December is - among many other things! - spiritual literacy month. It invites us to read one book on spirituality, believing in something bigger than ourselves. Strangely, this can be empowering. Knowledge of a truly spiritual kind is not a way to gain power over a subject, but rather a way of radical empathy with the Other. A way that honours the vulnerability of creation. Today’s blog explores these ideas.
Photo by Dominik Scythe on Unsplash
Do you consider yourself spiritual? What do you think that means?
Being ‘spiritual’ is really about relationships with Others we can never fully know - ourselves, other people and the world. In that sense, we are all spiritual. We all relate differently but we do relate, and are never completely alone. And we are all vulnerable.
The bible is full of stories addressing messy, heartbreaking relationships and encounters with other people, as today’s recommended readings demonstrate:
The prophet Jeremiah describes the sound of Rachel crying out for her dead children. Relating can involve raw grief and loss.
Psalm 24 reminds its hearers that with God they are in good company that connects them to the universe - ‘our help is in the name of the Lord who has made heaven and earth’. They are invited to consider themselves creatures marked with the image of God, also seen in others and the earth.
This Christmas, can you look upon the world again with really spiritual - or relating - eyes? Can you feel empowered because you are one, interrelated and known part of God and creation? Take a walk and look at nature or at the Christmas lights shining in peoples houses. Attend an event or a church service and revel in the things it brings up. Light a candle and feel part of the family of creation.
Jesus, Son of Man and Son of God, was dependent on those he related to. The gospels paint him as a man with a dual sense of family - relating to his Father in heaven as well as fleshly parents and siblings. Mary and Joseph faced extreme difficulties in raising him, from the outset. This was no easy dependency.
In Christianity, God has the most intimate understanding of people. Respect for their vulnerability is at the heart of all our stories, starting with the birth of a baby.
Paul’s first letter to the new church in Corinth describes Christ as the power and wisdom of God. What kind of power and wisdom was that, which came to us as a baby and ended up murdered and ashamed? It was a real, spiritual power and wisdom; a vulnerable way of knowing.
The ways we relate can cause pain, but here we can also find fire for our spirit. The Divine way of knowing and nurturing are different - counterintuitive. Can we this Spiritual Literacy Month find out more about it, try trusting it and so be empowered in our newfound vulnerability?