Spirituality and your sacred story

continued from my examiner column, www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-and-your-sacred-story

Have you ever written your spiritual autobiography; how and why you came to believe what you believe and what’s important to you? Think about what your first inkling of the presence of God was? What were your earliest teachings like? Has anything changed in your spiritual/religious life since then and how? What was your conception of the sacred at high and low points in your life? When did you feel most connected/supported and how/where are you now? You might wish to comment . . .

One of the masters’ level courses at seminary required us to make genealogies. We studied family systems and family systems therapy. This was a fascinating exercise. You could see instances where famous siblings became estranged, or certain individuals remained single, and those patterns repeated themselves in the professional well-known examples we evaluated- like Emily Dickinson to the Kennedy's. There were physiological issues which repeated –like alcoholism, mental illness, out of wedlock births, or child-less couples. Death patterns emerged- such as suicides.

Talents such as music, writing, speaking etc. showed up. Some say it’s the family karma, others would attribute specific traits to genetics. Do check out the Bert Hellinger's website link in my examiner column. Buddhist monk and prolific author Thich Nhat Hahn tells of pausing before the photos of ancestor monks and honoring them. I love that. Our upstairs foyer was what I called 'gallery of the ancestors' -full of photos. During our recent move, photos & albums filled 13 smaller boxes.

What physical traits do you bear? Whom do you look like? I look very much like my paternal grandmother’s one OstFriesen sister in profile who was also child-less, married to a kind, intelligent pastor, and held many similar interests. Then, I look keenly at my maternal Irish grandmother's oil portrait coming out of my office, and we share the gaze and smile. The intuitive gift links us.

One branch of my family tree goes back to nearly Viking days. With 1-27th International Day of Commemoration of the Memory of Victims of the Holocaust, I recall our family had to prove they were not Jewish; yet the Nazi SS troops burned down the top of our windmill which was used by Allied forces as a landmark to a hidden landing strip across the channel.

My grandmother’s great grandfather several ‘great grandfathers’ back, had placed boulders along the edge of the property to deter the Vikings from landing there near the North Sea, she related. An ancient Celtic stone church was built on an island in the North Sea, visible on a clear day and walkable when the tides were out. (It is thought half my tree was likely Celtic in origin.) During a fierce storm in the late 1700’s, the entire island sank. Sailors going over the site reported hearing church bells. She was the keeper and teller of the family legends. Sunday dinners were a major experience listening to her fascinating tales and treasuring her wisdom. Do you have family legends? Is there a matriarch or patriarch in your family who collects and tells them? What a treasure. Take time to jot down your own notes of each ancestor as a clue to who you are now. What were they like? You?

Worthington area psycho-therapist, Jan Arthur, stresses the importance of resilience for the now of our lives; not tomorrow or next month, but in the right now. Sometimes its the only way we get through. It’s because we know change happens, good and bad, and resilience helps us cope in a healthy response to what is going on. How is your storyline shaping up lately? What do you do to maintain resilience? What are your goals looking like and how do you write the next chapter of your script?

[Photo by Sylius from 1908, Wikimedia Commons Free Usage. Family of Volodymyr Barvinok, Ukrainian scientist, writer, participant of Ukrainian independent government 1918-19. Left to right: Volodymyr Barvinok, Evhenija Barvinok (his wife), parents of Evhenia, Natalka and Stepan Volovik and , Volodymyrs son Boris, Volodymyrs grandmother, Volodymyrs parents Anna and Ivan Barvinok]

Interspirituality and Dr. King's dream

continued from my examiner column . . . http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/king-s-speech-and-what-is-inter-spirituality-101 . . .

Brother Teasdale was not afraid to call it the way it is. If we fill ourselves with filth, it’s going to come out of us. Broken environments are more likely to break us. Physiologically, we know our brains become re-wired by repetition and what we ‘feed’ ourselves with, and steep ourselves in. Abuse is more likely to beget abuse. Brother Teasdale addresses this in the article 'America as an Interspiritual Superpower: A Vision to be Realized'.

He says, ‘ . . . American culture is morally confused and steeped in ambiguity. It is confused about abortion, the death penalty, war, and the tolerance of all kinds and levels of violent behavior. In this, Hollywood is greatly to blame’ [And this between media hype about the Golden Globes and Oscars] ‘It is responsible for this culture of violence to which we are subject because we live here. It feeds us a steady diet of violent films, videos, and TV series, and so, maintains this cultural malaise of addiction to all sorts of violence. We are accepting of this situation because of the spiritual illiteracy that exists at the basis of our world. It makes us ambiguous about these matters to which we are constantly exposed.’ So how does all this affect us? There are studies showing a powerful link.

