Man's Search for Spiritual Meaning
Newsweek magazine has another of its frequent cover articles on religion. This one is entitled "Sprituality in America". The basis of the article is the quest for a spiritual experience and how people seek to experience this dimension in their lives. It gives another pass over a subject that has been covered extensively in recent years. The article offers nothing new on the subject, but if youare not familiar with the subject it is worth a read.
Here are some quotes from my article and my comments.
And what happens after you "experience" God? What do you do when you come down off your emotional high? How do you treat each other? How do you live your life to be free of the problems caused from sin...the broken laws that plague our lives and cause the misery and suffering of life. Christ said to the woman taken in adultery, "Go and sin no more"
At the real core of man's quest for spiritual meaning is an answer to the real issues of evil, suffering and human existence. Meditation, prayer or any other spiritual experience are only stepping stones to a better life that should produce happiness and a successful life of contentment. If that spiritual experience is not based on truth then it will not get you any closer to the true God. Christ said we must worship God "in spirit and in truth".
One of the deep needs of any human is to know that his life has significance. To know that human life in this vast unknowable universe has meaning and purpose. Religion in all its forms has sought to provide this one bit of understanding. The article tells of one man's migration to pentecostalism as a means of finding meaning in his life.
Christ said that the truth is what sets men free. The freedom He spoke to is more than what is won through a ballot or defended by the barrel of a gun. It is the fundamental freedom given by God at creation to every human. The freedom to know Him who is creator of all the known world. The God who said He is "I AM". It is the freedom to know who He is and what He expects of mankind. It is the freedom to choose to worship that God on His terms, not ours, and thereby experience the fullness of life. It is the freedom to be free from the consequences that come from poor choices.
True religion should give us the answers in the dark moments of our life. Perhaps the best quote is this from Michael Novak, a theologian featured in the famous 1966 Time article on the death of God.
Novak may not be any closer today to God than he was in 1966, but he hits at the important issue of religion. It better give you answers to the hard questions and the hard time of life. It it doesn't then it is nothing but emptiness and futility.
Here are some quotes from my article and my comments.
Today, then, the real spiritual quest is not to put another conservative on the Supreme Court, or to get creation science into the schools. If you experience God directly, your faith is not going to hinge on whether natural selection could have produced the flagellum of a bacterium. If you feel God within you, then the important question is settled; the rest is details.
And what happens after you "experience" God? What do you do when you come down off your emotional high? How do you treat each other? How do you live your life to be free of the problems caused from sin...the broken laws that plague our lives and cause the misery and suffering of life. Christ said to the woman taken in adultery, "Go and sin no more"
At the real core of man's quest for spiritual meaning is an answer to the real issues of evil, suffering and human existence. Meditation, prayer or any other spiritual experience are only stepping stones to a better life that should produce happiness and a successful life of contentment. If that spiritual experience is not based on truth then it will not get you any closer to the true God. Christ said we must worship God "in spirit and in truth".
One of the deep needs of any human is to know that his life has significance. To know that human life in this vast unknowable universe has meaning and purpose. Religion in all its forms has sought to provide this one bit of understanding. The article tells of one man's migration to pentecostalism as a means of finding meaning in his life.
The bliss Cox felt was mingled with awe - the Holy Spirit was inside his very own body. That helps explain Pentecostalism's historical appeal to the poor and marginalized: rural Southerners, African-Americans and, more recently, Hispanics and other immigrants. It is burgeoning in the developing world. "For people who feel overlooked, it provides a sense that you're a very important person," observes Harvey Cox of the Harvard Divinity School.
Christ said that the truth is what sets men free. The freedom He spoke to is more than what is won through a ballot or defended by the barrel of a gun. It is the fundamental freedom given by God at creation to every human. The freedom to know Him who is creator of all the known world. The God who said He is "I AM". It is the freedom to know who He is and what He expects of mankind. It is the freedom to choose to worship that God on His terms, not ours, and thereby experience the fullness of life. It is the freedom to be free from the consequences that come from poor choices.
True religion should give us the answers in the dark moments of our life. Perhaps the best quote is this from Michael Novak, a theologian featured in the famous 1966 Time article on the death of God.
"Religious revivals are always exuberant and filled with spirit...but the true measure of faith is in adversity and despair, when God doesn't show up in every blade of grass or storefront church. "That's when the true nature of belief comes out ...Joy is appropriate to the beginnings of your faith. But sooner or later somebody will get cancer, or your best friends will betray you. That's when you will be tested."
Novak may not be any closer today to God than he was in 1966, but he hits at the important issue of religion. It better give you answers to the hard questions and the hard time of life. It it doesn't then it is nothing but emptiness and futility.
