The church needs less prescription and more spirituality
Recent posts about creedal beliefs (https://www.patheos.com/blogs/loveopensdoors/2024/04/a-creedal-faith-after-deconstruction/ ), I have the following thoughts about deconstruction:
Recently, we have An act of deconstruction, especially from the perspective of faith.Indeed, apparently The number of people who identify as having no religious affiliation or as “no religion” is increasing.
The idea of asking questions about our faith is not a new phenomenon, nor is the idea new. Of demolition. Philosopher Jacques Derrida is often associated with this modern society. concept.
According to Pragati Kariv (https://www.sociologygroup.com/deconstruction- Theory/ )
Deconstruction theory originates from the work of philosopher Jacques Derrida. theory Literary analysis against the assumptions of structuralism.its main My goal is Identifying relationships between text and meaning (Kalive, 2021)
For Derrida, deconstruction was a means of exploring the relationship between texts. meaning. His work “asserts that meaning is not static but continually evolving.” and change across time and space. ” (Kalive, 2021) This is linguistically important Because language is always changing and meanings change from year to year.for For example, the word gay had a very different meaning in 1904 than it does now. 2024. Contextual criticism is important in Bible studies and requires consideration of: The sociopolitical and historical context in which something is written.
In this post, I would like to talk a little about Reconstruction through the lens of faith without religion, with a focus on the development of healthy spirituality.
early desert meditations
In the Christian tradition, 4th century BC, we saw a desert “father” movement (there were also women). Fearing retaliation or persecution, early Christians went to the “desert” to pray and to think and meditate on the scriptures. The Western Benedictine Order and the Rule of St. Benedict arose from this early tradition.
The first figure in the monastic desert movement was Paul of Thebes, but it was Antony the Great who began what would become the Desert Fathers. Around 270 AD, Antonio is thought to have heard a Sunday sermon that said he could reach perfection by selling all his property, giving the proceeds to the poor, and following Jesus. He followed the advice and took the further step of moving deep into the desert in search of complete solitude (Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desert_Fathers ).
Early desert parents can teach us a lot about the importance of spirituality in religion. “Their journey into the desert was an exercise in increasing their conscious awareness of God’s presence and realizing that worldly pleasures bring little long-term satisfaction. Their purpose was to It was about experiencing God in every moment and activity by reducing sexuality and dedicating myself to regular prayer and self-inquiry exercises.Walters Paintner, 2020)
hard stop affirmation
Some people may read my heading for this essay and think I have lost my religion. I haven’t. As I matured in my faith, I tended to focus on what I felt was most important to my faith experiences, relationships, and developing a healthy, mature spirituality.
A person can memorize every verse of the Bible and eloquently pray the “Right Jesus” prayer all day long, but if one does not know the depth of one’s spiritual being, they are just emptiness without a cultivated consciousness. It is nothing more than a vessel. In fact, I feel that we all need deep mystical experiences and regular spiritual awakenings in order to truly live with the Holy Spirit. For this reason, I never spent time memorizing scripture.
I still affirm the Apostles’ and Nicene Creeds and the theology associated with them, but many of the people I speak to most days don’t really care. What the “Nobody” is looking for is the interpersonal aspect.
For the Christian church today, its leaders need to lean into the heartbeat of the “unworthy” and the growing group of “spiritual but not religious” seekers among them. (look This article from The Atlantic and This article from Psychology Today
Incorporating spirituality into religion
The church can still maintain its orthodoxy and help seekers develop a deeper relationship with their spiritual selves.
5 ways to find a sense of spirituality in religion
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- consider contemplative traditions
- Think about mystical traditions
- consider pluralism
- Thinking about deep ecumenism
- Learn how to cultivate inner peace by taking time to center yourself
Let’s take a quick look at these.
Every religious tradition has a contemplative tradition, and alongside contemplative traditions there are also mystical traditions. Here you will find seekers who delve deep into their traditions and think deeply about spiritual concepts and their relationship with God, regardless of how God is perceived. Here I think not only of Christian monks and mystics, but also especially of Rumi in the Sufi tradition of Islam and Buddha in the Buddhist tradition.
Two names that come to mind when I think of pluralism and deep ecumenism are Diana Eck and Matthew Fox.
Professor Eck is the founder of the Pluralism Project at Harvard Divinity School (https://pluralism.org/dr-diana-eck ). According to Harvard University’s website, the Pluralism Project is “an ongoing research effort that studies and interprets religious diversity and interfaith relations in the United States.” I have been teaching this project in my World Religions class and have found it to be a powerful and easily accessible bridge to learning about the world’s different religious traditions.
Matthew Fox made us aware of the profound concept of ecumenism when he introduced the world to One River, Many Wells: Wisdom Springing from Global Faiths in 2004. In this book, Fox points out: It is about moving toward the experience of the heart, rather than clinging to doctrines that are easily divided within religious traditions.https://www.matthewfox.org/ ).
Therefore, centering ourselves sometimes means working outside of our faith or spiritual tradition. I often write about your spiritual practice. Your spiritual practice may begin by going to therapy and working through past hurts, worries, and doubts. Meaning cannot be created in a world of broken systems. People often seek external validation without actually affirming the goodness within themselves. Treatment can help with this. Once you reach a place where you feel emotionally safe, you can begin to learn more about your spiritual self.
The Christian church is now part of this broken system. It creates meaning by defining beliefs that are often divorced from the seeker’s needs for meaning. We need to consider new theologies, new understandings of human nature, and an openness to inquiry that cannot be found within prescribed faiths.
reference:
Lohr, R. (2015, October 12). two halves of life. Retrieved April 28, 2024, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/two-halfs-life-2015-10-12/
Walters Paintner, C. (January 31, 2020). Desert mothers and fathers showed that all life is sacred. Center for action and reflection. Retrieved April 29, 2024, from https://uscatholic.org/articles/202001/discover-the-sacredness-of-life-with-the-desert-mothers-and-fathers/
