Conversations in Process

In this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay sits down with Sufi scholar and musician Ali Hussain to discuss potential points of contact between Islamic mystical theology and process thought. Ali Hussain has a Ph.D. in Islamic Studies from the University of Michigan, Department of Middle East Studies. His research focuses on the image of Jesus AS in the writings of Muslim polymath Muhyiddin Ibn Al-Arabi and later Muslim scholars. His other research interests include Islam and Sufism in America, art and creativity in Islam and the creative engagement that Sufi mystics have with Arabic through the mediation of the Quran. He has published a number of books and articles, including “The Art of Ibn Arabi,” “The Metaphysics of Creativity: From the Qur'an into Ibn al-'Arabi,” “Ibn Al-Arabi and Joseph Campbell: The Metaphysics of Creativity and Mythology of Contemporary Art,” and most recently “A Nostalgic Remembrance: Sufism and the Breath of Creativity.” In this conversation, Jay and Ali explore the similarities and contrasts between the Sufism of Ibn ‘Arabi and Whitehead's cosmological and theological perspectives. They discuss issues of immanence and transcendence, negative theology, the problem of evil, and much more. Ali shares the intellectual roots of Islamic mysticism, which draws in part from the same Platonic traditions in which Whitehead himself finds inspiration. Jay discusses common process perspectives on the vulnerability of God and the openness of the future, which Ali thinks can fit into a Sufi perspective as well when considered in relation to particular Divine Names. In closing, they discuss the centrality of beauty in both Sufi traditions and Whitehead's philosophy, connecting the ideas of harmony and intensity with Divine Mercy and an open future. LINKS The Adhwaq Center for Spirituality, Culture and the Arts A Nostalgic Remembrance: Sufism and the Breath of Creativity Ali on Instagram Conversations in Process The Cobb Institute Open Horizons https://youtu.be/jPPfNKaJouE

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Matt Segall returns to continue the discussion of process philosophy, this time with emphasis on how process ideas can help us navigate contemporary political, cultural, and ecological issues. Matt is Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where he teaches graduate level courses on process philosophy and German Idealism. His recent book, Physics of the World-Soul: Alfred North Whitehead's Adventure in Cosmology, puts Whitehead's process cosmology into conversation with various contemporary scientific theories, such as general relativity and quantum theory. Matt begins by sharing a bit about his own political orientation and how he feels politically “homeless” in the current political scene in the United States. He mentions that he was a supporter of Bernie Sanders, and even as he lives in a very progressive region of the country, he puts effort into getting out of that bubble and pursuing dialogue across various political lines. Jay points out that despite political differences, people are still able to come together in community and share joy in the right contexts, citing his own experiences performing music at Toad Suck Buck's restaurant in a deeply conservative area. Matt adds that many of our contemporary conflicts are worsened by fixating on the political level, and specifically looking to the federal government to adjudicate disagreements. Instead, he suggests that re-localizing politics and attempting to work through cultural issues outside of the political arena would be a step in the right direction, though this can often be a blindspot for liberals and progressives. On the topic of liberalism, Matt dwells on some of the issues of the anthropology of early liberal thinkers like John Locke, which can give the sense that human beings are blank slates able to be molded into anything. Matt is critical of this view and shares sympathy with conservative thinkers that emphasize we are born into certain traditions and institutions which provide a much needed structure for human society, and that it can be a great risk to not acknowledge the real benefit of these inherited goods. Beyond liberalism, nationalism is also an ascendant political ideology of our day, and Matt suggests that process thinking can help offer a measured response to this phenomenon. Here he suggests that the nationalist impulse isn't fully off-base, as there does need to be some collective substratum on which a society grounds itself, but at the same time this can easily become oppressive and lead to worrying constraints on individual autonomy and the persecution of certain groups considered outside the bounds of how the nation defines itself. Matt proposes that Whitehead's thought provides resources for balancing between individuality and collectivism. Through emphasizing the interconnectedness of reality, those seeking a deeper aspect of community find encouragement in Whitehead's philosophy or organism, while at the same time the self-direction of the actual occasion towards its subjective aim encourages those looking for a justification of their individuality beyond communally-defined roles. Jay and Matt wrap up this conversation with a discussion of “earthism” and the contemporary climate crisis. Matt thinks that unfortunately the situation is likely to continue worsening before humanity really commits to a holistic and thorough response to ecological issues, but this will require a deep reorganization of the structure of post-industrial societies. However, Matt is confident that the earth community at large is deeply resilient and that out of this crisis creativity is likely to flourish, and perhaps in this wake humanity will be able to establish new modes of living and social organization that are earnestly grounded in ecological realities. LINKS: Previous Episode with MattMatt's Blog Footnotes2PlatoPhysics of the World-Soul: Alfred North Whitehead's Adventure in CosmologyConversations in ProcessThe Cobb InstituteOpen Horizons https://youtu.be/jPPfNKaJouE

