Spiritual Reflection

 

 

One thing that constantly shows itself in the history of humankind is that
we have to believe in something - we have to espouse a cause;

to put it even more explicitly: we are naturally religious.

In secular modern society that belief may end up being not much more on the surface than a belief in myself, in my own potential, and a resistance to those forces or persons that try to stifle it.  Secular though this is, it does contain a grain of
truth: we were meant to be free; we have a potential that is meant to be
developed.

But this potential is far greater than we can ever imagine.  Most
people in affluent societies, damaged as they are by life's hurts in one way
or another, or wounded by relationships with parents, even well-meaning and
loving parents, spend their early adulthood trying to slough off the weight
of this past and "find themselves".  For them, the question of life is not
initially a spiritual question - or so they think.

It is only when some disaster has occurred, often in mid-life, when
I wake up one morning and realize that I am not going to be the greatest
thing since sliced bread, and neither is my partner, that I can begin
possibly to explore what we call the "inner life" of the soul.  We become
aware, that is, that this life, for all the sparkle and show, is not
actually the end of things.  I become aware that I'm going to die - maybe
not for many years yet, but one day.

Our reactions to this are interesting.  We can panic, try to grab
and snatch every last ounce of pleasure out of life, or increase its
potential for nirvana by "sex, drugs and rock and roll", ir we can sit with
that experience of darkness, of "death" (for that is what it feels like)
until it begins to speak to us.  Few people, however, have the strength to
do this.

The monastery is an attempt to confront this "death", a realization
that I am not the centre of the universe, but God in Christ is, and a
celebration of that fact.  If this sounds about a million miles from where
you are now, then stay tuned - and learn to sit still.