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I tell my children their generation’s biggest
problem is that they don’t have enough problems. This isn’t entirely true; many
face serious troubles not of their making. But as a group, their trials pale to
those of previous generations.
To be fair the same is true of virtually every
American era, thank goodness. My grandfather spent long hours on the farm as a
boy and completed his education young. He enlisted in the Navy during World War
I (apparently lying about a heart condition), then lived through the Depression,
World War II, the Korean War, and Vietnam.
In his youth, telephones,
electricity, and indoor plumbing were for the rich, which he wasn’t. His peers
suffered polio, typhoid, rubella, and ailments most of us can barely spell, much
less fear. Yet I wouldn’t be surprised if his elders thought he had it easy
compared to them, and he probably he did.
With the relative peace,
prosperity, health, and leisure we enjoy today, one might think we’d have grown
happy and thankful – if one had absolutely no grasp of human nature. Instead, a
century of astonishing progress has been matched in lockstep by problems we
bring upon ourselves.
I don’t wish to belittle anyone’s
personal struggles, but generations battling outside adversity have generally
not had the free time or energy to add to the pile. It is almost as if we need
a certain amount of turmoil, that if our environment doesn’t provide a
sufficient ration we will scout up our own.
The reintroduction of genuine
uncertainty and menace after the September 11 attacks has led many to quest for
something else. Calamity does that; many believers I know came to faith during
times of personal crisis, though the process can seem a mystery. “Finding God
101” is not something taught in school, so I offer a few thoughts as a primer of
sorts for the new seeker.
First, if your goal is
“spirituality,” to become more comfortable with your place in the world, feel
better about yourself, or discover inner peace, I have no suggestions. Hunt
instead for truth and the rest will likely follow. Truth isn’t always
comfortable and certainly isn’t guaranteed to make you feel better, at least not
at first. It is, however, right by definition.
By the same token don’t seek
religion per se; stick with truth. Many approach a spiritual search like buying
a car, a process in which there is only what best fits the individual’s desires,
not absolute rights or wrongs. OK, the Yugo was evil, but if spiritual seeking
isn’t about greater truth you might as well join the Kiwanis. They do good work
and probably throw better potlucks.
If you like everything about a
religion it’s probably wrong. If you have to customize a faith to suit your
needs, you’re probably wrong. Don’t swallow the line that all roads lead to
God. Granted the search would be easier if it didn’t matter, though in that
case, why bother? The God-by-any-name school might seem inclusive and well
intended, but good intentions are said to pave another road you don’t want to
travel.
Beware of beliefs that appear
overly flexible. Times change, styles change, people change, but truth is
constant or it isn’t true. Look out also for thinking that is too rigid,
requiring precise conformity in minutiae that can’t possibly matter. Meaning
comes not from connecting dots, but to God.
Shop around if you feel drawn,
but don’t expect this kind of knowledge to come from research. What you seek
can be found and known, but accept that some things are simply beyond our
understanding.
Which is why it is called faith.
And while you are looking, be open to the possibility that something might be
searching for you too.
© 1997- 2002 Brent Morrison
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