Integration is more than a buzzword here at The Seattle School. In fragmented times, when our soundbite-driven culture so often doubles down on that which divides us, we are called back again and again to the enduring hope in the movement of God and the fierce conviction that it is building bridges—not walls—that will restore us to who we are meant to be.
That’s part of why we were so refreshed and energized by our time with Dr. Esther Meek at our 2018 Stanley Grenz Lecture Series. With the assertion that “fragmented knowing has fragmented us,” Dr. Meek challenged us to pursue an exuberant, loving relationship with reality—one that does not deny the void or despair over it, but stares full-faced into the realities of brokenness and dis-integration because we know something of beauty and goodness, and we believe that the healing work of God is not yet complete.
“In a broken and modernist world, fragmentation happens. It is even celebrated. But human knowing and reality are integrative. […] We seek integration because we need it as breath.”
Below you can watch the full video of Dr. Meek’s lecture on “Loving Reality,” followed by her vibrant panel discussion with Dr. Dan Allender and Dr. Chelle Stearns (beginning at 44:10). May Esther’s words offer renewed inspiration to lean into that which is not yet known, marked by a posture of openness and an eye toward truth and goodness.