Teasdale claims, ‘Spiritual illiteracy and moral confusion result in psychological dysfunction, affecting every aspect of our lives: our relationships in the family, friendships, our work environment, and how we relate to associates, our aspirations, ambitions, dreams, and fears, even our health. This psychological dysfunction has to do with ignorance, incapacity in our relationships, a lack of sufficient generosity, the desire for entertainment and fixation on consumerism.’ That pretty much covers the sorry state of the culture portion of the article for Brother Teasdale. But there is hope.

How do we expect different outcomes than we see in the suicides of young bullying victims, the mental unraveling of the shooter and even events in the daily news? I met a remarkable Mennonite couple through IACO (Interfaith Association Central Ohio), who took a program on non-violence to the schools. Many are shocked there is another way. Young inner city kids exposed to violence were surprised. If each of us reached only a handful in a meaningful way-feeding/clothing/caring/sheltering/listening/modeling/teaching, what a remarkable difference it could make. That was their vision.

As I watched two young school girls playing highly graphic, hand-held video games (pretty much bang-bang you’re dead) while waiting for my car; I reflected on how ancient cultures might have prepared to hunt a woolly mammoth. (I suppose hunger can psych one up to run like heck with a spear in the midst of a group of screaming friends-now we substitute a football for a spear . . . :)and call it 'game day'). Maybe we’re not so different. As we enter 'the survival era' in a time of post-peak oil and the affects of climate change escalate, things could really become challenging; maybe this is a preparatory phase. Until we learn to practice that compassion of which we preach, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. See several different (and opposing) points of view on ‘inter-spiritual’:

http://www.blogger.com/www.topia.net/interspirituality.html

http://www.isdna.org/

http://www.interfaithstudies.org/spirituality/interspiritualitypossible.html

http://www.interfaithstudies.org/spirituality/spirpossexamples.html

http://www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/interspirituality.htm

[Note: phto is from Md. Saiful Aziz Shamseer is titled 'Children of Bangladesh'. Mother left child unattended to seek work. Wikimedia Commons]

spirituality, age and life-stage

continued from my examiner post http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-age-and-life-stage

The world is full of people at different stages of development, consciousness, faith and enculturation all at once. You can probably apply the broadest common denominator to legal and governmental systems.

For instance in Kohlberg’s Six Stages of Moral Judgment, Level I ‘Pre-conventional’ shows the reasons for doing right are ‘avoidance of punishment and the superior power of authorities’. One ‘sticks to the rules; adheres to obedience for its own sake; seeks to avoid damage to persons and property’. The social perspective of this stage is an ‘egocentric point of view where one doesn’t consider the interests of others or relate to more than one’s own point of view’. Actions are considered physically, rather than the psychological interests of others.

(From Riemer, Paolitto, Hersch 1983 Promoting Moral Growth: From Piaget to Kohlberg) Moving through the stages, Level III Stage 6 is ‘universal ethical principles’ wherein ethical principles are universal principles of justice, and human rights are more important than laws- which might violate the dignity of human beings.

Now, here’s a wild card discovered within recent years: past, present and future co-exist not only in our memories, but in the collective consciousness and in the quantum realm where time is just a concept and the reality is eternity. To un-pack that, the universe contains and is composed of all the billions of ‘pieces/fields’ of matter and energy all in movement and change, and that includes the sum total of each and all of us; all inter-related. It no longer makes sense to ‘do theology’ or practice faith without considering the findings of science which reveal and shed light on all our beliefs and prejudices alike and the implications of believing/acting that way.

However, the mythological dimension from our ancient faith traditions may offer the metaphors for understanding life in a rich new way through artwork, chant, music, dance and other symbolic ways. Science and faith can marry beautifully. For example, the benefits of meditative practice are confirmed through neuroscience and 'best practices' uncovered. (See my earlier posts).

It’s an important time to view ourselves in a compassionate light as works in progress, cultures in progress, civilizations in progress, theologies in progress. I’ll reflect more on this in an upcoming post on ‘sin’ versus ‘ignorance’. Until then, ask yourself, what’s your Weltanschauung/(worldview)? How has it changed since your infancy; through each decade or less . . . what pivotal events rocked your world and ‘God concept’ beyond those taught by your religious tradition? Until next post, Peace, Pax, Pace.

[Photo by Madman- Creative Commons Attribution license 3.0. A

greenstone (serpentine) figurine showing a a male (per Joralemon) or female (per Coe) "presenting" a were-jaguar infant, a common theme in Olmec art. The adult is seated on what Joralemon calls a "Cloud Throne". Middle Classic Period; Height: 11.4 cm (4.5 in)]

Spirituality and the Divine Feminine

continued from my examiner column http://www.examiner.com/interfaith-spirituality-in-columbus/spirituality-mother-of-god-and-the-divine-feminine

Scholars of the world’s great religions enlighten us with practices and manifestations of the deity in Buddhism, and Hinduism which embrace the female principle; the divine feminine, through differing manifestations such as Kwan Yin, Durga, Parvati, Sita, etc.

