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Raindrops (2)
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'Tis said, the pipe and the lute that charm our ears
Derive their music from rolling spheres;
But Faith, o'erpassing speculations bounds,
Can see what sweetens every jangled sound.
*Rumi. "Remembered Music." In Rumi. A Rumi Anthology. Trans. Reynold A. Nicholson.
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Yesterday, at a gathering of chaplains, "spiritual" repeatedly came up - likely hundreds of times. No one seemed to sense a need to ask, "What are we talking about?" All seemed to agree on a shared meaning. No one, however, clarified the term, possibly for assuming we know what it is, perhaps for we cannot clarify it, possibly for both reasons.
Lack of clarity is a challenge of language. Language frequently gives the illusion of shared understanding. It can elucidate how we agree and disguise how we do not while talking as though we do.
We cannot escape this language limitation, even more so when addressing matters inaccessible to the senses. We can more easily fathom what is meant by "rock" than by "God," for example, or "pizza" than "spirit." How about "salt" and "spirit?" Does spirit have a shape, a look, a taste? Can you spread spirit on your lasagna? Language suits speaking of things, not so of non-things.
We speak of what cannot be said. Why? We sense a correspondence between the Formless and form. We stand with one foot in time, one in eternity. As Rumi implies, there is music "above," so music "below." The "below" reflects and depends on the "above." The music is not the same, but not different. Spiritual beings live this Unity in many ways - Spirit diversifies when manifesting among and as form.
Due to the comments above, showing we cannot clarify the unexplainable, it might seem strange to ask, "How is one to be a spiritual being?" - but there it is. Many answers can be given. Today, we hint at an answer that cannot be given - see "cannot be given." But let us talk about - that is, around - it. Then, though we may not understand what spiritual means, we might catch a scent of its meaning for us.
Also, could it not be that spirituality is best understood not by words but by those who embody the Quality? In lived lives, we witness spirituality in presence and action, even as the appleness of the apple tree is witnessed by seeing the tree and its fruit. The apple tree apples. The spiritual being spirits.
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The esteemed Eastern Orthodox theologian Vladimir Lossky (b. c. 1904) -
"Without the heart, which is the centre [center] of all activity, the spirit is powerless."
*The Mystical Theology of the Eastern Church.
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To submerge ourselves in Life, we immerse ourselves in this human journey, this life - Lossky's "all activity." Giving ourselves in gladdened consent to daily life, we discover ourselves growing in love, joy, and peace. This transformative path does not mean life will be easier, but it will be more fulfilling.
We can see spirituality as a divorce from life. We can seek to be spiritual by withdrawing within, hiding - a caricature of true holiness, while holiness is wholeness. Instead, each aspect of life has the fingerprint of the Whole, the opportunity of loving communion and union with the Ineffable.
We need an earthy path integrating the inner and outer, protecting us from a false transcendence, a rejection of the glory of humanness. We choose times of aloneness for inner nurture to translate that Freshness into the world, not hold ourselves above or better than the world. The spiritual being is not less human than others, she or he is more human.
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In a small group yesterday, the query was offered as to what each chaplain saw as the core of her or his spiritual care of others. One said, "Humaning." Yes!
Immaterial Spirit manifests in fleshly meeting: humaning. The following indicates this: "And the Logos (Cosmic Reason, Intelligence, Word) became flesh" (Gospel of John 1.14). And, "Jesus said to them, 'Without a doubt, anyone who does not eat the flesh of the son of man and drink his blood does not have life in them'" (Gospel of John 6.53). The scripture continues in vv. 54-56, "Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, ... For my flesh is real food and my blood real drink. Anyone who eats my flesh and drinks my blood stays in me, and I stay in them."
Jesus, speaking in metaphor, signifies the Intangible is encountered through intimacy with the tangible. How intimate? - eating, drinking, digesting, and peeing-and-pooping.
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Years ago, without full-time work, I interviewed for a part-time job to work along with my part-time chaplain role at a nearby facility. Here was a man with two Master's and a Ph.D. applying for janitorial work at a local church, one who himself had been a pastor and college professor of religion. I had worked as a janitor for many years when in college and seminary. I needed the income, and I liked the work. After applying, there was an immediate transition from months of inner unrest.
I could experience Life doing janitorial work, though I was trained in what many would call professional roles. This experience was possible through wedding the inner and outer as one life in God, which included acknowledging oneness with others at the work site - others everywhere.
I did not get the job, but my willingness to do it validated the sacramental grace of living everyday life as a human among other humans. The work was not less than other vocations, it was simply not for me at the time.
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If we consent to be spiritual beings, we accept the life given at any point in time. We give ourselves wholeheartedly to its daily duties and relationships. We human, in other words.
We can envision better for ourselves. We, nevertheless, aspire for change from a place of complete acceptance of where we are now.
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Spirituality can be said to humaning, provided we recognize humaning is not an individual but a relational experience and does not mean living a life dictated by the senses but by spirit - otherwise, it would not be spiritual. In the past, the life dictated by the senses was often called a "carnal" life. A carnal life is governed by the appetites of flesh and emotion rather than the subtle influences of divine Grace.
In the spiritual being, inner and outer converge, acting as one, for they are one. The spiritual being chooses to be the Word becoming flesh among others. They consent to relational intimacy with the ordinariness of everyday people, places, things, and responsibilities.
In what ways does your spiritual practice integrate the inner and outer life? What does humaning mean to you? Spirituality mean to you?
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*(C) Brian K. Wilcox, 2023. Permission given to use photographs and writings with credit given to copyright owner.
*Brian's book is An Ache for Union: Poems on Oneness with God through Love. The book is a collection of poems Brian wrote based on wisdom traditions, predominantly Christian, Buddhist, and Sufi, with extensive notes on the poetry's teachings and imagery.
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