Quotes & Sayings


We, and creation itself, actualize the possibilities of the God who sustains the world, towards becoming in the world in a fuller, more deeper way. - R.E. Slater

There is urgency in coming to see the world as a web of interrelated processes of which we are integral parts, so that all of our choices and actions have [consequential effects upon] the world around us. - Process Metaphysician Alfred North Whitehead

Kurt Gödel's Incompleteness Theorem says (i) all closed systems are unprovable within themselves and, that (ii) all open systems are rightly understood as incomplete. - R.E. Slater

The most true thing about you is what God has said to you in Christ, "You are My Beloved." - Tripp Fuller

The God among us is the God who refuses to be God without us, so great is God's Love. - Tripp Fuller

According to some Christian outlooks we were made for another world. Perhaps, rather, we were made for this world to recreate, reclaim, redeem, and renew unto God's future aspiration by the power of His Spirit. - R.E. Slater

Our eschatological ethos is to love. To stand with those who are oppressed. To stand against those who are oppressing. It is that simple. Love is our only calling and Christian Hope. - R.E. Slater

Secularization theory has been massively falsified. We don't live in an age of secularity. We live in an age of explosive, pervasive religiosity... an age of religious pluralism. - Peter L. Berger

Exploring the edge of life and faith in a post-everything world. - Todd Littleton

I don't need another reason to believe, your love is all around for me to see. – Anon

Thou art our need; and in giving us more of thyself thou givest us all. - Khalil Gibran, Prayer XXIII

Be careful what you pretend to be. You become what you pretend to be. - Kurt Vonnegut

Religious beliefs, far from being primary, are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. - Jim Forest

We become who we are by what we believe and can justify. - R.E. Slater

People, even more than things, need to be restored, renewed, revived, reclaimed, and redeemed; never throw out anyone. – Anon

Certainly, God's love has made fools of us all. - R.E. Slater

An apocalyptic Christian faith doesn't wait for Jesus to come, but for Jesus to become in our midst. - R.E. Slater

Christian belief in God begins with the cross and resurrection of Jesus, not with rational apologetics. - Eberhard Jüngel, Jürgen Moltmann

Our knowledge of God is through the 'I-Thou' encounter, not in finding God at the end of a syllogism or argument. There is a grave danger in any Christian treatment of God as an object. The God of Jesus Christ and Scripture is irreducibly subject and never made as an object, a force, a power, or a principle that can be manipulated. - Emil Brunner

“Ehyeh Asher Ehyeh” means "I will be that who I have yet to become." - God (Ex 3.14) or, conversely, “I AM who I AM Becoming.”

Our job is to love others without stopping to inquire whether or not they are worthy. - Thomas Merton

The church is God's world-changing social experiment of bringing unlikes and differents to the Eucharist/Communion table to share life with one another as a new kind of family. When this happens, we show to the world what love, justice, peace, reconciliation, and life together is designed by God to be. The church is God's show-and-tell for the world to see how God wants us to live as a blended, global, polypluralistic family united with one will, by one Lord, and baptized by one Spirit. – Anon

The cross that is planted at the heart of the history of the world cannot be uprooted. - Jacques Ellul

The Unity in whose loving presence the universe unfolds is inside each person as a call to welcome the stranger, protect animals and the earth, respect the dignity of each person, think new thoughts, and help bring about ecological civilizations. - John Cobb & Farhan A. Shah

If you board the wrong train it is of no use running along the corridors of the train in the other direction. - Dietrich Bonhoeffer

God's justice is restorative rather than punitive; His discipline is merciful rather than punishing; His power is made perfect in weakness; and His grace is sufficient for all. – Anon

Our little [biblical] systems have their day; they have their day and cease to be. They are but broken lights of Thee, and Thou, O God art more than they. - Alfred Lord Tennyson

We can’t control God; God is uncontrollable. God can’t control us; God’s love is uncontrolling! - Thomas Jay Oord

Life in perspective but always in process... as we are relational beings in process to one another, so life events are in process in relation to each event... as God is to Self, is to world, is to us... like Father, like sons and daughters, like events... life in process yet always in perspective. - R.E. Slater

To promote societal transition to sustainable ways of living and a global society founded on a shared ethical framework which includes respect and care for the community of life, ecological integrity, universal human rights, respect for diversity, economic justice, democracy, and a culture of peace. - The Earth Charter Mission Statement

Christian humanism is the belief that human freedom, individual conscience, and unencumbered rational inquiry are compatible with the practice of Christianity or even intrinsic in its doctrine. It represents a philosophical union of Christian faith and classical humanist principles. - Scott Postma

It is never wise to have a self-appointed religious institution determine a nation's moral code. The opportunities for moral compromise and failure are high; the moral codes and creeds assuredly racist, discriminatory, or subjectively and religiously defined; and the pronouncement of inhumanitarian political objectives quite predictable. - R.E. Slater

God's love must both center and define the Christian faith and all religious or human faiths seeking human and ecological balance in worlds of subtraction, harm, tragedy, and evil. - R.E. Slater

