One of the
things I most like about writing this inspirational thing is how it forces me
to live life more attentively. I do not
know of any major spiritual tradition which does not say one needs to live
attentively. The other amazing thing
about myself is how easy it is not to live attentively. This is probably true for many of you, too.
It is easy
for me to fake out myself. If I am not
thinking about it, I assume that I would be living attentively. If I am honest, I have a pretty high view of
myself. By that, I don’t mean I am a
walking, prideful, arrogant guy. I don’t
think that. By having a high view of
myself, I mean that I see myself as pretty capable---pretty “with it” when it
comes to functioning in the world.
At one level
this is probably true. I am educated at
a level higher than the average American.
By now I also have lived long enough to have accumulated significant
experience. And the list goes on. What I have achieved has been a mixture of
some ability and, surely, some luck.
That is not different than most people.
But having a
high view of myself means I can fool myself.
Instead of living attentively, I might be prone to live more
selfishly. Instead of being open to what
is, I might see things from a warped, self-centered perspective. That does not mean I see things wrongly, but
I do often warp the way I see things.
And this is contrary to a truly spiritual way of going about life.
So that’s why
I like this discipline of writing. It
forces me to live attentively---or, at least, to try to live attentively. That includes a fairly broad range of
things. I pay attention to people, to
situations, and many other things.
Another key place for me to pay attention is reading pretty widely. When I do this, I find interesting and,
sometimes, challenging ways of understanding myself and my world. And yesterday I hit one of those interesting
things.
I was reading
an interesting online article, entitled, ““What Atheists can Learn from
Religion.” It is written by a British
atheist, Alain de Botton. But he is an
open-minded atheist, which attracted me to what he had to say. I wanted to be open to how he would challenge
me. Basically de Botton says he does not
believe God exists, but understands those situations when God is needed.
For example, de Botton says that “God may be dead, but the urgent
issues which impelled us to make him up still stir and demand resolutions…do
not go away…” Clearly, I am not in the
same boat as de Botton. I do believe God
exists, although that does not solve the urgent issues any more than de
Botton’s atheistic starting point. Oddly
enough, the point is not whether God exists.
The point is urgent issues exist and those issues demand resolutions.
So what would these issues be? De Botton does not cite them, but it seems
easy enough to identify a few of them.
They are the “big” issues of our world.
One issue is the whole global warming phenomenon. Of course, I know there are many people who
do not believe this is an issue. And lucky
for me and sad for the world, I probably won’t live long enough for this to
affect me. But with luck, my little
granddaughter can live until the next century---yes, until 2100! Will she be so lucky?
De Botton and I both would agree that God will not step in
and magically change the global warming situation. De Botton does not think there is a God and I
don’t think that God works that way.
Global warming is a human problem that we have the God-given ability to
resolve. But will we?
This brings me to another quotation of de Botton. I like him because he can admire the strength
of religion. He says, “Religions merit
our attention for their sheer conceptual ambition; for changing the world in a
way that few secular institutions ever have. They have managed to combine
theories about ethics and metaphysics with practical involvement in education,
fashion, politics, travel, hostelry, initiation ceremonies, publishing, art and
architecture -- a range of interests which puts to shame the scope of the achievements
of even the greatest and most influential secular movements and individuals in
history.”
I love the way de Botton affirms the “sheer conceptual
ambition” he sees in religion. That
gives us God-believers a mighty challenge.
We need (along with God’s help) to continue changing the world. How about working for world peace? How about raising the standard of living of
the poor and derelict in our neighborhoods and in the far reaches of our
world?
I am bold enough to believe that we can pray the Lord’s
Prayer and actually mean it! Let’s
boldly pray that “Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done.” In our religious boldness let us begin to
pray that prayer and to do that work of Kingdom-building. This is truly when God is needed. And I believe I and you are needed, too. Let’s go!
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