Food for Thought

Cafeteria Religion

“Skeptics call this freer approach to the religions of the world 'the cafeteria approach,' 'salad-bar religion,' or 'spirituality sprawl,' sampling a little of this and a little of that. I happen to enjoy cafeterias and salad bars and don't mind the comparison. There is no reason why you can't go deep into the teachings and even the practices of a formal tradition without surrendering to the whole religion.”

Thomas Moore (A Religion of One's Own)

Like Thomas Moore, I have an appreciation of cafeterias and salad bars. I have fond memories of going to the S & W Cafeteria in downtown Chattanooga when I was a little girl. My cousin, Sandy, and I would ride the bus and get off in front of Loveman's Department Store, where our grandmother worked in the ladies lingerie department. She would take us to the S & W. We each had some coin money in our pockets and could go through the line and choose what we wanted for lunch. We felt very sophisticated. Cafeterias hold some magic in my mind, still; to see so many delicious dishes in one long line, knowing I can choose anything I want.

In today's world, many of us have found our religious traditions to be tired. Ambling through the same prayers and the same rituals in rote fashion without hooking into any of them doesn't hold much spirit. We come away knowing we have fulfilled an obligation, but not much else. We don't feel fed. We may believe in God, but if someone were to ask us what that means, we'd probably have to stop and think about it. Believing in God doesn't make any particular religious tradition fulfilling. It is only when we give time and thought to what that means to us, on a very personal and individual basis, that we find meaning. And then there's the question of what we do with that. Is it just an exercise in our heads, or do we have some way of enacting it?

What sort of time do we give to that religion? Do we feel that one hour on Sunday is enough, or are we rooted in our tradition so deeply that it echos through everything we do? Do we find meaning in only one tradition, and is that because it requires little of us? Or do we study other great religious traditions and let them inform our personal beliefs? I subscribe to the 'cafeteria plan' and find there is food in all the traditions; food that brings me home to myself.

                                             In the Spirit,

                                                 Jane