Co-creation

I want to go back to some of my earliest posts today.  I have traveled a long way over the last few months and it might be worth looking back to some of my earlier posts about conversations.  I made the link between the first verses of John's Gospel and conversations.  And then to the first verses of Genesis, where I argued we have the record of a conversation between God and creation.  And then on to explore conversations between people, between people and God, between people and the universe.

The context of all conversations is the great conversations underlying the whole cosmos.  Ecumenical conversations are a small part of this ongoing exchange.  We need to understand this in more depth.

Is it possible that Christianity and science might converge on a new understanding of the cosmos based on conversation?  The Newtonian world view is a mechanical worldview.  There is a subject and an object.  The subject initiates and the object behaves in predictable ways.  We may not have enough information to make the prediction, but in principle it is predictable.  If we understand enough about any system we can control it.

The problem is that this is not true.  We are a part of the universe and our actions have a profound effect; much of it not seen by us.  Most profoundly, when the universe responds to us, we respond to it.  We are a part of the things we try to change.  We are not controllers of machines but participants in a conversation.

As we take part in generative conversations, we find the world forms around our actions.  We are no longer outside of it, determining a preconceived outcome, but a part of something generating a new world.  We should think of ourselves not as controllers, but as artists.  The artist has to know their materials and respond to their materials just as their materials respond to them.  So, it is with God in creation, from our perspective God changes as God responds to creation.

When we take part in the conversation, we are co-creators with God.  This is the nature of the calling God has for the many church traditions, the Body of Christ.