Showing papers in "CrossCurrents in 2010"

Meditation as Medicine: A Critique

Abstract: T wenty-seven adults are arrayed at the front of a large, sloping lecture hall: some lying on their backs, some upright in free-standing chairs, some in the tiers of seats bolted to the floor. Most appear to range in age from mid-forties to mid-fifties. The lights are dim, most eyes are closed, and except for occasional fidgeting, everyone is silent and still. The instructor, a kindly psychiatrist who bears a striking resemblance to Santa Claus, has instructed everyone to focus attention on the ebb and flow of the breath, counting exhalations from one to eight, then returning to one. Each time the mind wanders off, the meditator should begin counting again at one: the point is not to get to eight, but to continually refocus attention on the breath. Toward the end of the evening, participants gather on chairs in a circle, each speaking in turn about her or his experience. One woman says she hates meditating, because her mind wanders constantly, and her thoughts are full of ‘‘mean’’ commentary about herself. A Vietnam veteran remarks that for thirty years he feared that ‘‘if I allowed myself to have the memories they’d kill me, so I fought them off like I fought the war.’’ Meditation has helped him to see that his thoughts will not kill him, and that facing the painful memories relieves the depression and anxiety caused by his avoidance. Another woman’s voice breaks as she remarks that part of her resistance to meditation emerges from a belief that ‘‘I don’t deserve happiness.’’ Scenes like this are being repeated in hundreds, perhaps thousands, of settings around the United States. They are part of a program called

Theopoetry or Theopoetics

Abstract: Introduction: Theopoetics, Theopoetry, and the Death of God I n what may be the most compelling opening sentence of contemporary fiction, Donald Barthelme, in his short-story ‘‘On Angels,’’ wrote: ‘‘The death of God left the angels in a strange position.’’ To be sure! And one might have thought that the so-called ‘‘death of God’’ would have also created something of an awkwardness for contemporary theology and theologians. But this seems not to have been the case, if one can judge by the trajectory of the movement that has been referred to as theopoetics. At least it seems not to have been the case for all theopoeticians. A quick glance at a website dedicated to theopoetics (http://theopoetics.net) makes the point that for some thinkers identifying themselves with a theopoetics perspective the ‘‘death of God’’ is not at issue while for others it is very much at issue. The names associated with theopoetics on the Theopoetics.net website prior to 1995 (Rubem Alves, Stanley Hopper, David Miller, Amos Wilder), as well as those associated with theopoetics after 1995 (John Caputo, Thomas Dailey, Jason Derr, Roland Faber, Matt Guynn, Scott Holland, Jean Janzen, L. B. C. Keefe-Perry, Catherine Keller, Melanie May, Travis Poling), by no means make up a uniform group. Radically different discourses, it would seem, parade under the name and aegis of the term ‘‘theopoetics.’’ There are doubtless many ways to distinguish the thinking and writing of these various scholars of religion, but one way is to place them in relation to the ‘‘death of God’’ that Barthelme’s angels

Theopoetics and Social Change

Abstract: We open up the hungers and longings of our age. We enter into a conversation with the deepest places of our selves and our audience. To engage in the theopoetic is to tempt the radical nature of ourselves, it is to follow in the footsteps of the God-Speakers that could upset the republic, could speak from the margins of our hungers and unspeakable truths. Jason Derr, In Consideration of the Theopoetic

Divine Exploration and Invitation

Abstract: I n a recent essay, 1 Eric McLuhan reiterates the argument that his late father, Marshall McLuhan, oft-termed a media theorist, worked without the use of theories. He supports this claim by suggesting that while his father did use theories, he did not use them in a consistent way. Rather than attempting to develop a culminating thesis, the elder McLuhan was more interested in the work of aphorism and art than explication and exegesis: he was most content when probing and observing, asking questions and exploring. This elusive and playful spirit of inquiry and expression has been the inspiration for much of my own work and is at the heart of the essay you now read. I write to share with you some ideas I have discovered in my own journey and will not consider it a failure should this piece raise more questions than it answers. Those looking for a more exhaustive and traditional treatment of theopoetics are encouraged to see my recent piece in Christianity & Literature or the website I maintain, http://theopoetics.net.