Robert V. Thompson
Spirituality For Apocalyptic Times
Nearly 135 years ago, Mark Twain said, "October is a particularly
dangerous month to speculate in stocks. The others are July, January,
September, April, November, May, March, June, December, August and
February."
The tenuous nature of speculation in the stock market is perhaps a
metaphor for the tenuous nature of life itself. From unanticipated
joy to unexpected pain, from temporary calm to inexplicable chaos—the
markets imitate life.
The dismal news of recent weeks is vaguely reminiscent of the days
surrounding 9/11. Remember? The airlines stopped flying, the stock
market crashed, for a few days, life came to a halt.
Although the financial crisis of 2008 is not as unnerving as the
experience of 9/11 we keep hearing financial news that heightens
anxiety and dampens the spirit. In these uncertain times it is clear
that Yogi Berra was right: The future isn't what it used to be.
Few would deny that recent events have triggered a palpable fear,
fear, anxiety—even dread.
We find ourselves in an apocalyptic moment.
Apocalyptic moments have interrupted the lives of human beings as long
as human beings have been around. These moments come in a variety of
forms but the result is always the same—the end of one reality is the
birth of another.
The art of spirituality is to, as the cliché says, go with the flow.
But this is easier said than done.
To "go with the flow" is an idea that has its roots in the ancient
Chinese philosophy of Taoism. Here's the rub. One cannot go with the
flow unless one is willing to detach from the external circumstances
of life.
For many people, especially in the West, equate detachment with being
aloof or not caring about people.
This is not the meaning of spiritual detachment.
Most of us enjoy a good movie. We enter the theater and sit down with
our popcorn and coke and hope to be transported to another world, for
a couple of hours, anyway. If the movie is really good, we laugh, we
cry, we feel fear and joy. Sometimes the heart beats fast. Sometimes
we sigh. But when the movie ends we read the credits, get up and go on.
Spirituality is the art of being able to view the comedies and dramas
of our lives the way we watch a movie.
We are all actors in a bigger story than that of our own little
dramas. To understand this is to be liberated from being controlled
by external circumstances.
The art of spirituality is learning how to bend without breaking.
The art of spirituality is learning how to play our own transient part
in the inimitable eternal story of life.
In Thornton Wilder's classic play, Our Town, one of the characters
says, "There's something way down deep that's eternal about every
human being." When we awaken to this way down deep of the eternal
within us, we let go of our attachments to the external and open to a
deeper reality. In each and every one of us there is a wholeness
that's hidden beneath the surface circumstances of our lives.
When we touch this truth we are able to say, no matter what is
happening in the world around me—I know that all is well with my soul.
Spirituality is the process by which we touch this hidden wholeness.
What matters is not what happens to us, but our ability to touch this
hidden wholeness.
Have you ever touched it?
~ Robert V. Thompson
Spirituality For Apocalyptic Times
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