January 5, 2020: It's Always This AND That – Michael Hidalgo

“Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is ONE.” The “Shema” as it is called by the Hebrews is one of the first and most foundational things said about God. Rooted in scripture, this is a central daily prayer for observant Jews. It declares that not only is God not many (there is only one GOD) but also the overlooked truth that all reality proceeds from God. This is the concept of monism, namely, the idea that there is one single unified field of reality and that there are no fundamental divisions in nature - unless of course we create them.

Many Christian thinkers overlook this key reality because it stands against the idea of dualism – the belief that there is a fundamental separation between matter (physical reality) and Spirit (spiritual reality). But, is this the pattern we witness in bible and the Christian Tradition? We will look at the creation narrative, and how when monism is taken seriously we discover both the goodness of creation and the brokenness of creation ripple into every aspect of our world (physical, relational, emotional, spiritual, etc…) and everything is effected and connected. Everything. This truth should change how we think about why God has created us, the world and his purposes for peace and the restoration of everything.