Metacentricities

It’s Sunday morning, and I’m not going to church. I’ve not been to church in weeks and weeks (except a couple of exceptions to see friends preach.) On one hand, I find this curious. I definitely enjoyed going to the church I was going to here in Berkeley, New Spirit Community Church, which I think, actually, is fabulous. I do sometimes go to the Taizé service.

I first stopped going because I needed to break out of that role of “minister in training” (I was “In Care”). And as I continued to not go on Sunday mornings, and as I’ve begun to restructure my own spiritual path around the new realities of my life (how you build a life centered on spirituality as a “householder” as the Buddhists would call it,) going back just didn’t seem like something I wanted to do.

I’ve begun to build in my head what I really want from spiritual community. And as I think about it, I’ve come to realize that it possibly doesn’t exist yet. There are some communities that seem to have come relatively close (Chochmat Halev for one.)

I’ve learned a lot about what I don’t like about some spiritual communities I’ve been a part of. As much as I’ve valued my Christian experiences, I can’t do the dogmatism of fundamentalist Christianity, even as I appreciate their focus on spiritual practice. When it comes to mainline Christianity, I have a hard time embracing the Trinity, and building a life of spiritual practice around it. When it comes to Unitarian Universalism, I don’t want a spirituality stripped of Mystery, and I don’t want to have disagreements about using reverential language before people have really examined their own reactivity to it. I don’t want a community that embraces all but the religious tradition that spawned it. And I have a hard doing social action without deep spiritual meaning. When it comes to Buddhist Sangha, I don’t want a spirituality that is based primarily on meditation practice. (Whine, whine, whine… OK, I’m done.)

I’ve learned a lot from a wide variety of traditions. From Christanity I’ve learned the value of the Book, and that the words and life of Jesus mean something to me. From the peace traditions of Chrisitanity, I’ve learned about the value of a spiritual approach to social action, and non-hierarchichal worship. From Buddhism, I’ve learned about the value of daily spiritual practices that help me connect with the present moment, and use skillful means to bring myself to awareness. From Judaism, I’ve learned about my deep yearning for spiritual practices connected to the week and to the calendar that keep me in touch with God. From Unitarian Universalism, I’ve learned about embracing a wide variety of traditions, and using reason. From the mystical traditions of all religions, I’ve learned about the underlying deep mysteries of existence that I want to explore. I’ve learned from Shamanism that there is wisdom inside me, and around me that I can tap to understand myself and the world. I’ve also learned, along the way, that it’s really hard to separate the psychological and the spiritual - that they need to be incorporated together in one’s spiritual path.

So all this combines to …

… a spiritual community that is panentheistic, but theologically very flexible and diverse - a community of mystics. A community that is deeply committed to, and creative and experimental in, spiritual practice and ritual. A community that has people willing to explore their own points of view, issues, and perspectives as they explore the Divine. A community that is engaged in thoughtful and prayerful social action. A community that is anti-oppresion, but also deeply thoughtful about what that means, and the ways we contribute to our own oppression, and the oppression of others. A community where everyone is both a leader, and a follower. A community that is committed to embracing the web of life.

I know that there is more, and that this will develop over time. But that’s what I’ve come to so far.

Technorati Tags: community, faith, religion

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