Saturday, July 23, 2011

Posing the Big Questions

Spiritual Intelligence

“Spiritual intelligence is our human capacity to ask ultimate questions about the meaning of life; and to experience simultaneously the seamless connection between each of us and the world in which we live.”
                                  Richard N. Wolman
                                  Thinking with your Soul

         I was with a small group of people recently, and we were discussing the various revolutions being fought around the world.  We were trying to understand what they mean in the great scheme of human events—why there, why now?  One woman in the group told us, “I just don’t think about it.  I have enough to think about in my own life without wondering about that.”  It occurred to me that in that small collection of people one could encounter the spiritual cross-section in America today. 

Some people are content within a traditional belief system, and some people are constantly probing to find what else is there.  For instance, one of my sons says, “My faith is based on doubt.”  He reads and studies and questions and pushes the edges of traditional religion looking for something that feels solid.  The other son has already rejected organized religion in all its forms.  He’s studying science and philosophy for his answers.

It is akin to the differences between my two little dogs.  Julie, goes into the backyard and unless a chipmunk runs in front of her nose, she does her business and returns to the door.  The other one, Liza, goes into the backyard and searches every square inch of it simply to nose out what’s there.  She may get so engrossed in sniffing that she forgets to do her business at all.

One is not better than the other.  They are simply different.  I believe that it is inherently human to ask ultimate questions—what is the meaning of life, why are we here, what is humanity’s role in the evolution of life on earth?  Humans have been contemplating them for tens of thousands of years. They come unbidden and for some of us they wrap themselves around our brainstems and take root.

What about you?  Do you pose the big questions?  Are the questions themselves what sustains you?  Where do you go for answers?

                          In the spirit,
                          Jane

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