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay McDaniel and Jared Morningstar are joined by Brendan Graham Dempsey to discuss metamodern spirituality and possible connections with process theology. Brendan is a podcaster, author, community-builder, philosopher, and poet whose work focuses on the meaning crisis and the nature of spirituality in metamodernity. He has a BA in Religious Studies from the University of Vermont and an MA in Religion and the Arts from Yale University. Brendan lives in Greensboro Bend, Vermont, where he runs the holistic Sky Meadow retreat center and hosts metamodern gatherings. In this conversation, Jay, Brendan, and Jared discuss metamodernism and its relationship to various other intellectual/philosophical modes—such as modernism and postmodernism—and also consider its relationship with process thinking and contemporary religiosity. The discussion begins with Brendan's own journey with metamodernism and how this was intricately intertwined with his own spiritual path of deconstructing and eventually reconstructing a religious worldview. Based on his work in his pseudonymously authored book Building the Cathedral: Answering the Meaning Crisis through Personal Myth, Brendan explains the centrality of narrativizing and personal myth-making in a metamodern spiritual project. Jay builds on these ideas, introducing process ideas such as Whitehead's “consequent nature of God,” showing how not only our own religious sensibilities are in process, but actually so is the Divine itself. However, there is still the question of communal and collective spirituality and myth-making, and Jay wonders if the collectivity involved here may even be beyond our merely human communities. The conversation closes with a discussion of the relationship between metamodernism and the established religious traditions. Jay asks, “can a Methodist be metamodern?” and Brendan beautifully responds in the affirmative, stating that these traditions have the potential to be expressed and understood in a variety of different moods, from pre-modern to metamodern and everything in between. The goal of a metamodern standpoint, however, is to accept all of these different moods for what they are and the value they bring, and weave a coherent whole of this diversity, without losing the unique individuality of the various standpoints. LINKS: Brendan's websiteBrendan's book Building the Cathedral: Answering the Meaning Crisis through Personal MythA conversation with Brendan, Layman Pascal, and John Vervaeke: “The Artful Scaling of the Religion that is not a Religion”Matt Segall on Brendan's Metamodern Spirituality podcast: “Process Philosophy and the Metamodern Metanarrative”Sky Meadow RetreatThe Cobb InstituteOpen Horizons https://youtu.be/2iWelOi0fQ4

