The Concreteness of Spirituality
Individuals in America today carry greater burdens in their
hearts than they do on their backs. Alienation or love,
aloneness or brotherhood, indifference or compassion, emptiness
or purpose, pride or humility, judgment or mercy - these
contradictory qualities depict the unavoidable spiritual
decisions each individual must face in every concrete situation
and in every moment of their lives. Whether rich or poor,
socially placed or displaced, educated or uneducated - whether
Caucasian, Afro-American, Hispanic, Asian or Native America -
each person must struggle along an inescapable yet perplexing
path in order to come to terms with these transcendent and
universal challenges.
Ironically, it is the very universality of this struggle, which
serves to remind us that spiritual qualities constitute the very
substance of every thought we consider, every action we
undertake, and every relationship we establish. Too often we
forget how greatly it matters whether our thoughts, actions, and
relationships are suffused with alienation or love….
indifference or compassion…. judgment or mercy. And yet, it is
the dialectical clash of these destructive and perfecting
qualities that shapes our lives and impacts the lives of
whomever we encounter.
A display of personal indifference, for instance, will not only
sour one's own life, but it can easily cause radical and
enduring disruption in the lives of others. And, when the
dynamics of alienation gain the ascendancy and begin to ripple
throughout society, they will easily develop momentum to unleash
a collective intensity that will quickly fragment and distort
the moral fabric of an entire nation, the integrity of its most
fundamental institutions, and the 'living dynamics' of its
society.
For this reason, what desperately needs healing in America today
is not just this or that individual or this or that group. Nor
is it even this or that institution o this or that value. In
fact, it is not even this or that family or this or that
community. No. It is the very soul of America itself - whose
life has become suffused with an ethos of alienation - that
cries out most loudly to be healed.
And so, in response to that call, we must all be mindful that an
affliction of the spirit can never be healed through
institutional reform. Nor can it be healed by a simple
reaffirmation of traditional values and virtue. Even a
nationwide effort to restore civil society will not suffice.
America's national predicament is simply too profound for such
perfunctory solutions. Legitimacy in our social, institutional,
and moral life can only be restored by a collective process of
healing spiritual alienation. And, as we embark upon that
journey, each of us, and all together, must be willing to extend
the gift of self to others through simple acts of love,
compassion, understanding, and mercy, and to do so without any
conditions or expectation whatsoever.
Gerald L. Campbell
See more at www.garaldlcampbell.com
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