Spiritual
Arrogance
“Arrogance
on the part of the meritorious is even more offensive to us than the
arrogance of those without merit...”
Friedrich
Nietzsche
I've
always been surprised at the way we humans believe that our way of
being in the world is the one correct way, and all other ways are
simply wrong. We do this with our spiritual lives as well. Here in
the Bible Belt, folks tend to believe that unless you are a
born-again Christian, you are misguided at best, dangerous at worst,
and in need of 'saving'. If you're a Jew, Hindu, Buddhist, or a
devout member of some other spiritual tradition, you are somehow
lost. This is nothing short of spiritual arrogance.
On
the other hand, if I hold it to be true that unless you walk the same
path as I do, as a progressive Christian who incorporates meditation
and ritual from other practices into my spiritual life, you have
somehow missed the boat, how is that different? We stand on either
side of our religion and throw rocks at one another like school-yard
thugs. I am not more evolved because I am open to other practices, I
am just finding the way that works for me. The evangelicals do not
have the one right answer, they are simply doing what works for them.
The same is true for Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, Muslims and so on.
The
important outcome is not who is right and who is wrong, but that we
find a spiritual practice that leads us to peace within and without.
We do not have to compete in every arena of our lives. We can allow
God the privilege of ordering the universe to suit God's purposes.
In
the spirit,
Jane
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