Even in BCE's Nazareth Manifesto DVD someone says, "we've over-spiritualized" the message of Jesus. What they most likely mean is that we have taken away any "reality" from the message--we've explained Jesus out of reality and into alternate or future realities. They're also most likely attacking the common thought that Jesus' message and life is only about getting into heaven and the formulas many have used to reduce Jesus' message. Though I agree, I think we're hurting ourselves in the long run by continuing to speak disparagingly about spirituality.
Why should we continue to perpetuate the notion (and live with the implications)that spirituality stands in contrast with action? Do we really think that spirituality is navel-gazing that only functions to make us feel good on the inside? If we let this continue we're allowing a wedge to be driven between spirit and body. How can we have the wisdom, guidance, and guts to act with courage if we have not connected with the spirituality of Jesus' message?
I contend that a "spiritual" understanding of Jesus' message, by its very nature, demands action because spirituality is the understanding and practice that brings both the inward and outward together in unity. Without it we are divided selves.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
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2 comments:
I always think of the spiritual life like a heart. Our spiritual disciplines and personal devotions are like a heart when it turns inward to attract the blood from the body; but in order to function properly, the heart must expel fresh blood. This is action. Action is the fruit of a well-tuned (or pruned, rather) and maintained spiritual life.
Great imagery, Joe. I've also found breathing, inhale & exhale, helpful to picture that process.
Richard Rohr's book Contemplation in Action is a great book along those lines.
Also, Parker Palmer's The Active Life is fantastic.
We're both pointing, I think, toward actions that have their fuel-source located in God's abiding spirit within. I find, however, that compartmentalization in our personal lives tends to wall off God's spirit from reaching all corners of our existence (to a lesser extent for younger generations). Many of us keep our dividers because we would be flooded and overwhelmed if they were lifted. Yet not only does this make us less effective as disciples, but it cuts off God's energy from our actions.
To go back to Parker Palmer, he speaks (in Hidden Wholeness I think) about avoiding attempts to spend our energy trying to "balance"--which evokes the image of juggling--or a hundred individual compartments in life on a scale and you're constantly scurrying and swapping them around, trying to keep the whole thing from tumbling over. Instead, he proposes spending our energy pursuing a wholeness that seeks the center. Silence, solitude, and meditation help us get to the center, which is Christ--who, is our strength. When I do find myself centered in Christ (which is far less frequent than I hope for), compartments are less necessary because my trust is not in my own boundaries and balancing act, but in God's presence. That helps me to live from the inside out, AND be more open and available to engage the world around me.
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