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay McDaniel and Jared Morningstar are joined by Kazi Adi Shakti to discuss her provocative and nuanced essay “Buddhism is Basically Useless”. Kazi is an artist and theorist whose theoretical work primarily consists in the study and creative synthesis of process thought, Madhyamaka Buddhism, Western Marxism and Eco-feminist ethics. She graduated with a BFA from the Maryland Institute College of Art, where she majored in Interdisciplinary Sculpture with a focus on computer modeling, 3D scanning and digital fabrication and currently works as a scanning specialist and digital artist in the 3D digitization industry. In addition to this, she also blogs regularly at her site www.holo-poiesis.com. In this conversation, Kazi discusses her essay and why the idea of Buddhism being basically useless is in fact a positive. She describes that one of her aims with this piece is trying to get people to question their attachments and the identities they create—even identifying with traditional Buddhism. So to assert that Buddhism is basically useless is to acknowledge the emptiness of the religion and to resist taking it as an object of clinging. Jared asks what kinds of Buddhists Kazi was trying to reach with this critical article, whether it was more Western Buddhist modernists, or if she meant this critique to cut against traditional Buddhists as well. In response, Kazi shows how her argument can be critical of either, even as there are important differences between the dispositions of these two kinds of Buddhists. However, she also finds inspiration among all these different ways of being Buddhist, stating that even secular Buddhism has some important insights in recognizing the emptiness of myth and traditional doctrine. Jay then asks Kazi about an important idea running throughout the essay that Kazi uses in a number of different ways; namely, the notion of touching oneself. She charts a continuity between physical self-pleasure to intellectual self-knowledge and finally to self-reflexive gnosis—a manifestation of the awakening experience so central to Buddhist spirituality. In all of these, Kazi notes how there is no medium for the interaction beyond oneself, contrasting this perspective with views in Western philosophy such as those of Immanuel Kant where all perception and knowledge can never get directly at things in themselves. For Kazi, Buddhism is at its best when it is able to facilitate this direct self-touching in these various meanings, but none of these are ultimately dependent on the religion hence why Buddhism is useless in one sense. Kazi's essay concludes with a sudden switch to an almost devotional tone, mentioning the “infinite loving-compassion and boundless luminous-vision of the uncountable multiplicity of Buddhas and Bodhisattvas”—a stark contrast from the critical mood of the article up to this point. Jay notices this shift and asks about Kazi's intent with this sudden change in direction. She explains that she tries to mix the perspective of critique which acknowledges the emptiness of all things with a more positive, constructive standpoint more grounded in a vision of dependent origination. More than just trying to balance these two perspectives, Kazi attempts to show how they are in fact inseparably bound to each other, evoking the Daoist image of the yin and the yang where both opposites actually exist within each other. This wide-ranging dialogue concludes with a discussion of what Whitehead's thought could potentially bring to this conversation, particularly through his aesthetic theories. This prompts Jay to consider what the ideas discussed might look like were they communicated by some medium other than language, such as visual art or music. LINKS: Kazi's Essay “Buddhism is Basically Useless”Kazi's Blog Holo-PoiesisThe Cobb InstituteOpen Horizons https://youtu.be/YDyjJnUKGZw

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay is joined by the Cobb Institute's operations assistant, Jared Morningstar. Jared is a writer and educator with academic interests in philosophy of religion, Islamic studies, comparative religion, metamodern spirituality, and interfaith dialogue whose work in these areas seeks to offer robust responses to issues of inter-religious conflict, contemporary nihilism, and the "meaning crisis" among other things. He has BAs in Religion and Scandinavian Studies from Gustavus Adolphus College, where he graduated in the spring of 2018. In this wide-ranging conversation, Jay and Jared discuss the issues of navigating religion in modernity and some intellectual and philosophical resources that could be helpful to this end. Jared begins by sharing his personal spiritual journey, growing up in a culturally Christian context which he rejected in his adolescence before discovering traditional religion for the first time through an encounter with Buddhism. This transitions into a discussion of religious pluralism in modernity, which Jared claims is distinct from the pluralism one could find in pre-modern times, so developing a sophisticated response to this phenomenon is critical. To this end, Jared discusses the problems of religious exclusivism and exceptionalism, both of which he argues present serious challenges to living peacefully in the landscape of contemporary pluralism. Jared claims that various forms of “traditionalist” religious identity have weak philosophical bases and can lead to various dysfunctions. Here he distinguishes between the “Traditionalist school”—a 20th century school of philosophy of religion with representatives such as Frithjof Schuon and Seyyed Hossein Nasr—who have a robust understanding of religious pluralism, and a more general “traditionalist” attitude that has been gaining steam particular amongst young Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and Muslims which is often very intolerant of other faiths and modernity more generally. In response to this precarious situation, Jared shares two philosophies which he has found personally helpful in this context. The first is the Japanese Buddhist existentialist philosophy of the Kyoto School. These Buddhist thinkers gracefully weave together Western religious and philosophic sources with traditional Zen ideas to arrive at deep answers to life's perennial questions and to the unique problems of our age. The second is the Sufi-inflected imaginal philosophy of Henry Corbin. A 20th century orientalist-philosopher, Corbin draws on the insights of Sufi and Shi'i mystics, putting these Muslim sages into conversation with contemporary phenomenology, existentialism, and depth psychology. Like the Kyoto School, Cobin's cross-cultural thought offers robust perspectives for navigating the variety of religious forms of our day. The conversation closes with Jay drawing connections between these two perspectives and the process philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. While there are a number of points where these thinkers may be synthesized and integrated into a cohesive hole, Jay stresses that these philosophies can also stand on their own and need not be reconciled for their intellectual contributions to have profound impact. Kyoto School Resources: YouTube Playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW5F4Z2xe27hX7BC3eQcodVHL8c1BaSAfThe Kyoto School of Philosophy website: https://thekyotoschoolofphilosophy.wordpress.com Keiji Nishitani's Religion and Nothingness: https://bookshop.org/books/religion-and-nothingness-1/9780520049468   LINKS: Jared's website: https://jaredmorningstar.com‘Alif: Traditional Wisdom in Review: https://alifreview.comThe Cobb Institute: https://cobb.instituteOpen Horizons: https://www.openhorizons.org https://youtu.be/tdCQJHVumWc

