Recently I
had a phone call from a neighbor, inviting me out for a golf date. I
don't really play golf, so I had to decline. But, we had not spoken for a
while, so I extended the conversation to ask about his summer plans and what
his kids would be doing in the fall. Then I suggested that he and his
wife might find some interest in some of the things we are doing at Central
Presbyterian Church. I offered to take them to one of our church services
and to introduce them to our Senior Pastor.
"Jim,
thanks," said my neighbor, "but you have to understand that I am
spiritual, but not religious, and my wife feels the same way. But, thanks
for asking."
Later, I
wondered about my neighbor's response. What does it mean to be
"spiritual, but not religious"? Does it just mean not being
denominational?
I remembered
that my neighbor once told me that he finds God in the sunsets, in walks on the
beach, in vistas from mountain tops. Clearly, for him, God is in
Nature. But does that mean that people who go to church ---- the people
who are "religious", like me, are sort of like monastic hermits who
never see beyond their church building? Does he think we don't see God in
the sunset? Perhaps he thinks we do not recognize that God is in Nature
when we read the Bible's Psalms and Creation stories.
Being
privately "spiritual but not religious" just seems like eating only
snack food. There is nothing very challenging about having deep feelings
of inspiration from viewing a beautiful sunset, or viewing the countryside from
a mountain top. For some folks, spirituality might also arise from
forming gratifying relationships with other people, perhaps even just from
helping them!
These Nature
experiences are wonderful and uplifting, but do they feed our rational
side? I think my relationship with God becomes rich and profound only
when we dig deeply into a religious tradition that we did not invent
emotionally ourselves ---- one not invented merely for our own delight.
Could one say
that being privately spiritual, and nothing more, is to be a bit
self-centered? Such people may find ancient religious doctrine dull,
while finding their own easily fed emotional lives much
more interesting.
So, what
difference would it have made if my neighbor had said that he is religious,
not merely spiritual? In my view, he would be saying that he had been
shaped by "a mighty cloud of witnesses," sharing the wisdom and faith
of many generations. Importantly, that he is someone brave enough to
encounter God in a living, human community.
We are aware
that when we least expect it, any of us can suddenly wonder why we are
here and where we are going, but church involvement gives us a
way to work that out. And when life gets scary, my neighbor might want
the company of someone "religious" holding his hand, saying a prayer
and simply putting up with him, just as many church people try to do.
I know that
some people are not going to be comfortable entering traditional church
buildings or theological traditions. To understand the ritual of worship
in a traditional church setting requires some prior learning ---- some familiarity
with Scripture and basic theological concepts. But, perhaps one of the
benefits of adding some "religion" to one's "spirituality",
is that we move closer to discovering God's purpose for us ---- not just to be
a spectator of beautiful sunsets.
Nearly 30% of
Americans say they have no religious affiliation, according to a Gallup
survey. But more than 90% of Americans still believe in God, or in a
universal spirit, according to Gallop research, even as fewer claim a
particular religious "brand" or denominational identity. While
more people seem to be opting not to align themselves with a
particular religious denomination or tradition, their interest in faith of some
kind remains keen. Some folks just don't like the aura of past-founded
religious denominations, where the church appears to outsiders to be like a
private club.
This
growing disinterest in theological dogma and abstract
tradition, reminds one of earlier cycles in American religious
practice. For example, consider the 19th Century Transcendentalist
Movement, which some of us may remember puzzling over in college literature
courses.
"Transcendentalism"
is a cluster of ideas in literature and philosophy that developed in the 1830's
and 1840's. The Enlightenment had come to new rational conclusions about
the natural world, based mostly on science experimentation and logical
thinking. However, the pendulum then began swinging to a less rational,
more intuitive, more-in-touch-with-the-senses, way of thinking. As one of
the thought-leaders of the day said, "God gave humankind the gift of
intuition, the gift of insight, the gift of inspiration ---- why waste such
gifts?"
Among the
core beliefs of the Transcendentalists was an "ideal spirituality"
that transcends the physical and empirical, and is realized only through
the individual's intuition, rather than through the doctrine
of the established religions. Transcendentalists longed for a more
intense spiritual experience. Some of the major figures in the movement
were Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, Walt Whitman and Emily
Dickinson. They were strong believers in the power of the individual ----
they were champions of individualism. They believed in the ability of
mankind unassisted to realize almost anything.
Transcendentalism,
in fact, is said to really have begun as a religious movement, an attempt to
promote the idea that humankind is capable of direct experience of the
Holy. It was a reaction to the Unitarian rationalist view that the truths
of religion are arrived at only by a process of empirical study and by rational
inference from historical and natural evidence. William Henry Channing
(1810 - 1844) viewed Transcendentalism as a pilgrimage from the
"idolatrous worlds of creeds and rituals, to the Temple of the Living God
in the soul."
However,
Orestes Brownson, a contemporary of Emerson, thought he saw
"transcendental selfishness" in such views. "Are all
things in the universe to be held subordinate to the individual soul?
Shall a man take himself as the center of the universe, and say all things are
for his use, and count them of value only as they contribute to his growth or
well-being? According to this system,'I am everything; all else is
nothing, at least nothing except what it derives from the fact that it is
something to me.' "
In the end,
don't we need to be both spiritual and religious? I find
that each strengthens the other. But they both take some work. Some
people may think the heavy lifting is just in the theology of church
participation. However, being simply "spiritual" isn't always
easy. Sometimes finding God in Nature is a struggle. Do you
remember Hurricane Sandy? !! Did you find God in that event?
___________________________________________________________________________
These thoughts
are brought to you by CPC's Adult Spiritual Development Team, hoping to
encourage you to pursue some personal growth this Spring at CPC.
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