A Practitioner’s Perspective
by Ellen Fenner, RScP
With all the battling over religion that seems a part of our daily discourse, it can be hard to call this moment — or any moment — spiritual.
When I was delivering my message a couple of Sundays ago, I was experimenting with loosely tying together a few thoughts through the metaphor of “standing in someone else’s shoes” - in the style of a minister whose had 30 years of experience speaking in front of people, easy-going and conversational. Let’s just say that the result was not unlike the frustration one feels when one can only find one of a pair of shoes that one is searching for, over and over again. Or, the way that anxiety manifests in a dream. I now have a personal working definition for the phrase “word salad”.
It was pointed out to me after that talk that I have a propensity for getting ahead of myself when it comes to what I think I can do versus what I am actually capable of. I’m a little reckless that way. Fortunately — or unfortunately — it has worked out for me enough times that I am prone to do it again and again climbing higher and higher without a rope.
The problem is that regardless of the quality of the shoes I’m wearing, no matter how grippy the soles, if the surface I’m trying to climb is slippery beyond the ability of my equipment to manage, I’m going down, and the higher I’ve managed to get, despite myself, the harder the landing.
So, let’s talk about this moment in our history. I think we’re finding out something similar about our country and its leadership. We’ve climbed so far so fast compared with other civilizations, that it’s tempting to claim victory at every plateau. Our skyscrapers are a visual representation that signals to the rest of the world that we are superior; that we wear the best shoes which can take us to the highest heights.
But remember what I said about slippery surfaces and buildings erected with hubristic scaffolding — it’s a long way to the bottom when things let go. Freefall is the natural correlation to the abuse of freedom.
Spirituality is observing the laws of nature with humble reverence so that we can make use of them in respectful ways. Spiritual maturity is the recognition that how we choose to exercise our individual freedom affects not just ourselves but the whole of everyone and everything. A successful free climber has dangled helplessly at the end of a harness countless times before attempting to climb untethered.
When I am reckless with my personal intentions, it is not an isolated act. It has the potential to take down everyone climbing behind me and we all end up in a heap at the bottom. Too often, religion sits up on its precarious ledge, laughing, even as the stone beneath it crumbles. Spirituality dusts itself off and tries again, this time knowing what it knows.
So, the next time I go out walking (talking) in a publc forum, I’ll take the time to put on appropriate shoes. I’ll wear socks underneath them and sit down and tie my laces, and when I’m finished, I’ll put the shoes back where I know I can find them when I go looking for them again.
So the spirital lesson I’ve taken from this is: Keep on walking (and talking), pay attention to where you’re going, and put on footwear appropriate to the journey. It’ll save you a lot of suffering in the end.