July 6, 2008

Glynn Cardy

Pentecost 8     Matthew 11:16-30

Karl Rahner writes, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic, or not at all”. A mystic can be defined as one who finds God in all things and lives in gratitude. Mysticism has a long history and it’s not limited to Christianity. Indeed mysticism regularly stands apart from the dogmas and dictates of religious organisations. To find God in all things and to live thankfully does not require one to be a signed up member of anything, obey a bishop, canon, or creed, attend church, or believe in impossibilities. The Christian of the future will be a mystic is quite a statement coming from a Roman Catholic theologian.

There’s a story about a mystic who was asked about the path to God. He was reticent to answer. How could he put into words what he had experienced in the depths of his heart? Is it possible to express the inexpressible? He finally gave them a formula – so inaccurate, so inadequate – in the hope that some of them might be tempted to experience for themselves what he had experienced.

They seized upon the formula. They made a sacred text out of it. They constructed a religion around it. They imposed it upon everybody as a holy belief. Some even gave their lives for it. And the mystic was sad. It might have been better if he had never spoken.

Such are the perils of preaching!

Spirituality is a word that’s popularity has risen as the population of churches has fallen. Spirituality describes the search for meaning without necessarily using the language of religion. It can be used for example as a way to talk about an individual’s act of commitment beyond their self-interest. It can be used too as a way to talk about self-discovery, and finding satisfaction beyond material comforts and reliable friendships. It can be used also as a way to talk about trauma, and finding extraordinary strength when ordinary supports have been wrenched away.

Some church leaders decry the popularity of spirituality and the desire for people to find spiritual meaning outside the tenets and dogma of religion. However others, like me, see the word as a helpful bridge between the best that religious faiths have to offer and the reality of secularized living. It is a hopeful word for it assumes that anarchically the quest for faith and theological understanding is happening beyond the bonds and control of organized religion.

I like to think of spirituality as footpaths through the forest. There are a variety of footpaths one can take on the search for meaning. Some paths end in disaster. Some are unsafe. Some have unhealthy consequences. Others offer a range of beauty, adventure, and satisfaction. Not everyone has to walk the same footpath. Nor is the end point the same for all.

This morning I want to name just four of those paths. The first I’ll just mention in passing for it was the main course of Clay’s sermon last week. Blessed are those that know the soul-value of food. Food sets the table of hospitality around which conversations of life, meaning, and wellbeing can occur.

Secondly, and connected with hospitality, is kindness. There was an article recently in the British newspaper The Telegraph about happiness. Using a formula of O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He they had computed the happiest day of the year. The O was for enjoying outdoor activity, the N connection with nature, the S socialization with friends and neighbours, the Cpm was positive childhood memories, the T mean temperature, and the He was holiday expected. I was staying with an academic who pointed out the inadequacy of the mathematics involved. I pointed out its inadequacy in terms of soul.

It didn’t involve feeling for, giving to, or helping strangers. There was no kindness to others. Happiness that doesn’t have an other-centred component in the formula is like living on a diet of doughnuts. They look good, taste good, but in the long term aren’t satisfying and play havoc with your spiritual health. Regardless of the needs of strangers we need them. We need to exercise our compassion and generosity. We need to think of others beside ourselves and our friends. We need to show a little non-self-centred kindness. Blessed are those who are kind to themselves and others for they have learnt the path to happiness.

The third pathway is nature. Walking in the bush, ambling along forest paths, smelling the undergrowth, dripped on by the thick foliage… Walking along the seashore, shoes off, with the tide tickling your toes… These sensuous moments, and others like them, not only make us feel good they also feed the soul. How that happens is difficult to explain.

I visited an artist last week who lives in the centre of one of the biggest cities in the world, London. It is something akin to a prison for her. She tries of course to make it work – strolling in parks, cycling everywhere, she even kept a canoe but the commercial sightseeing boats have made that too dangerous. The people, colour, and variety of opportunity are wonderful. But the concrete, bars and brick walls still entrap her soul. Holidays are holy days. She longs for freedom.

Blessed is the one who is longs for nature, and expresses that gratitude by caring for the environment, making time to touch it, and letting it touch them.

Lastly, children.

It was the passport control area at Ataturk International Airport, Turkey and I was in a queue, a long queue, at the end of which a solitary guard directed people into one of six shorter queues that each led to an officer behind a desk. The guard seemed resigned to his duty. It was one of those mind-numbing, boring jobs that someone had to do. No one talked to him or, of course, thanked him. Impatience was in the air. This was another bureaucratic necessity to be endured before one could leave the country. All wished it could just speed up and be over.

Suddenly a child cried. His father stooped, picked the child up, and put him on his shoulder, where he continued to whimper. The guard approached and started making amusing faces for the benefit of the child. The guard was playfully engaging the child and inviting the child to smile. Slowly the child caught on. Those waiting in line turned to watch. Smiles breeched many faces. An air of happiness caught on, an antidote to impatience.

This guard was offering much more than a pacifier. His love of children shone through and offered a glimpse of soul amidst the routine of control.

Why do I see an interest in children linked to spiritual health? It’s not a concern for the vulnerable. That pathway is kindness. It’s not a desire to have children of one’s own either. Not everyone needs, is able, or should feel socially compelled to have children. As a friend said recently, one can enjoy flying in an aircraft without having to own one.

I think this spiritual pathway has to do with being interested in someone whom others might see as insignificant, or of less value, or whose thoughts aren’t worth thinking about. It’s about finding in the encounter with a child some truths not only about children and the world at large but about oneself. It’s an indicator of humility, and a willingness to learn about the God who is still a child. Blessed is the one who can relate to children and their world for they manifest the playfulness of God.

These are just four paths through the spiritual forest, intersecting with each other, and with other paths. There are many paths that one can travel and one may even travel without a path. I pray that this service of worship may be an encouragement to you on your journey.