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A God who is with us all the time, in our times of joy and of sadness, continuously guiding us to a better life.
God is one who has a relationship with all of creation.
Thinking of God in relational terms makes sense when we look at the world around us.
It makes sense of evil. God does not cause evil. Evil is a natural consequence of our freedom.
God does not want suffering, God suffers with us and provides us with the means to stop suffering or to live with suffering
Prayer makes sense. What we do influences God, and when we pray we are directing our thoughts and actions towards God. We are not only putting ourselves in a state to hear God's aim for us, but we are changing the world as it is for the better. This makes it easier for God to bring about change for the good.
When we think of an ongoing all-the-time relationship with God, we know that God is always helping us in our decision-making, we are never alone.
By knowing that what we do has an influence on everything else in the universe, we know that we have a responsibility to look after the rest of God's creation. This must change the way we look after the environment. We are also responsible for our own actions and there is no one going to come and solve all our problems for us. Freedom and responsibility means that it is up to us, but we know that we always have God to guide us.
God gives everything an initial aim and is with them always. We do not know how God guides plants, animals, and people of other religions, but we do know that God is also in relationship with them.
By thinking of God from a process perspective I can better understand and appropriate the Christian message.
I can believe that God's wisdom and spirit was embodied in the man, Jesus Christ, and through him gain a clearer view of what God's wisdom is and how it operates in human life.
I can read the Bible and not be worried about whether the stories are true or not, I can concentrate on looking for God's plan for me.
I can worship God without having to make excuses for what God has or has not done.
I can better understand how God works among people of other faiths.
I no longer have to live with an internal fight between what my experiences tell me and what the church tells me. (I do not have to leave my brain outside when I go to church.)
Learning about God is a life long exercise with God directing our path all the way. We should not stop at the Sunday School story level. It is acceptable to change our mind about what the Bible stories mean as we grow older and as our understanding of the world grows.
Process theology does not claim to have all the answers, God still remains a mystery. However it does give me a more credible way of thinking of God. I think that process theology makes the church more credible and more relevant to the modern world and gives us a better chance of meeting the challenges of the next millennium. Thanks be to God!
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