During my teenage years in Denver, my parents encouraged me to "try out" many kinds of spiritual experiences. True, we were firmly established at South Broadway Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) where my maternal grandparents joined in the 1930's. But my mom and dad thought it important that I know and experience a spectrum of religious or spiritual experiences and activities so that I might find my own approach. Now I am in my late seventies and this process is still alive and well. Among the many rich experiences I experienced were:
All of these explorations left a deep impression on my youthful mind about how sincere, devout people look for, find, and embrace the Holy One in radically different ways. Much of my adult life has been spent in Latin America, Africa and Europe, always in urban areas where there is a mix of different cultures. These cultures include practices that are deeply spiritual, even if they are not identified explicitly as "religious." For example, the South African concept of umbuntu (meaning "I am because we are") is embued with spiritual values. Looking at my own Anglican Christian faith, I find that there are strands from many of those youthful explorations and cultural experiences that remain alive and well and are integrated into my personal practices. Just an example: My embrace of meditation is largely due to the writings of Zen Buddhists such as Pema Chodron and Thich Nhat Hanh. I am confirmed in my conviction that this a healthy matter by Thomas Merton's deep interest in Eastern religions at the very end of his life. In a way, these practices help me follow Jesus better. Nowadays there is an emerging group of persons who explicitly practice braiding as a mode of spiritual development. Inter-spiritual braiding welcomes into their spiritual journey insights and practices from diverse world contemplative traditions. There are Christians who actively participate in Buddhist groups and Jews who pray with Bahai communities. All of these people implicitly reject an either/or approach to spirituality. Even if they retain their foundational religious identity, as I do, they actively explore the wealth of spiritual riches that the human race has acquired over the millennia. In an age when it is possible for a person to claim a non-binary identity in gender, there are those who yearn for a non-binary identity in spirituality. "Humanity stands at a crossroads between horror and hope. In choosing hope, we must seed a new consciousness, a radically fresh approach to life drawing its inspiration from perennial spiritual and moral insights, intuition and experience. We call this new awareness interspiritual, implying not the homogenization of religion, but the recovering of the shared mystic heart beating in the center of the world's deepest spiritual traditions."--Attributed to Br. Wayne Teasdale So all of this brings me back to the image of the rope at the heading to this blog post. The definition of rope is: "A strong thick line or cord, commonly one composed of twisted or braided strands of hemp, flax, or the like, or of wire or other material" (www.dictionary.com). Braided spirituality, like rope, is strong and can do heavy lifting. The adoption of braiding is, in itself, a spiritual practice. I commend it because it opens so many new expanses and horizons.
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March 2023
AuthorDan Hoffman is an Indianapolis USA based spiritual director, supervisor of spiritual directors, and workshop/retreat leader. This occasional blog discusses things he is thinking about and wants to share. Comments are always welcome. |