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay is joined by his former student Ellen Rowland to discuss her experience as a youth minister and the values and religious perspectives of the teenagers with which she works. Ellen Rowland is Minister to Youth & Families at Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church in Little Rock Arkansas where she works directly with teenagers in a religious context, giving her unique insights into the younger generation's thoughts and feelings about religious topics. In this conversation, Jay questions Ellen on a wide range of topics relating to the experience of teenagers. She begins by sharing how the process perspective is one which is often resonant for the youths in her congregation, stating that it provides a relieving alternative to Evangelical perspectives on God which can often be heavy-handed. She explains that process theologies offer effective language for discussing hard issues and confronting suffering—things which are certainly important in teenage life. Next, Jay asks Ellen about the common assumption that younger generations are uninterested in traditional organized religion, and she explains that there is definitely some truth to this notion, but she puts it in a more positive light, showing how teenagers are very interested in religious institutions that are honest, transparent, and which can provide resources for navigating difficult experiences and growing in discipleship through social action. Ellen also explains that a theology which can effectively and compassionately navigate diversity is very important for young people, mentioning that the teens with whom she works are more concerned about the question of heaven and hell for their friends from different backgrounds than they are for themselves. Ellen and Jay conclude this discussion by focusing on the passions of teenagers—music, television, film, etc—which show their deep engagement with life and even have a spiritual character. Ellen closes the conversation with a suggestion to view process as something which is internal as much as external—a perspective which she says has had a significant impact in her own life. LINKS: Pulaski Heights United Methodist Church: https://phumc.comConversations in Process: https://cobb.institute/conversations-in-process/The Cobb Institute: https://cobb.instituteOpen Horizons: https://www.openhorizons.org https://youtu.be/QhuGfEc6YC4

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay is joined by Professor Matthew Segall to discuss the finer details of Alfred North Whitehead's process philosophy and theology, and to draw connections between Whitehead's thought and other important thinkers and religious traditions. Matt is Assistant Professor in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program at California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco where he teaches graduate level courses on process philosophy and German Idealism. His recent book, Physics of the World-Soul: Alfred North Whitehead's Adventure in Cosmology, put Whitehead's process cosmology into conversation with various contemporary scientific theories, such as general relativity and quantum theory. This book is exemplary of much of Matt's recent work, which puts ideas from process philosophy into conversation with the natural sciences. In this conversation, Matt begins by sharing a bit of his own intellectual journey, telling how he came to Whitehead through Terence McKenna. He talks about his own spiritual background, growing up in a mixed religious family and coming to appreciate eastern religious sensibilities at a young age. Along with guidance from mentors, he eventually discovered that the spiritual insights from dharmic religions which had captivated him in his adolescence actually had equivalents within Western spiritual and religious traditions. Discovering these sources of Western wisdom was what eventually led Matt to encountering Whitehead's own work, first exploring Adventures of Ideas before diving into Process and Reality. At this point, Matt and Jay dive into some of the finer details of Whitehead's philosophical vision, spending some time dwelling on his conception of God, considering how this differs from previous understandings of the divine and subverts certain Western philosophical tendencies generally. he also shares his perspectives on God as both the divine lure and the divine companion in Whitehead's thought, and also emphasizes how Whitehead's God is something that may appeal to more scientifically-minded folks due to the strong empirical emphasis in Whitehead's thought. Another important aspect to Whitehead's philosophy is his insistence on “organic realism,” which Matt presents as an alternative to either idealism or materialism. Matt and Jay conclude this conversation with a discussion of how Whitehead's thought interfaces with other important traditions such as Neoplatonism, shamanism, Buddhism, and Jung's depth psychology. Matt and Jay both emphasize that these two-way dialogues are always fruitful and that these are areas ripe for further research and conversation. Matt will be returning to Conversations in Process later this season to continue this dialogue and explore the ways in which process thought can contribute to contemporary social, cultural, and ecological issues. Stay tuned! LINKS: Matt's Blog Footnotes2Plato: https://footnotes2plato.comPhysics of the World-Soul: Alfred North Whitehead's Adventure in Cosmology: https://www.amazon.com/Physics-World-Soul-Whiteheads-Adventure-Cosmology/dp/1948609363/Conversations in Process: https://cobb.institute/conversations-in-process/Cobb Institute: https://cobb.instituteOpen Horizons: https://www.openhorizons.org https://youtu.be/WvGXwnSEmOE

