Alexa; it is animate.
Anyway, I share your hope that Macfarlane one day comes to faith - I ache to read a book from him that is witness to nature as God's Creation.
I keep thinking of the stones crying out! And I have started talking to my backyard. That is, I hope, in preparation of actually bringing it back to being a garden. At 78 this can be challenging especially in the Texas heat. All creation groans. Thank you for your insights and praise God for his illumination.
You simply must read Macfarlane’s Underland. It is far and away my favorite of his. A delightful mash-up of sociology, philosophy, history, and geology, all written in his beautiful poetical prose. I can’t recommend it enough!
Always love reading what you share! And "the heat...is currently challenging my sense of sanctification"...YES. I do NOT do well in much above 70F so this was very relatable. 🤪👊😊
Always delighted to read anything you write.
Thanks for sharing your delight in the discovery of an intriguing new theological concept, and the anticipated joy of exploration you feel at the discovery. Lately I’ve been experiencing more fear and pushback when I share theological discoveries and explorations with friends and church fam, thanks for making me feel seen and (as) normal (as any of us are 🙃). 💝
I love your summary of Macfarlane's Is a River Alive. I've always loved his writing too, and I'm a third of the way through this one and feeling the same longing you are - for that faith-based sacramental view of creation. That said, I've been searching for years for a Christian nature writer who addresses Creation as an alive being and have yet to find one (though my search is far from comprehensive). You say, "I also wonder if Christianity needs to be more articulate about the real character of creation" - and I say, yes! Look at all the Psalms where the wind, the ocean, the trees, etc. are so very animate. Isaiah has similar imagery, and so does St. Paul. When Jesus calms the storm, he speaks to it, and it *listens* - it is not some cosmic Alexa; it is animate.
Anyway, I share your hope that Macfarlane one day comes to faith - I ache to read a book from him that is witness to nature as God's Creation.
I keep thinking of the stones crying out! And I have started talking to my backyard. That is, I hope, in preparation of actually bringing it back to being a garden. At 78 this can be challenging especially in the Texas heat. All creation groans. Thank you for your insights and praise God for his illumination.
You simply must read Macfarlane’s Underland. It is far and away my favorite of his. A delightful mash-up of sociology, philosophy, history, and geology, all written in his beautiful poetical prose. I can’t recommend it enough!