I came to reflect on this idea as I was sitting in an open field, after jumping out of a plane. My tandem skydiving parter enthusiastically began to recount his ascetic pursuits in Eastern thought when he found out that I taught philosophy. Our conversation prompted me to think about one of the fundamental differences between Christianity and most Eastern religions, all of which hold that reality is fundamentally impersonal and advocate the dissolution of the individual into this reality. Christianity, on the other hand, claims that reality, at its most basic level, is personal and that the individual is unique and distinct in its relationship to ultimate reality.
In some ways the difference between embracing a personal or impersonal reality, is the difference between a friendly and responsive world or a cold disinterested universe. Some days, when natural disasters are more than a distant memory away, one may find it easy to dismiss the world as a hostile, uncaring foe. For the most part, I feel that my experience in the world though is one where my needs are responded to on some level. There is food when I am hungry, shelter when I am cold, and love when I am lonely. I am not saying that grasping these basic human needs always proves an easy task, only that our universe seems to contain the needed resources.
Perhaps one can see how the personal nature of the universe affirmed within Christianity may be an extension of the needs of humanity and the offerings of the universe. We are intimate beings who desire to relate to others on a personal level, the question is does our universe respond to this need?