When we speak of worldview, we mean more than a philosophy or a set of beliefs. The German term Weltanschauung literally means “a way of looking at the world.” For us, it is the total framework through which we perceive reality, understand existence, and discern meaning. It shapes how we experience the Creator, relate with the creation, and participate in the ongoing work of healing the world. Our worldview is like a river flowing through our consciousness—it carries our memories, our sense of belonging, and our collective direction.
Why We Begin with Worldview
In our peace and development journey, we have learned that all transformation begins with worldview. Before we can reform systems or change behaviors, we must first reexamine the lenses through which we see life. Worldview informs our sense of truth and justice; it defines what is sacred, what is valuable, and what is possible. If our worldview is centered on separation—between sacred and secular, divine and human, spirit and matter—our actions will mirror fragmentation. But if our worldview is centered on relational harmony—between the Creator, creation, and all beings—then our lives will reflect peace and wholeness.
Our experience has shown that when people rediscover a worldview rooted in interconnectedness, compassion, and reverence, their hearts open to the Spirit’s transforming movement. It is from this inner transformation that outward peace and justice flow.
From Worldview to Values to Behavior
Worldview gives birth to a value system, and our values, in turn, shape our behavior patterns. This movement—from worldview to values to behavior—is the living process of culture formation. A community that believes all life is sacred will value stewardship, reciprocity, and care for creation; its behavior will reflect cooperation and sustainability. Conversely, a worldview that sees creation as a resource to be owned will nurture greed, competition, and domination.
Thus, when we speak of peacebuilding, we do not begin with policies or programs. We begin with worldview formation. We journey with people as they rediscover the sacredness of all life and as they realign their values and behaviors with this truth.
Our Panentheist Worldview
Through decades of walking with Indigenous elders, farmers, and peacebuilders, we have come to embrace a panentheist worldview—the conviction that all is in the Creator, and the Creator is in all. This understanding allows us to affirm both the transcendence and immanence of the divine. The Creator is not confined to temples or doctrines, yet is deeply present in rivers, forests, relationships, and even in the work of our hands.
For us, this is not an abstract theology but a lived experience. We encounter the divine Presence in the land that sustains us, in the tears of those who suffer, and in the laughter of children. We sense the Christ as the living manifestation of divine love within creation—calling humanity toward reconciliation and wholeness. We feel the Spirit as breath and energy moving within and among us, guiding us toward compassion and justice. Together, the Creator, the Christ, and the Spirit form not a distant hierarchy of divinity but an experiential communion of Presence: the transcendent mystery who is also immanent in every heartbeat of existence.
This worldview frees us from dualistic religion. It invites us to live as participants in the divine life rather than as mere observers of it. As theologian Jürgen Moltmann (1985) suggests, “God’s Spirit is the energy of life itself, indwelling the whole creation and uniting all things in their diversity.”
Philosophical and Religious Roots of Panentheism
Panentheism has appeared across spiritual traditions as a bridge between transcendence and immanence. In the West, philosophers such as Plato and Plotinus glimpsed a divine principle permeating the cosmos. In Christian mysticism, Meister Eckhart and Nicholas of Cusa spoke of the Deus absconditus—the hidden God who nonetheless dwells intimately within creation. In the twentieth century, process theologians like Alfred North Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne (Whitehead, 1929; Hartshorne, 1948) articulated a dynamic vision of God as relational, affected by, and responsive to the world.
In the East, the Upanishads, Taoism, and Mahayana Buddhism express similar intuitions of the divine interpenetration of all things. These diverse streams converge in the conviction that the sacred is not separate from the world but the very ground of its being. Panentheism, therefore, offers a language of faith that resonates with scientific cosmology, ecological awareness, and the mystical heart of the world’s spiritual traditions.
Panentheism and Indigenous Worldviews
Most Indigenous Peoples naturally live within a panentheistic consciousness. Among our own ancestral communities in the Philippines, the Creator—known by many names such as Bathala, Magbabaya, or Manama—is both beyond and within. The divine breath (ginhawa) animates all beings; to harm the land or another person is to wound that divine presence. The elders remind us that “the land is not ours; we belong to the land.”
In our work with Indigenous elders, we have witnessed how this worldview fosters balance and reciprocity. Every act of harvest is a prayer; every ritual of reconciliation is a recognition of divine immanence in human relationships. In this sense, Indigenous spirituality and panentheism meet in a shared awareness: we live, move, and have our being in the divine (Acts 17:28).
Panentheism in the 21st Century
In this age of ecological crisis and spiritual disconnection, panentheism offers a pathway toward healing. It helps us move from domination to partnership, from isolation to interdependence, from consumption to communion. Modern science now confirms what Indigenous elders and mystics have long known—that everything is interconnected and alive. Panentheism gives spiritual grounding to this scientific insight, calling us to live in reverent participation with the evolving cosmos.
As process theologian John Cobb (2007) writes, “If God is in the world and the world is in God, then salvation must include the healing of the world itself.” This echoes our own experience: that the Creator’s redemptive work, manifested through the Christ and sustained by the Spirit, is not confined to human souls but extends to the regeneration of all creation.
To live panentheistically in the 21st century is to awaken daily to the sacred presence that breathes through everything. It is to live humbly, justly, and gratefully—knowing that the divine is not far away, but closer than our own breath.
References
Cobb, J. B. (2007). Jesus’ Abba: The God Who Has Not Failed. Minneapolis, MN: Fortress Press.
Hartshorne, C. (1948). The Divine Relativity: A Social Conception of God. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Moltmann, J. (1985). God in Creation: A New Theology of Creation and the Spirit of God. San Francisco, CA: Harper & Row.
Whitehead, A. N. (1929). Process and Reality. New York, NY: Macmillan.