On this episode of Conversations in Process, Jay is joined by Professor Jeffery D. Long to discuss the relationship between Hinduism and process thought, and also to hear Jeffery's own journey in faith and how he came to Hinduism as an American. Jeffery is a professor of religion and Asian studies at Elizabethtown College and a prolific writer who has published widely in the field of religions and philosophies of India. In his academic work, he endeavors to put Hindu philosophy and theology into conversation with process thought, showing the resonances between these two distinctive intellectual and spiritual traditions. In his most recent book, Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds (Bloomsbury Publishing, 2020), he explores how this Indian spirituality has taken root in this far away content, tackling difficult topics such as Orientalism, Hindu influence on the American consciousness, and political Hinduism in the United States. In this conversation, Jeffery talks at length about his own spiritual and religious background, dwelling on how the early loss of his father spurred questions to which he was unable to find answers in his inherited Catholic tradition, despite immense respect and appreciation for this religion. When he was eventually exposed to the Hindu tradition he was immediately struck by the profound consonance between the perspectives of these eastern scriptures and views he had come to on his own through independent spiritual exploration. This exposure eventually culminated in his conversion to Hinduism following a deep engagement with the sources of the tradition. Jeffery also discusses the relationship between Hinduism and process thought, particularly as it pertains to Alfred North Whitehead's metaphysical formulations, mentioning how Whiteheadian notions such as creativity have equivalents within a Hindu framework, and how certain theological language from the Hindu tradition lends itself to a process-relational perspective. In addition to these speculative theological topics, he explores questions of lived religion such as how Hindus are able to navigate pluralism and how one can find the Divine in “the muddiness of life” from a Hindu perspective. The conversation draws to a close with Jeffery sharing his perspective on Huston Smith's two visions of life after death in Hinduism: the individual as a drop of water returning to the ocean, or the play of life continuing on and retaining individuality. LINKS Hinduism in America: A Convergence of Worlds: https://bookshop.org/books/hinduism-in-america-a-convergence-of-worlds/9781474248457Jeffery Long's page on academia.edu: https://etown.academia.edu/JefferyLongConversations in Process: https://cobb.institute/conversations-in-process/The Cobb Institute: https://cobb.instituteOpen Horizons: https://www.openhorizons.org https://youtu.be/j75tY6HTGwc

Maybe we’re not lost in the cosmos after all. Years ago the novelist Walker Percy wrote a book called Lost in the Cosmos, in which he showed how, overly shaped by a rigidly scientistic approach to life, we humans lack any rich connection with the universe of which we are a part and, by implication, with ourselves and our neighbors. We know a lot about the periodic table and the laws of thermodynamics, but not a lot about how to live and love, creating societies of creativity and compassion. Richard Tarnas, known for his The Passion of the Western Mind and Cosmos and Psyche, presents a needed alternative. He invites us to imagine the universe as an unfolding journey, filled with multiple dimensions, both physical and archetypal; and to recognize our own embeddedness in this beautiful and dynamic whole. We are journeying within a cosmic journey. In conversation with Matthew Segall and Jay McDaniel, Tarnas shows how Whitehead influenced his thinking. He invites us to consider how the movements of the planets, no less than the movements of our hearts, can help us find our way in a vast and creative universe. We can be found, not lost, in the cosmos.

In a time of skepticism concerning religious belief, let’s talk about God and Love. Is it true that there really is a loving God, but that God does not know the future in advance? Is it true that God cannot control what happens in the world, but that God can indeed lure or guide the world into well-being if the world responds? Is it true that God shares in the experiences of each and all, as a fellow sufferer who understands? Is it true that God is Love: not human love, but rather a cosmic love within us and beyond us, everywhere at once, flowing from a personal being, beyond specific location, who listens to us, hears our prayers, and cares for us and all creatures, all of the time? Thomas Oord answers “yes” to all of these questions. The author of many books on God and love, and a talented photographer as well, he is a key leader in the “open and relational theology” movement. We spend an hour with him talking about his life, his work, his ideas, and his hopes for the future.

