Spirituality for Non-theists

All people have spirit if they breathe. Understanding our lives as a whole is our spirituality.
Whether we believe in a God or not, we can learn to understand our spirit.

North Idaho Unitarian Universalists

Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

April 10, 2016


Oxymorons can be fun!

Our lives are full of contradictions in terms.

The fun part is learning to live with them.

Many of my favorite contradictions in terms are expressed as "Koans" -
  Zen Buddhist expressions that are intended to open our minds to new possibilities
    by forcing us to look beyond ordinary limitations.

One of the best known Koans says simply,
  "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

Like most Koans, it raises many more questions because it is not possible to answer.

My personal favorite Koan is about God:

God does not exist. Therefore God is.

We could analyze it to death, but let's not.

Let's just let it stand.

It expresses the reality of our position in relation to any Supreme Being.

It is really the foundation of my own faith (or my lack of faith),
  for, as I say many times,
    I am a Christian agnostic.

That puts me in the category of a non-theist,
  and that's exactly where I want and need to be.

I refuse to start developing my own faith and understanding with a priori assumptions.

I will not take it as a given that God exists at all,
    and certainly not that anyone's notions about God are a reliable definition of the reality.

There may or may not be in fact any supreme being
   who is the ground of all existence.

Evidence can be produced either way,
  but all the evidence is, almost by definition, subjective.

Why does God do this? (and we could list many things)

Why doesn't God do that, (and again, sometimes, the possibilities seem endless)

Thomas Merton wrote,
"You do not need to know precisely what is happening or exactly where it is all going.
What you need is to recognize the possibilities and challenges offered by the present moment,
and to embrace them with courage, faith and hope."

I quoted this on my Facebook feed.

Beth Toerne replied,
"Even under the best circumstances no one can ever know
"precisely what is happening, or exactly where it is all going".
All you ever have are the possibilities."

Our human spirituality includes our attempt to grapple with the possibilities
   and to cope with the contradictions in terms
      that our everyday lives seem to abound in.

We use our human imagination to try to discern patterns in our lives.

We are hard wired to try to do that!

I guess that's why there are so many visions of Jesus and Mary in the clouds
   or on pancakes
     or on pieces of toast.

These visions, these discernments of patterns,
  are much beloved by the credulous
    and by all kinds of people when the times seem very uncertain.

I have lived through uncertain times before, and so have most of you,
   but these seem to be beyond the range of uncertainty
      with which we can feel at all comfortable.

A lot of people are making contingency plans already
   in case a particular candidate is elected in November.

The reality is that nobody has a crystal ball.

We can't see what is coming next.

We would sometimes very much like to know,
  but we live our lives from day to day
     as though things would always be
       the way they are now,
         and they will not.

Spirituality helps us cope with the uncertainty.

For many people, that means looking forward to the pie in the sky when you die.

For the non-theist, it means focusing on the things that make life meaningful for us
      in the here-and-now.

Of course, believing in a particular supreme being
  is not a requirement for the hope - even the expectation - of the possibility
    that there really might be some living reality beyond the limitations of this life.

One of my favorite movies on the subject, _Defending Your Life_,
   has a delightful moment
     in which the defense attorney learned that his opponent,
          the prosecuting attorney, had just lost a case.
             He said, "There is a God."

Since this delightful moment took place in the after-life,
   where the protagonist is "defending his life,"
      I take comfort in the thought
          that even some of those in the world to come
             may be having to wonder about the Supreme Being
                just as we do here and now!

In any case, the strong emphasis on the here and now
     is a necessary ingredient for any positive spirituality
            for those of us who are non-theists
                 in terms of our personal faith.

I choose to use the word faith
       because it denotes a particular approach
            to unanswerable questions.

Faith, at least in my own understanding,
   seeks to grapple in a positive way
      with the why's and how's
         to understand what our lives mean.

It involves the use of a lot of imagination.

It relies heavily on feelings.

Particularly for the non-theist,
   faith does not settle on particular beliefs as final answers.

One of my favorite UU ministers spoke particularly profound words on the subject:

"The opposite of faith is belief."

You see, faith is an action word.

It is a noun, but it describes activity.

Belief is a noun also,
   and it does not describe activity.

Rather it describes settled answers to questions about God and the world.

Non-theists can be as guilty of holding on to settled answers as theists.

The new atheists of our time can be just as rigid in their anti-doctrinal positions
     as the fundamentalist believers who threaten our entire civilization.

For the sake of the ever-moving pendulum of cultural affirmations,
   perhaps the new atheists and the fundamentalists of our time
      really need each other.

But make no mistake aobut it.

Neither is practicing any kind of spirituality that I would recognize or want to emulate.

A frozen belief, whether positive or negative, is a dead end for the practice of spirituality.

An open mind is necessary if we are to grow in our understanding of life's meaning.

Frederick Buechner is one of the great theological and spiritual minds of our time.

He wrote,
  "Whether your faith is that there is a God or that there is not a God,
    if you don’t have any doubts you are either kidding yourself or asleep."

