Spiritual or Relgious?
I'm on a mailing list for "Conservative Friends." Someone in England sent out a message saying some Anglican priest he knows just got back from here and made the very broad statement of America is the most religious country in the world but also the least spiritual, and he wanted to know what we thought of that.
My first thought was, "Your priest friend can kiss my American behind." But, then I started thinking about it. What do you mean by religious or spiritual? Here in The States my observation of people who say they are not religious but consider themselves spiritual is either that they've got a very New Age approach to religion - which is sort of like God's greatest hits. That or they don't seem to have any concrete belief at all - take great pride in the fact that they don't have any concrete beliefs because having them is politically incorrect, and the only thing they believe about God is that he's "nice," and "all-loving." Which basically means as long as you're not a murdering baby rapist, you're okay with God. The problem is I've known murdering baby rapists who could sit in my office and tell me all day long about why he's not a bad person because he's not as bad as that other guy over there.
Most of you know I went to Catholic School through 10th grade. I didn't know my family wasn't Catholic until my class went to First Common, and I was told (two days before) that I would not be going with them. For better or worse, the Catholic Chuch shaped my earliest impressions of Christianity. We (the whole school) went to Mass at least once a month, and I sometimes even went voluntarily on Sunday when I was old enough to go alone. To this day, there is something deeply comforting and dare I say it - spiritual - about a Catholic Mass for me. Most Evangelicals and Friends would poo-poo learning to recite prayers from memory. They'd dismiss it as religious as opposed to spiritual. But, here's the thing - in times of great stress - fear, sickness, whatever - it's the prayers I learned as a young child that jump to my mind. In late 1997/early 1998 when I had pneumonia, a temperature of 105, and absolutely no doubt that I was going to die, one of the few things I can remember is laying on the bed in the ER whispering, "Oh my God I am sorry that I have sinned..." The night before I went for that surgical biopsy, and I couldn't sleep, it was the same thing. When my mind wants to wander off in Meeting, I mentally recite the Our Father (the Lord's Prayer to most of you) over and over to bring it back. At home, I STILL have a set of rosary beads. I don't count out my prayers on them. There's something very soothing and calming about moving the beads back and forth in my hands, and something about looking down at them with that cross on the end that helps my mind stay focused on my prayers. I do NOT bring them to church or to meeting because of the offense they would cause to some. To this day, I still say (at least mentally) the same blessing I learned in 2nd grade, "Bless us, O Lord in these thy gifts..." To me, it just feels wrong to eat without it, and even if someone else says a grace that they thought up on the spot my brain is still saying, "Bless us, O Lord..."
Now, some of you are thinking, "But, it has no meaning. It's just something you memorized as a child. It doesn't come from the heart!" Nonsense! Deuteronomy 6 says: These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. In other words have them memorize it. Does anyone think that they actualy had me memorize these prayers and didn't try to explain what they meant? They were impressed upon my heart when I was still a child. So, in times of extreme stress, fear, sickness - in other words - in times when the mind shuts down and you couldn't possible think up the words on your own - these are the words that will bubble up out of your heart.
My first thought was, "Your priest friend can kiss my American behind." But, then I started thinking about it. What do you mean by religious or spiritual? Here in The States my observation of people who say they are not religious but consider themselves spiritual is either that they've got a very New Age approach to religion - which is sort of like God's greatest hits. That or they don't seem to have any concrete belief at all - take great pride in the fact that they don't have any concrete beliefs because having them is politically incorrect, and the only thing they believe about God is that he's "nice," and "all-loving." Which basically means as long as you're not a murdering baby rapist, you're okay with God. The problem is I've known murdering baby rapists who could sit in my office and tell me all day long about why he's not a bad person because he's not as bad as that other guy over there.
Most of you know I went to Catholic School through 10th grade. I didn't know my family wasn't Catholic until my class went to First Common, and I was told (two days before) that I would not be going with them. For better or worse, the Catholic Chuch shaped my earliest impressions of Christianity. We (the whole school) went to Mass at least once a month, and I sometimes even went voluntarily on Sunday when I was old enough to go alone. To this day, there is something deeply comforting and dare I say it - spiritual - about a Catholic Mass for me. Most Evangelicals and Friends would poo-poo learning to recite prayers from memory. They'd dismiss it as religious as opposed to spiritual. But, here's the thing - in times of great stress - fear, sickness, whatever - it's the prayers I learned as a young child that jump to my mind. In late 1997/early 1998 when I had pneumonia, a temperature of 105, and absolutely no doubt that I was going to die, one of the few things I can remember is laying on the bed in the ER whispering, "Oh my God I am sorry that I have sinned..." The night before I went for that surgical biopsy, and I couldn't sleep, it was the same thing. When my mind wants to wander off in Meeting, I mentally recite the Our Father (the Lord's Prayer to most of you) over and over to bring it back. At home, I STILL have a set of rosary beads. I don't count out my prayers on them. There's something very soothing and calming about moving the beads back and forth in my hands, and something about looking down at them with that cross on the end that helps my mind stay focused on my prayers. I do NOT bring them to church or to meeting because of the offense they would cause to some. To this day, I still say (at least mentally) the same blessing I learned in 2nd grade, "Bless us, O Lord in these thy gifts..." To me, it just feels wrong to eat without it, and even if someone else says a grace that they thought up on the spot my brain is still saying, "Bless us, O Lord..."
Now, some of you are thinking, "But, it has no meaning. It's just something you memorized as a child. It doesn't come from the heart!" Nonsense! Deuteronomy 6 says: These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. 7 Impress them on your children. In other words have them memorize it. Does anyone think that they actualy had me memorize these prayers and didn't try to explain what they meant? They were impressed upon my heart when I was still a child. So, in times of extreme stress, fear, sickness - in other words - in times when the mind shuts down and you couldn't possible think up the words on your own - these are the words that will bubble up out of your heart.
posted by Waltzing Matilda at 3:49 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home