Book Report: Thank God for Evolution, by Michael Dowd

Last week, Larry and I finished reading the above book. It took us a couple months to read for several reasons: 1) It is an extensive and thought-provoking work, 370 pp. with fairly small print; 2) we only read while traveling for work; 3) we paused half way through for some lighter fare.

For me, this is one of the most transformative books I've read in recent years . . . definitely equal in influence to If Grace Is True, which I wrote about in an earlier blog. Dowd presents the entirety of cosmic evolutionary history as sacred story, one that continues to emerge, guided by Divine Reality, an ongoing story of which each of us is a part.

He honors the traditional sacred stories by nesting them within a larger story, reinterpreting them in refreshing and life-giving ways. Larry and I laughed out loud, for instance, when Dowd related his present application of his Pentecostal "speaking in tongues" gift. Nothing of our heritage is discarded, all has value when understood in its context, and REALized for the present. (Dowd's definition of REALize is making otherworldly religious concepts real in the world of our actual experience.)

Dowd finds the evolutionary paradigm useful in observing all areas of life . . . cosmic, biological, societal, cultural, physical, moral, spiritual, ethical, psychological, technological. There is no aspect of our lives that is not moving and evolving. All is interwoven and interdependent, moving forward together.

He calls us to commit to lives of integrity, humility, authenticity, responsibility and service to the Whole. Moving beyond post-modern relativism, Dowd insists that we can "once again speak boldly and prophetically about right and wrong, and do so without appealing to ancient texts... A thing is right if it helps individuals and collectives to grow in trust, authenticity, responsibility, and service. A thing is wrong if it tends otherwise."

The ethics of Jesus have always been important to me. Dowd's call to living with integrity embraces these practices at a depth missed or ignored by many self-proclaimed Christians in America today.

In years past I've been troubled by the insistence that we "believe in faith" that which we can not understand. It seemed that to be a good Christian, one had to check one's brain along with one's coat in the church vestibule. How wonderfully refreshing to be invited to observe and learn of God's ongoing revelation with all the gifts we have been given!

I challenge anyone to read the book in its entirety. You may not agree with all of Dowd's ideas, but you will certainly be invited to see our beautiful world in new and sacred ways, and to embrace your life with joy and integrity.

Brief book review

I recently finished reading Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen. I'm glad I didn't buy it. I thought it was mostly fluff, a mixture of adolescent humor, dissing her family and trashing her heritage with a few of her insights (nothing new) thrown in at the end.

Perhaps I'm too hard on her. Perhaps my response says more about me than about her. So be it.

Anybody want my copy? First come first served. It was given to me and I'll be happy to pass it on!

-- Post From My iPhone