Released on the Spark My Muse podcast
modernity says: believe what you can understand
post-modernity invites contentment in mystery of what we cannot know, and belief so we may understand.
There are other views out there, but these two have the most prominence.
Leave comments related to ways to view the world…
The practice of Examen (pronounced: EGGS-aye-men) brings our living and our growth into focus. It helps us see God, (and the Divine presence) in our day, and/or helps us see far more meaning in our day than we could by merely living without really noticing.
For me, the practice of Examen has sometimes turned self-critical, and produced guilt, instead of helped me see God and his encouragement. My spiritual director Lenoir Wible offered me her notes from her teacher, that are a more positive slant on the ways of Examen. It’s quite beneficial–even life-changing.
Remember God sings over you.
Give it a try for a week or so, and tell me if it’s helpful.
Have you ever tried the spiritual practice of Examen before?
(Chime in with your comments…)
Consciousness Examen
One reason I’m planning to be involved in community projects soon isn’t just to be a do-gooder. It’s because I sense that we all become more well within community. Isolation creates unhealth, healing is found in community, and interaction, and it forces us to grow. It gives us opportunities to smooth off our rough edge, and be tried. Community done well reflects the Divine, and the essence of the Divine is community–Trinity. Out of the overflow of Love Divine, humans were created. Then to carry on love, we must enact community and enlarge Love within and through each other by harmony and interaction. It’s a way to experience the Divine, if we understand it this way.
Making our communities better is ministry, and it’s ministry we can all do.
For my very silly side, I have another blog. It mainly serves as a stress reliever to help me through the tension of taking 3 graduate classes at a time, and it includes the extra silly nonsense of Trevor the traveling gnome, and his adventures. (Just google him, if you care to see it).
It’s gotten me to wonder about God and humor, and what spirituality it all contains.
I have grown to understand nothing is UNspiritual. That is, all is spiritual. As C.S. Lewis said, “We don’t have a soul, We ARE a Soul. We have a body.” God is Spirit. He breathed the breath of Life into us–Spirit. So, I don’t image life could not be spiritual, unless we are simply trying to convince ourselves otherwise.
In studying what humor actually is, how we perceive it. (That is, the Science, and even the math, of humor.) It boils down to irony, which is essentially carried out in surprise. This has much to do with the ability to choose freely as humans as well. Also, on a side note, if we all knew what would happen it the future, nothing would be ironic. Controlling the punch-line means we can create an ironical effect.
If you take the simplest form of humor, slapstick, such as “the pratfall,” (like slipping on a banana peel) you’ll see what I mean. Simply put: A person falls down suddenly when you expect that they should remain standing. Many interpret this as humorous. It has to do with expectations, the set up and patterns built in, and then the sudden change. It has to do with ideals too. Yes, some don’t find humor in it. It’s perspective too. But, just about any humor involves irony of some kind, satire does too. Satire is a high form of humor which points out the truth to illicit change. It pokes fun, but in doing so, it pits what is happening to what should happen or ought to happen, so the difference stands out to us. What is most excellent or beneficial is the ideal that is not happening, so it is “on trial” in a sense, through humor. So, we understand it, and the process or “the human weakness on trial”, to be funny, especially if we agree with the comedian’s perspective.
Why might it all be spiritual? Humor, if you think about it has much to do with Ideals that point off the map–or what “ought to be”. Eternal truths reveal an Eternal Mind. In a positive light, when things don’t match up, they are ironic, and we find it amusing. So, we laugh. Imperfection of humanity is amusing. It lets us “off the hook” for not matching up to perfection. People without humor, are no fun, really, correct? They can’t laugh at their mistakes, and they take life and everything much too seriously. It’s hard for them to improve or grow, too. Laughing makes being human easier to bear. It’s gracious living. It’s good medicine to laugh, so it’s spiritual to laugh. It brings health and relief to the human Soul.
It’s also spiritual because it is a way to share with the Divine in Joy, which is a sturdy happiness, that points off the map of the tangible things of this world to the Divine. Joy exists (and may be felt) in a permanent sort of way through pain, sorrow, gladness, and the rest of normal life.
Leave your thoughts about humor, if you’d like.
I’m writing right now in the book “Life As Prayer” about something those of the Catholic tradition are more acquainted with, and that is, that negative (so-called) portions of our spiritual journey are really a normal part of the process.
Usually we tend to see them as problematic, or like something has gone terribly wrong. Or, perhaps, we’ve gone terribly wrong. Dark times, un-SUNSHINE MOUNTAIN times, are part of what God uses, and are quite positive, though they might not feel like it. Many people tend to think of God’s displeasure, or his withholding of blessing when they don’t feel his love, or are suffering, or not being blessed. Is it because we live in prosperity? Maybe. But even the ancient story of Job reveals that his friends thought the same mistaken things.
I’m going to unpack Gloom Mountain, and take the teeth out of it. Spirituality encompasses these dark times too, and may be what best prepares us for what God has for us. After the dawn, new richness is revealed than could ever happen before.
I’ll share some tidbits as I move along. Freely share your experiences or thoughts, if you’d like.
Have you felt pressure to be happy when you were not, because you thought God or others wanted you to?
