Trusting one's experience and "inlet to the divine."

I am reading - rereading, I thought it so good - The Varieties of Religious Experience, a series of 1902 lectures by psychologist William James.  I recommend it to anyone interested in an open-minded, erudite and rigorously scientific discussion of human truths that cannot be verified or tested by any instrument: our personal beliefs and experiences.

"[A] current far more important and interesting religiously than that which sets in from natural science towards healthy-mindedness is that ... to which ... I will give the title of the 'Mind-cure movement', ... a deliberately optimistic scheme of life, with both a speculative and a practical side."  Id., Penguin Classics Edition, p. 94. 

"[I]t is the life that tells; and mind-cure has developed a living system of mental hygiene which ... is wholly and exclusively compacted of optimism: 'Pessimism leads to weakness.  Optimism leads to power.' 'Thoughts are things,' ... and if your thoughts are of health, youth, vigor, and success, before you know it these things will also be your outward portion.  No one can fail of the regenerative influence of optimistic thinking, pertinaciously pursued.  Every man owns indefeasibly this inlet to the divine. ... [O]ne gets, by one's thinking, reinforcements from elsewhere for the realization of one's desires; and the great point in the conduct of life is to get the heavenly forces on one's side by opening one's mind to their influx."  Id., p. 107.

In 1902, James wrote, "To the believer in moralism and [good] works, with his anxious query, 'What shall I do to be saved?' Luther and Wesley replied, 'You are saved now, if you would but believe it.'  And the mind-curers come with precisely similar words of emancipation.  They speak, it is true, to persons for whom the conception of salvation has lost its ancient theological meaning, but who labor nevertheless with the eternal human difficulty.  Things are wrong with them; and 'What shall I do to be clear, right, sound, whole, well?' is the form of their question.  And the answer is: 'You are well, sound, and clear already, if you did but know it.'"  Id., p. 108, italics in original.

I had such an experience over 30 years ago.  It could not have been detected, let alone verified, even if I had been hooked up to brain activity measuring device when it happened - or now, when I remember and relive it.  If anyone thinks I must be making it up - that's all right: others' skepticism doesn't change my reality.  However, dear reader, even if you don't accept my experience as real, for your own sake I urge you to trust your own experiences that cannot be verified.  James writes of "the enormous diversities which the spiritual lives of different [people] exhibit.  Their wants, their susceptibilities, and their capacities all vary ....  The result is that we have really different types of religious experience...."  Id., p. 109.

James's point applies to any kind of personal experience and, over a century ago, he was blunt in urging readers not to dismiss on account of their strangeness the experiences of others: "[N]othing can be more stupid than to bar out phenomena from our notice, merely because we are incapable of taking part in anything like them ourselves."  Id.

December 15, 2024

For centuries, Quakers have believed that every person has direct, individual access to God, however named, and, much more, that there is divinity - "that of God“ - within every person.

These beliefs bring to my mind this thought experiment: what if the parts of God within each person who has ever lived, who is alive today, and who will live in the future are, collectively, God?  What if every person, whether she or he believes it or not, is the host, guardian and agent of her or his unique part of God - and those parts are all there is to God? 

God would still be amazingly complex and powerful.  God would have been there at the conception of the first human.  God would have been there at the invention of language, the wheel, and the atomic bomb.  God would have been there every time a law was decreed by a king or voted – or disregarded - by a group of people.  God would have been there at the start of every war, with every person during every day of every war, and at every war's end.  God would have been there for the building of the pyramids, the Great Wall of China, and Machu Picchu; the writing of every word of The Bible, the Talmud, the Koran, and the I Ching; and the painting of every cave image, the Sistine Chapel, and Guernica.

In this thought experiment, the will of God would constantly be at work through each person and humanity as a whole.  Human civilization would be like a spiritual democracy, with some people gaining and exerting more power than others; some people opposing abuses of power; some people deciding, consciously or unconsciously, not to vote - or being unable to vote - on many issues; and people variously happy or unhappy with the way things have been, are, or are headed.

Whether those who, now and in the future, want peace, the rule of law and truth, basic human rights and reasonably fair opportunities for all, security of every neighborhood and nation, and an end to degradation of our earthly environment fail or succeed in requiring or persuading those who do otherwise - those whose actions devalue others' lives and work, lead to conflict and wars, or harm global habitats and production and distribution of food for humanity - to change their ways, God, through people, will have brought about the end of humanity, be it ten or ten thousand years from now; or humanity, as God, will have saved itself.

This is just a thought experiment. But it helps me think about what I'll do today.

Thought experiment: being one among billions of cells - part 2

I have described in these pages a thought experiment  —  imagining oneself as one cell among billions in the body of humanity.

Since then, the woes of humanity have mounted. Wars, famine, pandemics of health, hatred and anxiety. Though historically common, these seem to have become more numerous, more intense, and more ghastly in their human consequences — deaths, injuries, hunger and starvation, including countless civilians and children; homes, hospitals, schools and jobs destroyed; forced mass migrations; alienation of neighbors one from another, even in communities far from war or famine, due to toxic political climates.