In Whitehead’s process ontology, we can think of the experiential ground of reality as an eternal pulse whereby what is objectively public in one moment becomes subjectively prehended in the next, and whereby the subject that emerges from its feelings then perishes into public expression as an object (or “superject”) aiming for novelty. There is a rhythm of Being between object and subject, not an ontological division. This rhythm powers the creative growth of the universe from one occasion of experience to the next. This is the Whiteheadian mantra: “The many become one and are increased by one.” - Matthew Segall

Without Love there is no Truth. And True Truth is always Loving. There is no dichotomy between these terms but only seamless integration. This is the premier centering focus of a Processual Theology of Love. - R.E. Slater

-----

Note: Generally I do not respond to commentary. I may read the comments but wish to reserve my time to write (or write from the comments I read). Instead, I'd like to see our community help one another and in the helping encourage and exhort each of us towards Christian love in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior. - re slater

Friday, August 22, 2025

SOAP 5/21 - The Shepherd of Life (Psalm 23)


SOAP 5/21
The Shepherd of Life
Psalm 23

by R.E. Slater & ChatGPT 5

For the next 21 days, let's commit to feeding yourself spiritually by reading and reflecting on a passage of Scripture each day using the S.O.A.P. method (Scripture, Observation, Application, Prayer). Keep a brief daily note of what you learn and how you might apply it, and at the end of the 21 days, share your biggest takeaway with someone else. 

The Shepherd of Life
Psalm 23
Psalm 23, one of the most beloved in Scripture, paints God as shepherd, guide, and host. It has comforted the faithful across generations in times of fear, grief, and uncertainty. More than a pastoral image, it is a declaration of trust: that God’s presence restores life, sustains in danger, and provides abundance even in the midst of enemies.


Psalm 23 (NASB95)

1 The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. 2 He makes me lie down in green pastures; He leads me beside quiet waters. 3 He restores my soul; He guides me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake. 4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me. 5 You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You have anointed my head with oil; My cup overflows. 6 Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.


Historical Situation

Psalm 23 is attributed to David, who himself was a shepherd before becoming king. Written in the context of Israel’s pastoral and covenantal life, the psalm reflects both personal trust in God and communal reliance on God’s care. Shepherd imagery was common in the ancient Near East, often applied to kings as caretakers of their people. Here, however, the psalmist boldly names the Lord as the true shepherd, protector, and provider.

This psalm would have been sung or prayed in times of danger, exile, or uncertainty. Its imagery moves from pastoral peace (vv. 1–3), to God’s presence in mortal peril (v. 4), to God’s abundance as a host (vv. 5–6). For Israel and for the Church through the centuries, Psalm 23 has been a hymn of trust in God’s faithful presence.


Observation through Three Lenses

1. Traditional (Catholic / Orthodox / Protestant Mainstream)

Tradition reads Psalm 23 as a prayer of trust in divine providence. The shepherd is Christ, who leads the faithful into righteousness, through suffering, and into eternal dwelling. The sacramental imagery connects to baptism (waters), Eucharist (table and cup), and the anointing of oil. It is thus a profoundly sacramental psalm, woven into the liturgy of funerals, confirmations, and monastic prayer.

2. Evangelical (Conservative Protestant)

Evangelicals see Psalm 23 as a declaration of personal faith in God’s care. “The Lord is my shepherd” emphasizes individual relationship with Christ as guide and protector. The psalm assures believers of God’s presence in trials and the certainty of eternal life. Evangelical readings highlight its use for evangelism and assurance: believers need not fear death, for Christ is with them.

3. Process Theological (Relational, Whiteheadian)

From a process lens, Psalm 23 reveals God as the ever-present lure toward peace, restoration, and companionship. God does not coerce or prevent all evil but walks with creation in every valley. The “paths of righteousness” are relational possibilities offered at each moment, guiding toward harmony and renewal. The overflowing cup symbolizes God’s ongoing creativity, inviting co-creation of abundance and beauty even amid enemies. Where traditional and evangelical readings emphasize security or afterlife hope, process thought sees healing presence and relational restoration here and now, in every moment of becoming.


Application through Three Lenses

1. Traditional

Do I trust God’s shepherding through sacramental life - baptism, Eucharist, anointing - as signs of His care? This psalm invites me to rest in God’s providence, confident that goodness and mercy will lead me to eternal union with Him.

2. Evangelical

Do I live each day in assurance that Christ is my shepherd and savior? This psalm challenges me to rely on Christ in the face of trials, to find comfort in His presence, and to testify to others that in Christ I lack nothing and fear no evil.

3. Process Theological

Do I allow God’s lure of love to guide me into peace and renewal, even in valleys of shadow? Where traditional voices stress sacramental assurance and evangelical voices stress personal certainty, process thought heals by reframing God not as a distant controller but as a companioning presence. God’s rod and staff comfort not through coercion but through faithful persuasion, offering new possibilities for wholeness and abundance in every situation.


Prayer

Dear Shepherd of Life,

Thank You for guiding me through pastures of rest and valleys of shadow. Teach me to trust Your presence not as distant power but as near companion, luring me toward peace, renewal, and abundance. May goodness and mercy flow from me as I walk with You, and may my life become an overflowing cup of Your love.

Amen



No comments:

Post a Comment