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Having been significantly humbled this weekend, I have turned to more regular prayer. I just want to share that one of the ideas that came to me as I was praying — perhaps the most important one, is that there is so much more to a spiritual life than one’s relationship with the church. I think it’s important to be part of a community, and to get spiritual reminders and nourishment, and to heed the calls it makes to beckon you down the road to greater character and happiness — but really, our lives are full of so many things that go beyond church. This morning I prayed about a part-time businesss I am having a challenge with, my career, my son’s diabetes, financial management, leading my family effectively in spite of certain challenges, resetting priorities, as well as the need for comfort given changes in my life right now.
None of these things involve doctrine, the church, etcetera.
I think one’s personal spirituality and relationship with God is the wellspring of spirituality — not the church. Lately I view it as useful only to the extent it helps me and my family. The church is not the source — God is — in whatever church, activity level or situation you find yourself. The church can give you the impression is is the center — it’s not — God is, and your relationship with Him.
I just wanted to share that as it was an important result of prayer this morning. I’m sure some of you think this is nothing special, like I just shared the revelation that 1 + 1 =2. But I felt this was important for me to share. I invite you to share your own ideas about one’s relationship with God — independent of the church, or concurrent with it, but regarding its paramount importance beyond other distractions.
SilentDawning wrote:I think one’s personal spirituality and relationship with God is the wellspring of spirituality — not the church. Lately I view it as useful only to the extent it helps me and my family. The church is not the source — God is — in whatever church, activity level or situation you find yourself. The church can give you the impression is is the center — it’s not — God is, and your relationship with Him.
Indeed. The essence of the Middle Way. The chinese term zhong (δΈ) comes to mind. This means “Middle”, but also, “Center” or “Core”. Notice that the ideogram (if you can read it) is a straight line bisecting a target. Whenever Buddha or Confucius would refer to ‘Middle Way”, they were referring to a word with broader and more significant meaning than ‘middle’ implies in english.The late Steven Covey wrote an early book, before a lot of his popularity, entitled, ‘The Divine Center”, in which he explores different ‘centers’ we can have. His conclusion was that Family-centeredness, Church-Centeredness, Career-Centeredness, and even Self-Centeredness all are common, they don’t ultimately satisfy. His ultimate center was a God/Christ centered life. I heartily agree, but go a step further in seeking to know what that means. When Christ points out that “I AM” is what we are supposed to be, then to be authentically real in the here and now, connected with god, christ, self, and others, is to be exactly what we are meant to be. The church may teach some of this, and it is useful to have a church to remind us of what is important, to point to eternal truth, and to provide a framework for serving others, but the real truth must be discovered personally.
That, to me, is what the Middle Way is all about.
My wife thinks I’m obsessed with this….
SilentDawning wrote:there is so much to a spiritual life than one’s relationship with the church. I think it’s important to be part of a community, and to get spiritual reminders and nourishment, and to heed the calls it makes to beckon you down the road to greater character and happiness — but really, our lives are full of so many things that go beyond church….I think one’s personal spirituality and relationship with God is the wellspring of spirituality — not the church.
Lately, I am beginning to understand the profound truth of this statement. I am currently developing a daily devotional practice that works for me. I will sing the religious songs that work for me (including many not found in the LDS Hymnbook), I will pray in a way that works for me, and I will read devotional text and scripture that works for me. It may not end up looking very LDS at times, but I need to be freed to pursue my Christian discipleship in a way that works for me. And I will attend Church in a way that works for me–it’s probably not going to be three hours every Sunday.
Quote:Lately I view it as useful only to the extent it helps me and my family. The church is not the source — God is — in whatever church, activity level or situation you find yourself. The church can give you the impression is is the center — it’s not — God is, and your relationship with Him.
I appreciate that the Church is good at supporting families. And that works for most people. Since I made the decision to remain celibate and part of the Church rather than to have a homosexual relationship, I have been frustrated by the lack of a “path” for me. The path the Church teaches to men is: serve in the Aaronic Priesthood, get your Eagle Scout, get ordained an Elder and go to the temple, go on a mission, return and quickly marry in the temple, have kids, later, rinse, repeat. I can’t marry and have kids. I find the program of the Church is hostile to unmarried men, and lifelong celibacy (you’re supposed to have kids, right?). So, if I want to follow a Christian path, I have to carve it out myself. There is no Church program for the devout homosexual. Lately, I feel the solution is to take the parts of the LDS Church that work for me, and build a path of Christian discipleship that is significantly outside of the Church. I’m still working on this…
Quote:I’m sure some of you think this is nothing special, like I just shared the revelation that 1 + 1 =2.
No, I don’t think this is as obvious as 1 + 1 = 2. The current program of the Church needs a lot of man and womanpower to function. The Church was made for man/woman, and not vice versa. The Church can grow to such an extent that it takes up our entire life, and I think there are implicit suggestions from many that it should. No, if some of us don’t see that the Church is not the source of our spirituality (especially those of us who grew up on the Wasatch Front), there are good reasons for that.
Wayfarer, when are you going to write The Tao of Mormon? Amen, SD. If we as a people could understand better than “spirituality” and “religiosity” are two different things, it would be a huge step forward – and, ironically, I’ve heard that message more than once in General Conference and the World-Wide Training Sessions over the last few years.
turinturambar wrote:Wayfarer, when are you going to write
The Tao of Mormon?
I would, but I think Jesus already captured the essence: he said “I AM the Way (tao)”. Hence, the Tao of Mormonism is simply “Jesus Christ”.Amen brother! wayfarer wrote:turinturambar wrote:Wayfarer, when are you going to write
The Tao of Mormon?
I would, but I think Jesus already captured the essence: he said “I AM the Way (tao)”. Hence, the Tao of Mormonism is simply “Jesus Christ”.OK, just a pamphlet, then. You could sell a 10 page booklet at Deseret Book for $24.95. Happens all the time!
I feel when my relationship to God is strong, I am my best self in all my other settings. While church, temple, scriptures and service are like vitamins in my daily spiritual diet, my communication (prayer) and my belief that someone on the other end is really listening and really does care about me is the main part of my diet. It all starts with that. I hope that makes some sense.
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