How does one cope? How does one person, with one voice in the seeming din of shouted harangues, both practice self-care and contribute in a sustained way? 

Return with me to the thought experiment. Even for an imaginary, single cell in the body of humanity, Life is a best efforts proposition. Each cell has its familiar set of chosen responsibilities within the body of humanity and fulfills those responsibilities in what it perceives as its best effort under its circumstances. 

Imagine that to a cell comes the knowledge that the body is in danger. For reasons other than self-defense (or far beyond it), some cells in the body are killing, maiming or starving their fellow cells and destroying or threatening to destroy organs in the body which are the sources and homes of those other cells. Yet other cells, for power or distraction from the effort to gain power, are trying to get cells to attack each other or to diminish the ability of cells work together, particularly to work together to reverse and deter the degradation of cellular cooperation that is needed for the health of the body. 

How does the cell respond to that knowledge? Just by pursuing its previously chosen set of responsibilities, however far from danger that may be, perhaps reasoning, “what difference could one cell make?” 

Or does the cell recognize the danger to the body, recognize that its duty of best efforts applies to care for the whole body, and recognize that it could make a real difference, especially by joining with other cells, and resolving to find out what it, that one cell, can do — what it can do beyond what it previously did, beyond what it was previously comfortable doing — to help in a loving and persevering way to protect and heal the body? I believe that the cell that chooses to pursue this resolution, this path of growth and service, will find that choice fulfilling and entirely consistent with self-care and having a life of joy.

September 22, 2024

Life will always take care of itself, whatever we do, and whether we think about it or not.  But if we consciously attend to Life as it unfolds, and do our best to honor and protect it, something magical and very powerful happens.  It's as if the Holy Spirit is telling us,

"If you lovingly take care of Life, Life will lovingly take care of you."

Reality check #23: Moral gerrymandering

I have written about knowing one will need "forgiveness" as a sure sign that one is about to cross a boundary.  The spectrum of importance of legal and ethical boundaries is vast, of course.  

Boundaries - geographic, legal and ethical - are inherent in the practice of some state legislatures in the United States called gerrymandering - "the political manipulation of electoral district boundaries with the intent to create undue advantage for a party, group, or socioeconomic class within the constituency."  When it is used to protect incumbents, Professor Wayne Dawkins describes gerrymandering as "politicians picking their voters instead of voters picking their politicians."

Reality check: Does my decision-making involve moral gerrymandering - the conscious or unconscious changing of my moral boundaries so I can do what I want to do or avoid doing what I don't want to do?  I place a high value on telling the truth - and on doing the right thing.  What should I do - what DO I do - when telling the truth about something unimportant, like whether or not I enjoyed an experience, would needlessly hurt someone's feelings?  Do I move the boundaries of my core values to disenfranchise my conscience?  To excuse or justify serving my interest rather than another person's interest?

How alert am I to the difference between suppressing one value to honor a higher value - especially love - on the one hand, and, on the other, suppressing the higher value for convenience or the avoidance of embarrassment or discomfort?

In the phrase "situation ethics," isn't ethics the more important term, and the loving service of others always the goal?  

 

Having faith in people

Faith in God, however named, will of course always be of great and special importance to those who have that faith.  However, God acts through people - and there are a lot of us.  The condition of the global environment for humanity and all other living things will depend greatly on what people do. 

So, compared to faith in God, I believe that faith in humanity - especially faith in those of our personal family, friends, neighbors and leaders who have not discredited themselves - is of much greater practical importance to the peace, justice and sustainability of societies around the corner and around the world.

It is in our interests to acknowledge, encourage, and honor the capacity for goodness - the holy potential - in every person.

September 8, 2024

I have been reading a collection of early 20th century lectures by psychologist William James. The book is entitled The Varieties of Religious Experience. 

In that book, Professor James talks about individual human depression of the darkest kind. It is very hard to read the first-hand accounts of losing both enjoyment of practically everything in life - the faces, touch and laughter of loves ones, freedom of movement, sunny days, self-expression, learning - and hope that the deprivation will end. It is horrific even to try to imagine such experiences and hopelessness.

One of James's sources is Leo Tolstoy, the Russian writer. Unlike many others, and despite years of avoiding situations that would make suicide easier, Tolstoy did not give up looking for aid in escaping the prison of depression. And eventually he found aid. He found aid in what he called God.

Today, mindful that none of us gets through Life alone, I imagine this message from the Holy Spirit within each of us: 

"Whenever you find yourself in a dark place, a place of depression or seemingly endless grief, and all the ways out seem to be blocked, seek within yourself the will to find aid, to find grace, however small or brief the grace may be.  Persevere, and you will find aid. You will find grace, be it, at first, like drops of rainwater from the ceiling of a dungeon. A crust of bread in the dark. A memory of a special moment. Persevere in seeking grace, and you will find more and more of it, enough to free you.  Each time you find grace - indeed, each time you look for it - I will be close by."