I have written and put aside five essays for this post. Each time I finished one, someone brought up concerns I had not addressed.
I finally decided to simply report what friends were telling me, as their questions seemed more important than my intellectual answers. They reveal we are in a period of great change. I have never had so many people talk to me openly about what they believe or do not believe. Usually, creeds are mentioned, but rituals and social positions come up as well.
I also have never had so many people report having life-shaking religious experiences. They talk about having no words to explain being literally overpowered emotionally and physically. These happen unexpectedly while doing something ordinary like going on a walk, receiving Communion, or witnessing the birth of a child. The recipients come away feeling “there is something bigger happening out there “ that forces them to be more honest about themselves.
Most make some reference to Donald Trump, usually about his exposing troubling conflicts between Christians. They are seeking solace in a more satisfactory spiritual life.
Those talking to me most frequently say they “find God in nature” or “feel they are in church” while walking in the woods, fishing, or hunting. For some, it’s running in the zone, contemplating icons or other forms of religious art, meditating before a candle or a campfire, or using Zen or other Buddhist practices. Very often it involves music.
At this point, I’m uneasy about the lack of content in the conversations. Religious life is described as a continuing journey or search. Finding it difficult to put their experiences into words, people resort to feelings rather than thoughts. “Compassion” will be used, but, again, it’s a plastic word people can fill in any way they please nowadays.
The lessons learned seem to be brought to the experience rather than being inspired by them. The spiritual exercise or happening endorses what you already believe or want to believe.
For instance, when people report a sunset or a hike conveys the harmony in all of God’s creation, I wonder why it doesn’t provoke thoughts about survival of the fittest. Why does feeling one with nature inspire a desire to preserve every species rather than the need to overpower he weak in a dog-eat-dog environment? The content seems to come from some other place. That’s what I want to address in the coming weeks.
