“Spirituality”

 A few mornings ago, Carol and I were having our morning devotions reading a chapter of Romans and a chapter out of Philip Yancey’s book “I Was Just Wondering,”(Yancey has remained my favorite thinker). The morning’s chapter was entitled “Dastardly Deeds of Deflation,” in which Yancey proposed the idea that words retrogressed over time instead of progressed, he called it a relentless deflation over the centuries, an overwhelming pattern of words leaking away their meaning over time.

Take silly. Nobody wants to be called silly, it means fatuous, ridiculous. Ironically, the original Anglo-Saxon word meant one who was happy and blessed with good fortune. Similarly, the word idiot started out as a respectable derivative of a Greek word describing a person peculiar in a proper sense, meaning private and nonconformist. Eventually, the word became so peculiar (another deflated word) that no one wanted to be an idiot. Or consider sincere. Scholars believe that this word drives from sculptors’ use of the Latin phrase sin cera, meaning “without wax.” Sometimes a deft worker of marble would use wax to patch over unsightly gouges or scratches in his finished work of art; a flawless, honest work that needed no such makeup was called sincere, without wax.

Dallas Willard in “Renovation of the Heart” writes about spirituality, another leaking word in today’s world, Christians are always evaluating their spirituality, as well as other peoples, “Am I very spiritual, is he very spiritual, I’m lacking spiritual focus, or, his sermon lacked spiritual depth.” But is Spiritual a Christian word, and what exactly does it mean, or more importantly what did it mean at its conception, and has it been deflated over time?

Traditionally, many religions have regarded spirituality as an integral aspect of religious experience. Many do still equate spirituality with religion, but declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world has given rise to a broader view of spirituality. There has also been a growth in the scope of use of the term "spiritual."

Did you notice the deflation? “…but declining membership of organized religions and the growth of secularism in the western world has given rise to a broader (deflated) view of spirituality.

Last week I’d walked to the Mission Viejo Library (about a mile from the house) to write, when lunch time arrived I walked across the street to a Tie/Chinese restaurant where I could take my time reading James Bradley’s “The Imperial Cruise,” a book on the dastardly deeds of Teddy Roosevelt and his terrible legacy of white Anglo-Saxon racism around the world, which we are still feeling the effects from, if you like history this book will stun your preconceptions of our country.

The restaurant had three wooden tables outside. The day was startling beautiful, full of warmth, smells and sights, the surrounding green hills, Saddleback Mountain, a river bed, and the tree lined streets were punctuated by a story book breeze, sitting outside was my choice except for two loud women sitting at one of the end tables. I went inside and it was worse, louder and more crowded, I chose the other end table hoping that the breeze would blow the women’s words away from me, reading takes concentration, and voices penetrate reading decorum, this is of course why library’s have a silence policy.

I ordered Satay Chicken with no rice and a glass of water, simplicity is strengthening. The breeze and the women were not accommodating, one was young, the other her mother’s age, the mother type had her back to me but not her voice, and she was loud and opinionated. She was a prototypical “trying to hard older women” who can be seen in hippy hangouts across America, her hair was died coffee barista red, with steaks of black, it was cut short like a man’s, I sensed hostility, on the back of her neck was a Chinese script tattoo, she had a man’s thin tank top with no bra.

Her personage was as unavoidable as her pontification.

Reading became impossible.

A spectacle was center stage.

The coffee barista was postulating about her spirituality, I strained for any Christian semblance, but Yoga, Transcendental Meditation, and some form of Taoism was her spirituality. The women started disagreeing over Yoga positions as well as they’re benefits to one’s soul, the younger was as strong, and as opinionated as the older, and sincerity shrouded their table like a satin table cloth. Then another woman, whom the younger one knew, came over to their table, she also was a spiritual woman, she taught Buddhism and Yoga someplace in the city, the three got into it, the red/black hair lady got up and started doing Yoga positions in the parking lot, the Yoga teacher countered, voices arose to articulate they’re expertise’s, the tattooed one was the most ardent, all three got up in order to help their articulations. Suddenly the three High Priestesses of spirituality had developed a parking-lot church.

I looked down at my Satay only to realize it had vanished, I suspected observant befuddlement as the cause, being lost in thought can make people drive right by their off ramp without knowing they have been driving for some time.  

The etymology of Spiritual: “…Original usage in English mainly from passages in Vulgate, where the Latin word translates Gk. pneuma and Heb. ruah. Distinction between "soul" and "spirit" (as "seat of emotions") became current in Christian terminology.”

The dastardly deeds of deflation has now made spirituality every man’s truth, political correctness is the new police, Christians don’t dare enter into parking-lot debates, every man’s spiritual thoughts are acceptable, all that is, except the Christians. Mention Christ in public and you won’t gather a church; you’ll gather a lynching mob. Everything is acceptable except the original.  

I walked back to the library full from lunch but empty, watching people deflate the truth of spirituality is demoralizing. There are now billions of spiritual experts covering every form of thought, their observers shake their heads, and head home with a resolve to just mow their lawn, mind their own business and  leave spiritual life to the fringe people with red and black hair, tattoos, as well those Christians who look like me.