A Belief System from Beyond the Box

Book excerpt: As I go back to the first blog that I released into cyberspace, I discover that the date was May 27, 2005 and the title was, It's Beyond Me. As I scan forward through all the postings I find that two major themes have developed synergistically: 1. That segment of the formal religious establishment described loosely by the term church, is under stress. The extreme nature of this stress is demonstrated by the current, often-quoted, fearsome phrase - "The Church must change or it will die." 2. The most frequently offered response to this dilemma is the admonition, "We must think beyond the box." Pragmatism indicates that: "The Church must change or it will die," phrase is hopelessly destructive. Might this prediction be more approachable if rephrased as? "The Church must morph, then survive." Survival indicates that it is essential that we determine what it is in the box that we must think beyond. What should be changed so that our belief systems can morph, thus equipping the church to morph to survival? It is my conclusion that my past conceptualizations of God, my core beliefs, have been formed by inhibiting Climates of Cultures, deposited in the box over the ages in an attempt to make God comprehensible. It is my emerging discovery that when we think beyond the box we recognize the Atmosphere of Possibilities, the Incomprehensible God of the Universe. Though our core beliefs may differ we all should be encouraged to hold beliefs that give us the joy of being response-able to Incomprehensible God, the Atmosphere of Possibilities, and responsible to/with comprehensible humanity, including ourselves.