Valerie Kaur, a Sikh writes about ‘Women as Equals’ in http://www.sikhwomen.com/ ‘A drastic distinction between the roles of the male and female exists in all the history of modern human societies. Women have grown to accept, not without resentment though, the male-dominated atmosphere of the world. Because people use religious doctrine to define their life styles, religious views in both the East and the West seem to condone, even encourage, the unequal treatment of women. In the 15th century, Guru Nanak established Sikhism, the first religion to advocate emphatically the equality of all people, especially women. In a continent characterized by severe degradation of women, this bold declaration, along with others, determined to erase the impurities of the Indian society. However, prejudices and injustices based on gender linger even today.’

She cites the following references from Sikh scripture: (SGGS Page 473 Shabad 1748) ‘From woman, man is born; within woman, man is conceived; to woman he is engaged and married. Woman becomes his friend; through woman, the future generations come. When his woman dies, he seeks another woman; to woman he is bound. So why call her bad? From her, kings are born. From woman, woman is born; without woman, there would be no one at all. O Nanak, only the True Lord is without a woman. That mouth which praises the Lord continually is blessed and beautiful. O Nanak, those faces shall be radiant in the Court of the True Lord.'

From (2)’SGGS Page 604 Shabad 2292 ‘The Beloved Himself enjoys every heart; He is contained within every woman and man. O Nanak, the Beloved is pervading everywhere, but He is hidden; through the Guru, He is revealed. '

And from (4,2)’SGGS Page 223 Shabad 706 ‘In the earth and in the sky, I do not see any second. Among all the women and the men, His Light is shining. (3)’

The famed 'Father of the Protestant Reformation', Martin Luther has plenty to say on the role of women, writing in a similar medieval time frame. “The word and works of God is quite clear, that women were made either to be wives or prostitutes.” Works 12.94
“Even though they grow weary and wear themselves out with child-bearing, it does not matter; let them go on bearing children till they die, that is what they are there for.” Works 20.84 Yet his writing on marriage and his love for wife Katy are splendidly inspiring. Its all about CONTEXT and the HISTORICAL/CULTURAL ground. It seems necessary to take a broad view and a long view and then a depth view.

There are many feminist and womanist scholars who undertake research to mine
the depths of history, anthropology and culture to provide us more complete pictures
of the nuances of belief, doctrine, practice and how they affect us politically, culturally
and socially. For instance in the book ‘‘Women, Men, and the Bible’ Virginia Ramey Mollenkott has argued on a deeper level that Jesus’ mission was to exemplify a new way of relating, contrary to traditional dominance-submission patterns. Jesus came as the suffering servant rather than the Davidic ruler man Jews expected. He modeled mutual submission and reciprocal respect. Only as a male could he effectively model this since women and slaves were already in submission by cultural decree.’ P41 Inclusive Language in the Church.

The author, Nancy Hardesty points out that Jesus became flesh, not male; it is a case of God becoming ‘human’. Thus, ‘son of god’ might better be translated as, ‘child of God’. A Hebrew feminine gender word for God’s presence is 'Shekinah' or divine energy and power which fills us with intelligence and skill. A Presbyterian pastor was careful during the ‘80’s movement to gender-neutralize patriarchal language to note that ‘God’ should be seen as neither male nor female but ‘Spirit’. Language is ever important to us because it shapes our beliefs and core values.

Hardesty cites another example of mis-translation where 'King James Translators made the deacon Phoebe in Romans 16:1 a ‘servant of the church’; the NAS and NIV translations repeat the error. The New English claims she ‘holds office’ and Revised Standard calls her ‘a deaconess.’ The Living Bible calls her ‘a dear Christian woman’ and yet the same word gets rendered ‘minister’ when applied to Paul and Apollos and male officers of the church.’ p 78. She says, p 80 ‘many texts of Scripture are made to appear much more male-oriented than they are in the Greek and Hebrew.’ It is a caution to us all in the 21st century to listen with care, read with diligence, question the source and know that human beings are equally valued in the Kingdom of God and should be treated as such.

[photograph is by Jastrow, 2006 from the Vatican Museums Pio Clemention, Sala a Croce Greca from Tusculum. The Roman mosaic is of Tondo with Athena and aegis. It dates from the 3rd century CE framed with a modern mosaic from the 18th century.]