Are you drawn to the beauty of music and the call to social justice, neither to the exclusion of the other? You’re not alone. Rebecca Parker weaves them together into a single life, a single aspiration, with help from the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. She draws upon his idea that “the many become one” in the depths of each experience, and that God is the poet of the world and fellow sufferer who understands. She is a teacher, a pastor, a former seminary president, an author, a poet, and a cellist. Hers is a mature process theology available to all who love art and all who love justice―and to the many who feel that, deep down, these are the same love, both human and divine.

What do you know about paganism? The Harvard Pluralism Project lists Paganism as one of the seventeen prominent religious pathways in America. And yet Paganism is one of the least understood of today’s spiritual paths. Like Native American and indigenous traditions, it is an earth-centered and earth-sensitive tradition with multiple expressions, open to many ways of understanding the Divine and seeing the earth itself as sacred. In this conversation, Kathleen Reeves talks about ideas, communities, and rituals that shape her journey into paganism, as well as her special connection with trees. Living near Claremont, California, she’s a member of the Board of the Cobb Institute, the leader of their work in spiritual integration and the arts, as well as an interfaith minister, process philosopher, and Druid priestess.

Charles Eisenstein knows that something more is possible. As you listen to him you might think: “He articulates a lot of what process philosophers like Whitehead believe, but he says it even better.” Eisenstein takes us into a world of inter-becoming, mutual immanence, and sensitivity to the intrinsic value of all life, inviting us to live with reverence and care for one another and the whole of life. He offers a metaphysics for ecological civilization, and does so with grace and clarity, humor and honesty, passion and insight. One of his most important books is “The More Beautiful World Our Hearts Know is Possible.” He takes us into that world.

Let’s say you go to seminary in the mid-80s; that your sense of spirituality has always been connected with nature, especially water; that you love music and the arts; that you are theologically engaged, although you don’t quite believe in the “gotcha” God who is always judging you. You were away from the church and from religion for 35 years, but these days are different. You sense that a love of nature, a concern for justice, and a love of God can be part of a single whole. People tell you that “you think like a process theologian.” You begin to learn more and more about process theology, and how that might feed your soul and nourish a local Christian congregation, both theologically and liturgically. If your journey is anything like this, or even if it’s not, you’ll find Jeanyne Slettom’s story engaging and inspiring. She is a pioneer in the Process and Faith movement and editor of Process Century Press.

The smells of freshly baked food, the beauty of a dark but starlit sky, the ways in which we leave no room within ourselves for others: these are among the themes explored by Reverend Beth Hayward (United Church of Canada), Reverend Leslie King (Presbyterian), and Reverend Teri Daily (Episcopal) in this Christmas meditation. Process theology is, or can be, exploratory and conversational. It need not be argumentative or dogmatic, and it need not seek “final answers” to life’s questions. It can be an act of seeking wisdom together, for the sake of living wisely and compassionately in a troubled but beautiful world. Listen in and join them, creating your own Christmas meditation.

Process and the hip-hop community come together in the philosopher-musician Jon Gill, whose life story is a confluence of the two. The four elements of hip-hop – graffiti painting, break dancing, DJing, and rapping – are seen for what they are: an invitation to a different kind of community where all voices are included, especially the marginalized. To this Jon Gill adds the four main values of Zulu Nation: peace, love, unity, and having fun. For him, these insights deeply resonate with a process way of understanding and living, namely, the creation of communities that are just, sustainable, inclusive, diverse, good for the earth, and, not least of all, fun. In process as in hip-hop, the goal is not to transcend human needs for enjoyment, but to create space for their fulfillment, with no one left behind.

Dr. Sheri Kling is the world’s leading expert on Jung and Whitehead. Jung tells us that the conscious ego is like a cork floating on a deep ocean – a collective unconscious – filled with energies and treasures that can help guide us, if only we take heed and listen. Whitehead tells us that something like human experience pervades the depths of reality, and that every occasion of experience is beckoned by a Divine call to realize its fullest potential. Process theologians thus agree with Jung, adding that, amid the fragmentation we face today, both personal and social, there is a whole-making spirit at work in the world, as near to us as our breathing and our dreaming. Dr. Kling brings Jung and Whitehead together, showing that, if we listen not only to our ideas about life, but to the resonant images that come to us from the depths of our individual dreams and collective experience, there is indeed hope for us and all.

