Faith & Life Inspirational Message

There are so many different ways to think about the spiritual life.   And of course, in our country there are so many different variations of religious experiences.   There are liberals and conservatives.   There are fundamentalists and Pentecostals.   Besides the dizzying variety of Christian traditions, there are many different non-Christian traditions.   There are the major traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and so on.   There are the slightly more obscure traditions, such as Sikhism, Jainism, etc.   And then there are more fringe groups and, even, pseudo-religions.   There are defining doctrines and religious practices.   Some of these are specific to a particular tradition or a few traditions, such as the koan , which is used in Zen Buddhism for example.   Other defining doctrines or practices are common across the religious board.   Something like meditation would be a good example.   Christians meditate; B...

For those of us in the Christian tradition, we are in Advent Season.   Advent is a four-week lead-up to Christmas.   I must admit, I enjoyed learning about this stuff since Quakers are not very liturgical.   I am pretty confident I never heard about the “liturgical year” until my college days.   It was that time in college when I became aware of what so many who grow up in the Roman Catholic tradition, Episcopal and Lutheran traditions, take for granted.   Advent is the beginning of the Christmas season and matches, in some real way, Lent as the lead-up to the Easter season. The primary theme of Advent is “preparation.”   People are supposed to begin the preparation for the coming of Christmas.   It is easy these days to see how bent-out-of-shape our preparation has become.   These days preparation is likely to mean the beginning stress of Christmas shopping, etc.   I already begin to sense the frenzy in some voices of those who talk about ...

On its own the title for this inspirational journey makes no sense.   Of course, the words are understandable.   Everyone knows what ordinariness is.   And sweetness is a no-brainer!   But together, who knows?   What is missing is a context.   Actually, context is more important than we usually think it is.   So often, meaning is gained when we know the context.   For this phrase, “ordinariness into sweetness” (the text), to mean anything, we need other surrounding words (providing the “con,” which means “with,” for the text!).   Those surrounding words form a context.   They would shape to how we are supposed to understand “ordinariness into sweetness.” Let me build the context by making suggestions.   The first suggestion is when I came up with the phrase, “ordinariness into sweetness,” I was thinking of Halloween.   No doubt, now the “get” half of it!   Halloween---candy---sweetness!   And you are exactly rig...

We anticipate another Labor Day for yet another year.   As holidays go, it is one of the least important for me.   Maybe it is because I grew up on a dairy farm, so Labor Day was pointless; we still milked the cows twice that day just like any other day!   But clearly, it is special in many ways for many people.   And I am always intrigued by the history of a special day.   Labor Day was declared a national holiday in 1894 by President Grover Cleveland.   The traditional day of celebration apparently was chosen by some unions in New York.   Since I have spent some time abroad, I know the traditional global day of celebrating labor is May 1.   Sometimes these international days of celebration can lead to political protest and disruptions.   It seems President Cleveland was concerned about that, so he wanted to avoid that May date.   So the first Monday in September was a safer alternative.   There are typical associations with ...

I cannot recall the first time I heard the term, double-belongers.   I probably did not even know what it meant.   It is not a term I see very much; I think it is still fairly rare, at least in the circles I spend time.   I have no idea whether it is a technical term in the theological world, but it does not matter.   It makes some sense to me, even though I am not sure that I am a double-belonger.             Fortunately I learned some time ago that I could learn a great deal from people who are not like me and from traditions that are not my own.   The person who introduced this term to me, Paul Knitter, was until recently a professor at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.   I know Union.   In fact, when I was heading off to seminary, Union was one of the places I gave very serious consideration.   It was globally famous even in those days.   Before Union, Knitter taught for...

The phrase, freedom of exploration, I read somewhere.   I have no idea, since I read fairly widely.   I do remember when I saw it that my interest was piqued.   Perhaps it is because I have some interest in the process of innovation that it intrigued me.   But I also thought about my work in the discipline of spirituality.   Let’s look at both of these arenas.             The freedom of exploration seems like a suggestion or, even, advice to me.   I can imagine saying it to someone.   “Go ahead, explore freely.”   I do not know how you could order or command someone to do this.   It feels more like permission.   “Go ahead.”   There is an element of encouragement that I very much like.             I value both words, freedom and explore.   Our American culture talks a great deal about freedom.   It is assumed ...

I love what I do.   I have been privileged to be involved in spirituality for many years now.   I have done it through teaching and a variety of what I like to call ministry venues.   I like the Latin basis of our word, ministry.   Literally, it means to “serve.”   I am content to think that I have spent a great deal of my life serving.                I am convinced that is one of the aspects of the Christian journey.   Everyone who walks this path has an obligation to serve.   But I also am sure that it is not a Christian thing.   I know Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Hindus and others encourage the same walk of faith.   I suspect part of the reason service is a given in these major religious traditions is the fact that they all are grounded in love.   Love inevitably issues forth in service.   Love will put us all at the feet of others.   Sometimes we literally wi...

My favorite monk, Thomas Merton, makes an interesting distinction in his book, No Man Is an Island .   Merton differentiates tradition and convention.   Merton talks about tradition in very positive terms.   I like the way Merton defines tradition.   “Tradition is living and active…Tradition does not form us automatically: we have to work to understand it…Tradition really teaches us to live and shows us how to take full responsibility for our own lives.   Thus tradition is often flatly opposed to what is ordinary, to what is mere routine.”   I will unpack this lengthy quotation as we consider the meaning and impact of tradition in our spiritual lives.             But first let’s get a sense for how Merton uses the idea of convention.   Then it will become clear how he differentiates convention and tradition.   “Convention,” says Merton, “is passive and dead…Convention is accepted passively,...

There are so many different ways to think about the spiritual life.   And of course, in our country there are so many different variations of religious experiences.   There are liberals and conservatives.   There are fundamentalists and Pentecostals.   Besides the dizzying variety of Christian traditions, there are many different non-Christian traditions.   There are the major traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and so on.   There are the slightly more obscure traditions, such as Sikhism, Jainism, etc.   And then there are more fringe groups and, even, pseudo-religions.   There are defining doctrines and religious practices.   Some of these are specific to a particular tradition or a few traditions, such as the koan , which is used in Zen Buddhism for example.   Other defining doctrines or practices are common across the religious board.   Something like meditation would be a good example.   Christians meditate;...