Journeeman.

I have been reading Paul Tillich’s book “The Courage To Be.”

As I complete it I thought it would be worth creating a spoken word that captures the final thoughts of this theologians thinking.

══════════════════════════════════════

BEYOND THEISM

“Only if the God of theism is transcended can the anxiety of doubt and meaninglessness be taken into the courage to be.”

The conventional idea of God—as a being among other beings—cannot stand when doubt arises. When God is reduced to an object or a concept, He can be denied, and all meaning collapses with Him. To find true strength, we must reach beyond this limited image.

…

BEYOND MYSTICISM

“Mysticism does not take seriously the concrete and the doubt concerning the concrete… it does not solve the problem of meaninglessness.”

Pure mysticism leaps into the infinite ground of being, but leaves behind the world of finite values, relationships, and struggle. It does not restore the meaning we have lost. The God above God does not erase our earthly life—He is the source from which all meaning can be restored.

…

THE PARADOX OF ENCOUNTER

“God is neither object nor subject… nearer to the I than the I is to itself.”

The God above God is not “someone” we can point to or define. He is beyond all categories, yet present in every moment of encounter. This is the mystery of faith: speaking to the Unspeakable, trusting in the One who is closer than our own thoughts.

…

UNITY OF COURAGE

“It unites and transcends the courage to be as a part and the courage to be as oneself.”

This experience frees us from two extremes:

Losing ourselves in the crowd or system.

Losing our connection in isolation.

Rooted in the ground of being, we belong to the whole, yet remain fully ourselves. We participate in the infinite without being swallowed by it.

…

FAITH IN THE DARK

“Absolute faith… is the courage of despair and the courage in and above every courage.”

This faith is not a separate belief or feeling. It lives within doubt, under anxiety, through the loss of old symbols. It is the power that says “Yes” to existence—even when providence feels like chance, immortality like fantasy, and judgment like illusion.

…

THE ULTIMATE TRUTH

“The courage to be is rooted in the God who appears when God has disappeared in the anxiety of doubt.”

When all familiar images and certainties fall away, what remains is not nothingness—but the depth of being itself.

This is the God above God:

the hidden foundation that gives us the courage to stand,

even when everything else has faded.