The winds of the spirit are like real wind, says Tamisha Tyler. They blow through art, music, poetry, justice, resistance, hope, sadness, and laughter. They cannot be contained in creeds, but they can be channeled by mentors, a young Jew from Nazareth, for example, in whose footsteps Tamisha Tyler seeks to walk. Or a science fiction novelist, Octavia Butler, by whose writings she is influenced. The winds point us toward a place where divinity meets humanity, where spirit meets flesh, stretching us so that our horizons include all the living ancestors: hills and rivers, trees and stars. Sometimes we ourselves become conduits for the wind, not when we speak from mere calculation, but when we speak poetically. In this podcast Tamisha Tyler, a poet and emerging theologian, shares her journey with the wind as a woman of color, faith, and courage.

Patricia Adams Farmer is one of the most influential writers for popular audiences in the international process community. Known for the way she integrates storytelling and poetry with wisdom from Whitehead and other process writers, she is the author of five books and numerous essays inspired by process theology and philosophy. A featured writer on Open Horizons and co-writer of a blog called Process Musings in Spirituality and Practice, she holds an undergraduate degree in music and three Masters degrees in theology, philosophy, and education. She lives with her husband, Ron Farmer, a New Testament scholar, in Millersberg, Missouri, where she serves as a pastor for a small Disciples of Christ church. In this interview she tells the story of her turning to process theology and how its notions of beauty, including soul beauty and moral beauty, inspire her.

As process theology evolves in the twenty-first century, one of its most important chapters is being written by Rabbi Bradley Shavit Artson, Dean of the Ziegler School of Rabbinic Studies at the American Jewish University in Los Angeles. In this podcast, he shares the story of his own turning to process theology with its unique understanding of God as a loving presence in the world; discusses the reception of God within his own Jewish community; discusses the importance of appreciation, indeed ‘holy envy,’ for the beauty of other faiths; and makes clear that the generous vision of process theology is, in its way, a generous vision for the world at large.

Robert C. (Bob) Mesle is one of the most influential and talented interpreters of process theology and philosophy in the world. His Process-Relational Philosophy: An Introduction to Alfred North Whitehead and Process Theology: A Basic Introduction have been translated into many languages, helping people around the world learn about the process outlook on life in its philosophical and religious dimensions. In this podcast you meet the author, getting to know how he came to be interested in process philosophy and theology and why it matters to him. You see why key ideas, such as beauty, creative transformation, an open future, and relational power, are especially important to his understanding. And you come to understand how Mesle himself, while deeply sympathetic to the process understanding of God, is not himself persuaded. The podcast stands on its own, and can also be an excellent companion to individuals and groups reading his books.

Christina Hutchins is an award-winning American poet, deeply influenced by the philosophy of Alfred North Whitehead. What touches her about Whitehead’s philosophy is its attunement to the impermanence, beauty, fragility, and preciousness of life. The flowing of life, she says, is like the flow of water, supportive and beautiful, but not graspable. We can live with its beauty, albeit without clenching it tightly, but instead embracing in a spirit of tenderness. Amid this love-without-gripping there can be a trust in a deeper love, holding but not coercing, conceiving but not containing, addressed as God. In this interview Christina takes us into the depths and the range of longing and loss, mystery and love, gently inviting us, but only if we wish, to share in the journey.

Oluwatomisin Oredein is a leading voice in cross-cultural theopoetics. An American of Nigerian origins, she visits with Jay McDaniel about the powerful influence of the Spirit in the Black American church as well as movements like Black Lives Matter; about the role music and poetry play in her own journey of faith; about her heartfelt discouragement over the prevalence of those who care in the wrong direction and prophetic hope for an increase in those who care in the right direction; and about the value of process theology and theopoetics, but also the limits of such movements because they have been dominated by white voices and disembodied habits of thought.

No, the Bible is not an infallible book of rules; but, yes, it can guide a life. No, God is not an all-controlling power; but, yes, God is a companion to the world’s joys and sufferings, and an indwelling lure to radical love. No, Jesus is not a man to be worshipped as an infallible deity; but, yes, he is a savior for the world, in whose compassionate way of living we can share, and who appeared after his death to his disciples, giving hope for all. These are among the ideas we hear from John B. Cobb, an American theologian, philosopher, and environmentalist, known as the preeminent proponent of process philosophy and theology. In this Conversation in Process, John Cobb, age 95, shares his journey in faith with Jay McDaniel and, along the way, reveals a poignant life in process.