In our day, science both radically amazes and deeply frightens. Where will AI take us? Is genderfluidity even possible? Where will progress take us and who really is in charge? Also in our day, a rich theology is both hungered for and flagrantly disregarded as unnecessary. Where are we going? Why are we here? What really matters? Who is our God? Is there a God? These two astonishing disciplines, replete with their equally astonishing questions, have moved in me from a very young age. They have blessed me with an inquiring ‘turn of mind,’ that still accompanies me in the youth of my old age.
I would agree with Fr. Thomas Keating that scientists—engaged in serious scholarship and thorough research—are the new prophets of our day. They are revealing the hand of God in ways never seen before. And perhaps like our ancestors we are both amazed and terrified. And therefore, this is why we need good theology as well—equally engaged in serious scholarship, research, and lived experience of the Holy.
While science asks the question, How does this work? theology/religion poses the question, What does it mean? It should be noted here that the fact we cannot explain something does not imply that we cannot draw meaning from it. Mystery can often be experienced even as it cannot be explained! Unlimited knowability is Richard Rohr’s definition of mystery. So we are always discovering who God is for us. What is God asking of us? What does a real relationship with the living God look like? Does any of this really matter?
In her spiritual biography of Fr. Thomas, Cynthia Bourgeault writes that in later life, Thomas
“stated daringly that any attempt to build a living faith on a cosmology that is out-of-date is doomed for disaster: “People cannot be expected to be impressed with belief systems that rely on a cosmology that everybody knows does not exist.” ¹
Science, she writes, became “more and more for him an authentic revelation of God.” ²
When I listen to Thomas Keating, which I have done for nearly 30 years, I am consoled by his large cosmic heart. For in this bitterly, heartbreakingly, difficult world I need a very large God, one who sees all, suffers with all, sustains all, and ultimately transforms all. “Flat-earth” cosmologies will not do! Alongside the new Universe story and the God it reveals, I need a theology/religion that is equally large, and perhaps even a little bit outlandish, to help me live more freely in the Love revealed by the Jewish carpenter Jesus of Nazareth. I resonate with the insight of Ramón Martínez de Pisón:
“The Gospel is not a power, still less a constraint, and the God whom it reveals is not an authority that demands submission: God is Light.” ³
This Light is large, luminous, uncontainable and yet treats us in a personal way. Thomas Keating often asks: Who is God for you? It is a good question, isn’t it?
¹ Cynthia Bourgeault, Thomas Keating, The Making of a Modern Christian Mystic (Boulder, Colorado: Shambhala, 2024), 161.
² Ibid, 161.
³ Ramón Martinez de Pisón, God, From Knowing to Experiencing (Montreal, Quebec: Novalis Publishing, 2009), 62.
Sandra Stewart is a member of the Sisters of Our Lady of the Missions in Winnipeg. Originally from Windsor, ON she has spent most of her religious life in Manitoba but has also served in France, Senegal and Papua New Guinea. She holds a Masters degree in Pastoral Studies from Loyola University in Chicago, majoring in spiritual accompaniment from the Institute for Spiritual Leadership.
Presently she serves as a spiritual director, a facilitator of Centering Prayer workshops, and an advocate for social and environmental justice.
Sandra currently serves on her community’s province leadership team in Canada.
Thank you for your challenging reflection, Sandy! I appreciate Keating’s naming of scientists as prophets of our time – the ones who keep expanding my/our awe of the universe while insisting on the ways humanity has exceeded our Earth’s “safe” limits… As science continues plumbing “unlimited knowability,” I cannot help but grow in my amazement of the One who holds, loves, and forgives all.
Great summary, Claudia!!!!