What does it mean that we should consider the spiritual as well as the material? This is a question that we must face in the present era. It is not an abstract problem, where we can simply solve it and write down the answer. It is a challenge that we have to face, both in thinking and in doing. In this post I want to write down some thoughts about this issue.
I'll start with what considering the spiritual does not mean.
Even though the word "spiritual" has been misused, "consider the spiritual" can't be an indirect way to say "do nothing". This is because the spiritual includes the material. In a recent post, Bruce Charlton expresses this point:
"Everything material is also spiritual. Therefore, all our material actions or behaviors, every-thing that happens in the material realm, has spiritual implications.
...
The material is a 'sub-set' of the spiritual."
Now, it may be that any particular person, due to their station in life or a special vocation may limit their sphere of activity in the material world. An example is the case of Sister Andre Randon, who at 117 years old survived the birdemic at the beginning of this year. She said: "No, I wasn't scared because I wasn't scared to die ... I'm happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else - join my big brother and grandfather and my grandmother."
As one would expect from a 117 year old nun, Randon recognizes that she is at the end of her life and is no doubt preparing for what comes next. In Randon's case, due to her age her activity in the material world is going to be rather restricted. Another possible example would be a monk who lives as a hermit and spends all day in prayer.
But in neither of these cases (or similar situations) are instances of doing nothing; rather they represent people who operate in a restricted sphere in the worldly sense, either by choice or necessity. However, the actions of such people do have spiritual implications, even though these may not be readily apparent.
As far as what it "consider the spiritual" does mean, in the broadest sense, it means to recognize that the world consists of a greater reality than the material and respond accordingly.
One aspect of this is that certain actions are off the table. Recognizing the spiritual nature of reality means recognizing that there is a moral law, so to do evil, even it would benefit us, even if (we think) it would benefit vast number of other people is forbidden. "What does it profit a man to gain the whole world, yet forfeit his soul?" (Mark 8:36).
Another aspect of the "practical application" of recognizing the spiritual is that we are better able to understand what is going on. As Chesterton noticed in his day, and even more so now, it is easy to have no higher perspective than adapt to whatever seems to be happening. But, by the use of spiritual principles, once can evaluate trends according to how they correspond to actual reality, not virtual reality and thereby avoid being taken in by them.
In addition to avoiding what is bad, one can also perceive what is good. Now, this is not easy by any means. However, since the spiritual is bigger than the material, we are not limited to our own plans and what we can think up. The spiritual can take up many different things, and they can unfold in an unexpected manner, providentially. Bruce Charlton writes in a recent post:
"I am currently thinking much about divine providence ...
This is - of course - how Jesus told us all to live in the Gospels ('consider the lilies' etc) - which is not to ignore the future, nor to live unthinkingly or in denial of reality; but to do the right things (one at a time, as they arise and not because they are part of a strategy) and trust to God to organize matters for the best.
God does this positively and negatively.
Positively by weaving-together the work of all Men who do good (and doing includes thinking).
Such positive divine providence is shown at work in The Lord of the Rings where the free choices of the characers lead to positive unforseen (and unforseeable - even by the wisest such as Gandalf, Elrond and Galadriel) outcomes."
And the fact that such things are unforseeable and difficult to articulate is not a fault of the spiritual. In fact, it is not just the spiritual where this occurs. In general, if something really is different and really is unlike what we are used to, then before seeing it it is difficult to describe it. And even after encountering something like this, it may take some time to get used to it and to understand it. Tom Shippey gave an example of this phenomenon in his book J.R.R. Tolkien: Author of the Century, where he quotes book critics saying things like: "The next type of literature will be completely different. It will not just be a variation on what we know, but something entirely unfamiliar." And then quotes those same critics disparaging the Lord of the Rings in their reviews. The new literature really was completely different, but even some of those who correctly predicted this were not able to appreciate it.
And so, considering the spiritual means considering reality as a whole. Our task in this era is to do this, even while living in a despiritualized world. Though putting it into practice is the work of a lifetime.
No comments:
Post a Comment