The Latvian folk songs include the version of God’s love and the concept of God as a creative creature, which I will see in relation to the subject of mourning, pregnant women, orphans (for the sake of clarity, orphans) as a particularly sensitive reflection of society. The poetic layer of these songs reveals Latvian mentality, basic ethical and aesthetic values, and the nation’s understanding of God’s love for the most vulnerable members of society, using vivid symbolism and metaphors.
Orphans do not question the existence of God, they see it as a comprehensive, unifying, self-respecting, compassionate, and understanding creature. We do not find proof that there is no God at all. In symbolic images, there is a proven belief in one God you understand. In this sense, there is a similarity with the assumption of process theology about God’s existence as an open concept in a situation where it is impossible to offer any other proof of God’s existence. In their lives, orphans encounter God as a responsive, creative, optimistic love; God encourages an orphan to learn, be smart, be morally complete, live with pleasure, not indulge in pessimism, and be creative.
The abstract nature of God is depicted in two ways. On the one hand, God has all the power that a creature may have; on the other hand, God does not have all the power that exists because the creatures he creates also have the power that allows them to choose good or evil opportunities in their own lives. Evil is the choice of people to be cruel to the weaker. The folklore researchers also believe that this set of folk songs belongs to the most realistic, even natural songs because they are based on the direct observation of life, express frustration with this life, and the desire to make what they want into reality seeking support from God. In this situation, God is both responsive and compassionate to a human and a person who does not interfere in events. The orphan must learn to see the positive power of the love offered by God and, together with God’s involvement, to discover human self-worth, create the beautiful, seek creative self-fulfilment and creativity as the most desirable expression of spiritual existence. God exists as the originator of this process.
A Process Theology of Hope: The Counter Apocalyptic Vision of Catherine Keller
