Spiritualism – Lesson #3 History of Western Thought pt 2

Spiritualism – Lesson #3
History of Western Thought pt 2

My experience of the scientifically-minded is of thinking people who hold-to "reason" (i.e. objective reality) over religion. It is a rationalistic world-view that believes "facts" to be proof and spirituality to be speculative and therefore distrustful. What these people fail to realise is that science proceeds by experiment, which in turn produces an hypothesis, which is then subject to further experiment and thereafter continuous revision. The history of science is the continuous discarding of what was once held to be "certain." Yet there is little in science which can be certain and it takes great faith to believe there is! The materialism of today has not made people happy on the contrary it has robbed humankind of its spirit, soul, personality and purpose. Reduced to a mere machine morality and ethics have no part to play in the continuing human story. Therefore it has become a pass-time of some militant atheists to blame religion for every human atrocity that has ever occurred while overlooking the hideous deeds of Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Moa, and Pol Pot who will never be counted among the faithful (The Devil's Delusion, by David Berlinski, Basic, 2009, p 19). Neither has materialism made the world a safer more contented place to be. On the contrary it has produced a world increasingly devoid of moral standards and a dangerous place to be in right now. To think of human beings as mere machines to be studied, manipulated and disposed of like dross is not only a grave injustice but a gross error. On the other hand if the hope Christians hold in Christ is for this life only we are, as the Apostle Paul commented, most to be pitied (1 Cor. 15:19). We should not see spirituality as an escape. Spirituality is not an escape- it is the blossoming of our humanity towards God and the completion, by him, of the people he ordained us to be i.e. a unity of mind, body and soul grafted to him. Spirituality is wholeness. Spirituality affects how we think, act, relate, live, watch TV and wash dishes. The world around us is "good." The world around us is the dynamic expression of God's word in action created by his power and energy i.e. his "Spirit" (a word which comes from the Hebrew word ruach encompassing a wide range of meanings including: "Spirit," "breath" and "wind"). It is God's Spirit that brought people to life and animates them. So, for example, in the Book of Genesis where God says: "Let there be……." He is speaking into existence everything we see around us. But before God spoke he thought (as we all do). Before we utter a word we form sentences in our minds of what we're about to say. It follows that "mind" (i.e. God's mind) came before "matter" and not the other way round. Psychology, therefore, is incorrect in its assertions as the world came after God's thoughts (i.e. God's energy) which is the product of His thoughts. God's energy fills the entire universe which of course includes human beings. Spirituality, then, means living a life in communion with God taking in: prayer, contemplation, worship etc. It is through these disciplines we unite ourselves to God and keep in tune with his purposes for the world and its peoples. Christian spirituality is therefore (a) a set of beliefs, (b) a set of values and (c) a way of life - i.e. wholeness. Spirituality is about knowing God and experiencing God to the fullest possible extent. It's not about shutting oneself away from the world in silent contemplation, which achieves very little of use, but engaging fully with the world - its problems and its peoples. And the good news is that more and more people are discovering the truth of this for themselves. However, whether the collective imagination of the faithful is able to bring King Arthur to life I have my doubts but I understand the thinking behind that idea. Miracles today may therefore have to be considered under a different heading. We need to be imaginative in our preaching and teaching. Imagination is the next best thing to the real thing and is very powerful. Story-telling for example is a very useful tool in therapy. It is our task to help the scientifically switched-on to switch-on to God, and the spiritually switched-off to be empowered by God's "Spirit" (i.e. his breath) and open up to Him. And I think we do this as ministers by living authentic, sincere, faithful lives in tune with God – which is the essence of witness.
Descartes famous words: "I think therefore I am" may be able to help in this. For those words are able to switch on the spiritual light within people whether scientifically inclined or not. It simply means recognising there is more to life than meets the eye. We are Spirit as well as body and we neglect the Spiritual at our peril i.e. the cost of happiness, contentment, fulfilment and satisfaction. Human beings have thoughts, hopes, dreams, emotions, ambitions and intuition. These things come from beyond us; from God's "pull" (i.e. energy) upon our hearts and those needs must be met. We were made to be in communion with God and with one another. We may not have the mind of God but we have the knowledge of God written upon our hearts and we rest uneasy when God is absent from our lives. Einstein knew this well. Science should not be in conflict with religion but should compliment it. So, maybe Einstein's famous equation E=MC2 tells us more about the journey to the "light" (who is God) than about the relativity of space-time! Now there's a thought!

Rev D R Marsh BA (hons) DHT
9th January 2016