21C Spirituality-More Creational

In my post from the 8th I mentioned three things I more convinced of than ever before, and for where the church sits in culture and our needed response. I said… Spirituality will be more creational, relational and communitarian into the 21st century
There are always two things in play when it comes the church’s role/response to culture. There is reflective and informed biblical reading and there is insightful and aware cultural sign post reading. We need both for the church to be effective.

I see the church trying to recapture a relationship to creation that is refreshing and necessary. When you read the myth of Narcissus you will notice that as his soul reawakens he talks to the trees. There is something about us waking up that notices life around us. The average person I am running into these days is not a voracious reader. They aren’t textual. But there is something about the ocean, the mountains, the trees, the flowers, the grass and wind that is life giving at a primal level. The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it. And there is no doubt Jesus was connected at this level. He constantly says to the disciples “notice…these soils, weeds, trees, birds, wheat, lilies, …” Spirituality will be more creational in the 21st, we will begin to recapture connection to our primal beginnings in the adamah (soil from which adam was taken).

I have been investigating a more thoroughly creation sensitive spirituality and I will be darned if one of the books I received on this trip wasn’t about Bede Griffiths and his Cosmic Christology. Dion Forester a commenter on this site (and brilliant Ph.D in neuroscience and New Testament), gave me a copy of his work on Bede and I have to say it was one more helpful piece in this ever expanding pie. Dion thanks for your contribution, I am so glad this is available through amazon.

I also see a move toward doing life together that seems to be deeper and more free than simply connecting with people in my small group. In fact where there is a waning of organized small group involvement I see spontaneous explosions of small groups of people getting together “for no real reason” except they love hiking, eating, talking, beach-ing, wine tasting, and just being together. They learn from and riff with each other on the themes and melodies life is creating. In other words the church can facilitate this connection but really isn’t necessary for it. We need to learn something here about….How we DO groups, FORM groups, what we EXPECT from groups and the POINT of groups. Spirituality in the 21C will be more relational.

Spirituality will impact the community or it won’t be valued by those in this new emerging after-modern world. If I am being formed and it doesn’t make me a better global citizen and lover of locals then it will be a spirituality too thin to be helpful. Again the church needs to consider what our spiritual practices and habits are for. To what end do we encourage people to engage patterns and practices? For what reason do we say read, journal or memorize?

None of these issues will yield to simple tweaks to a system largely enmeshed in the modern mechanical world. We are in the middle of big change and it is a blast to be a part of it.

Tagged as: bede griffiths, creation, dion forester, relational, Spirituality, transformation