“It isn’t so much that people leave religion, I think as it is that, like Olympic runners on a mission, they come to a moment in life when they go beyond the system to the very source of the light.
It is the plight of the mystic to enter the universe of God alone where no charts or maps or signs exist to guide us and assure us of the way. It is a serious and disturbing moment, one after which we are never quite the same.”
This quote from Joan Chittister, as used in the book “40-Day Journey with Joan Chittister” caught my attention. I can see this transition in my own life–from ‘religion’ to ‘the very source of the light.’ I work for the religious institution, that’s true. But the more I do, the more I am convicted that the point HAS to be the source of Light itself. I think it used to be that religion gave me the GPS directions for life: turn here, avoid that hazard, pass here, etc. But as I have moved above/beyond the rules of religion, I have encountered the ‘universe of God alone, where no charts or maps or signs exist to guide us.’ I encounter the vastness of the Divine–whatever he/she/it is–and it is ‘a serious and disturbing moment.’
But then Chittister goes on to say:
“with the promise of the tradition that formed us and the disciplines that shaped our souls…we can wander through the pantheon of spiritual traditions freely, going deeper and deeper into every question from every direction.”
I think so much conflict could be avoided if we saw it that way–my tradition frees me to explore other traditions from every direction.
What would that result in as far as openness to other people’s beliefs? SO MUCH!