“We must abandon the external height images in which the theistic God has historically been perceived and replace them with internal depth image of a deity who is not apart from us, who is the very core and ground of all that is. “
Paul Tillich – Systematic Theology “God is our Ground of Being.”
“Matter is Spirit moving slowly enough to be seen.” Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
In this summary I am offering you sentences, paragraphs, images found in chapter 1 that stood out and spoke to me. Perhaps the ones I’m including spoke to you too, or maybe there are others that stood out to you.
“Where is God?” and the Dirt
At first hearing, it is very difficult for many contemporary people to image God having anything to do with dirt. Generations ago, though, no one would have wondered about God and dirt, for divinity and soil were easy companions. (pg. 35)
Forrest Pritchard said, “The earth speaks to me,’ he said as his cadence slowed. “The soil, spirit, and us, it is all of a piece. We can know that, or we can ignore it. But it is real.” (pg. 37)
Consider the word panentheism: God is with or in all things. “God is not a tree; a tree is not God. But God is with the tree; and the tree is with God.”(pg. 39)
The soil-y God was left to mystics, monks, women, and mostly the poor – people on the margins of the religious community whose orthodoxy has always been suspect and whose institutional power was negligible. And, framers, evidently. (pg.39)
Theologian Sallie McFague writes, “The world, the universe, is the ‘body of God’: all matter, all flesh, all myriad beings, things, and processes that constitute physical reality are in and of God. God is not just spirit, but also body. Hence, God can be thought of in organic terms, as the vast interrelated network of beings that compose our universe. The ‘glory’ of God, then, is not just heavenly, but earthly.” (pg.40)
We are animated dirt. Soil and life joined. From living ground we were made; to living ground we will return. (pg. 42)
Losing Eden?
Soil seemed to be eternal. Agronomist Wes Jackson insists that “soil is as much a nonrenewable resource as oil”. During the last century and a half, the planet has lost half its topsoil. (pg.45) And, more people are making their way back to the ground by gardening. (pg.46)
The late Irish Catholic priest and philosopher John O’Donohue called the land, “the firstborn of creation” and the “condition of the possibility of everything.” The earth itself, he insisted, holds the memory of the beginning of all things, the memory of God. (pg.51)
Over the centuries, sin-especially regarding human sexuality has been equated with dirt/soil. (pg.54) ?????????? What are your thoughts?
Earth Is for Real
We are here, on this planet, walking around on the same ground, depending on the soil for life. And God, is with us. Earth is not an illusion, a tragic dream, or a spiritual metaphor. Earth is definitely for real. Finding God in the dirt allows us to experience faith in new ways. (pg.63)
Over the decades, faith has taken me increasingly toward the soil, not away from it. To this garden, to the earth. And God is here. God the Earth-maker, God the Gardener.
God the Ground of Being. (pg. 64)
Grace Episcopal Church 