Something that I’ll be exploring in the book about spirituality I’m currently writing, is the tension between the desire for and avoidance of transcendence in the West. On the one hand people are craving transcendence, meaning and enchantment, on the other, there is a rigid adherence to rationalism that shuts off from anything remotely spiritual. I read this by Franciscan priest Richard Rohr this morning and it struck a chord.
I think Russian writer Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn understood this when he wrote, “The Western system in its present state of spiritual exhaustion does not look attractive.” It’s a telling judgment. The Western mind almost refuses to be in awe anymore. It’s only aware of what is wrong, and seemingly incapable of rejoicing in what is still good and true and beautiful.
Has our focus today on criticism, examining what is wrong with our world and vocalised outrage on most platforms curtailed our capacity to find wonder and magic in the world? Do we think these “soft” qualities are not needed for these violent times? Has it stopped us from experiencing awe?
If so, this is a sad moment because awe experiences are a medium through which God, the Universe, Spirit, Love (whatever you want to call Ultimate Reality), can connect with us pointing us to that which is beyond us. Otherwise we become “religious”. Not necessarily in the sense of practicing a faith tradition, I mean we become rigid or “religious” in our thinking and black and white in our interpretation of events. Even a secular person can be religious in their ideas leaving no any room for complexity, mystery or awe.
Rohr goes on to say that good “religion” will always incorporate awe and mystery;
Healthy religion, which always makes space for Mystery, gives us a foundational sense of awe. It re-enchants an otherwise empty universe. It gives people a universal reverence toward all things. Only with such reverence do we find confidence and coherence. Only then does the world become a safe home. Then we can see the reflection of the divine image in the human, in the animal, in the entire natural world—which has now become inherently “supernatural.”
Awe, religion and mystery should always be connected so that we see our universe as “re-enchanted”. In that way we see the spirituality, beauty, meaning, connectivity and significance of all things – whether plants, waters, animals or humans. All of nature becomes spiritual.
