God for an Old Man

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Thomas M. Dicken. God for an Old Man

GOD FOR AN OLD MAN

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Introduction

1 DISRUPTION

2 TRAUMA AND GRACE

3 THE SUMMER OF ’45

4 ABYSS

5 HOMELESSNESS

6 THE HOMELESS GOD

7 BIBLICAL IMAGES

8 THE PRESENCE OF GOD

9 TOUGH QUESTIONS

10 THE JOY OF NIGHTMARE ALLEY

11 SEEK MY FACE

12 ART

13 DYING

14 God for An Old Man

Bibliography

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Thomas M. Dicken

My wife Nancy

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I also want to say something about existentialism, the school of thought that influenced philosophical and theological thought, as well as art, literature, and memoir, in the post-World War II era. I was deeply influenced by many of those thinkers. Other schools of thought have become dominant over the years, but I continue to judge ideas from many thoughtful writers in terms of their existential impact. Today, we are perhaps more inclined to talk about the “personal” meaning or impact of an idea, rather than the “existential” meaning. This book contains much reflection about God. Some people talk about a “personal God.” As our thoughts about God become more abstract, reaching out to eons of time, abstract cosmic purposes, and extraordinary distances, the personal God begins to fade. I don’t believe we can talk about a personal God without talking about ourselves in a personal way. Those of us in the academic world tend to be shy about being too personal. In this book, I have written in a more personal way than I ever have. I have been influenced by process thought and existential thought. Most importantly, I have been shaped in my thought by my own life.

Once I had time to reflect on what had happened to me, I realized that no one was to blame. So many things had to come together all at once, a moment in time and dimensions of space that would be impossible to reproduce. A few years later I began to think of this event as a “contingency.” Everything about it could have been different. Throughout life, there are many contingencies. Everything could be different. Many contingencies are wonderful events. When they are wonderful contingencies, we sometimes call them “grace.” I have read scientists who claim that if we started the universe all over again from another Big Bang, there are so many contingencies that a different universe would emerge, standing in contrast to any random moment in the path of our present universe.

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