So I would go so far to say that doubt is an essential part of spirituality,
      whether for the theist or the non-theist,
         but the powerfully positive guidance of a healthy sense of doubt
              may just be more obvious to the non-theist.

I don't know if Frederick Buechner is a theist or a non-theist,
     but that is not the point.

His point is very relevant to our consideration in any case.

Minds are like parachutes:
  They only work when they are open.

Doubt keeps our minds open,
   and so it is a vital part of faith,
        especially for non-theists.

Again, I want to emphasize, that for me
  faith is the willingness to grapple with questions of meaning.

However we may be phrasing our answers at a given time,
   we can recognize that there may be better ways of understanding
       that we may find later on!

The answers to questions of faith are based on human imagination in any case.

If there is a supreme being, then He or She has designed us that way.

If there is not, then our concepts of Him or Her are simply figments of our imaginations,
    but either way, our concepts can be useful.

I do believe in the God who resides in my own imagination.

I don't know much about the God who resides in yours,
    but it can be fun to talk about it.

We only get into trouble spiritually
  if I begin to insist that you must believe in the God of my own mind
    or if you begin to insist that I must believe in yours.

Religions and theological systems traditionally have been based on shared concepts
    that people are required to agree to
           if they are to be a part of a given religion or church.

In our time, there is wonderful ferment.

The best way of doing theology
      is to agree on a methodology
           and then see where it leads us.

If our methodology is to accept the importance of doubt
    and a mutual appreciation of each other's concepts,
         then we just might make spiritual progress.

We also just may find that we are good Unitarian Universalists,
     since one of our most basic principles is the free and responsible search for truth and meaning.

In that principle (number 4 of the Great Seven), is the key to our spirituality.

In particular, non-theists are called to be both free and responsible
     in the search for truth and meaning.

To be sure, it would be a better world if all people could and would act freely and responsibly
    in the development of our own human spirituality,
         but our particular focus today is on those of us whose understanding is non-theistic.

For spirituality, for the search for truth and meaning to be free,
   we can conduct our search without the constraints of doctrine or law.

For spirituality to be responsible,
       we can conduct our search with respect for others,
           especially for those who may not show respect for us.

Naturally, if that disrespect involves the use of firearms,
   we have the right and obligation to provide a vigorous defense of ourselves
       and especially for the most vulnerable among us.

I'm sorry to have to mention that,
      but in our times, we would be remiss
           if we did not consider the possibility
               that what has happened to others could happen also to us.

I don't have good answers regarding our next steps,
   but I raise the issue because I believe it is something necessary to think about.

Spirituality equips us with weapons of heart and mind.

It may also call upon us to be prepared to take physical action in self-defense.

The practice of human spirituality has brought out the best and the worst in human nature.

We will always seek to emphasize the best.

The Easter season reminds us that our path may not always end in peace, love and joy.

At the same time, the same season reminds us that we can look beyond the things we can see
     to experience hope in the face of tragedy.

The unspeakable cruelty of people who are seeking to impose their own spiritual path on others
      even at the cost of their own lives
            can lead us to unite our hearts and minds
                 in opposition to the dark side of human spirituality.

As we come together in greater unity,
    we see hope born out of grief.

We need not make our oneness exclusive.

The co-religionists of the suicide bombers are the majority of their victims.

ISIS, the so-called Islamic State which is neither Islamic nor a nation state,
        is killing far more Muslims than the adherents of any other religion.

We best fight back as we unite with open hearts and minds.

We best fight back as we practice our spirituality.

That brings me to my final thought for today's consideration:
  one more oxymoron, one more contradiction in terms:
         We can pray.

Remember that I said that oxymorons can be fun?

What a wonderfully fun concept is that of atheists and agnostics praying!

In fact, many non-theists do pray!

We may not be quite certain whom it is we are addressing in our prayers,
    but that doesn't seem to make a lot of difference.

First and foremost, prayer for us can be in the form of meditation,
   a calming of our thoughts and feelings
       as we focus on a mantra, a positive sound like our chime
           or a positive thought or word
               or even the quiet contemplation of a helpful idea.

Taking fifteen or twenty minutes just to calm the mind
    can have a great many health benefits.

Lifting up people and their needs in our hearts and minds can also be of great benefit,
   to us and to them.

I am convinced that our thoughts are very powerful.

Thought as such may just turn out to be the single most powerful force in the universe.

I know that is a subject for another day, and one I have spoken about before,
   but the focusing of our thoughts in positive ways
     can be deeply beneficial for our spiritual lives.

Calling that focus our prayer can be fun,
   even if sometimes it seems like an oxymoron, a contradiction in terms.

In fact, one might enjoy saying that I am an oxymoron as I stand here before you!

As a Christian minister who wonders whether he believes in God or not,
  I'm used to living with contradictions in terms!

As I look around this room, I see a goodly number of people
  who have become very dear to me
    who share my comfort with oxymorons.

Our shared comfort and sense of well being is one of the best things we have in life.

It keeps us coming back to share these times with each other,
    and that just may be some of the best fun of all!

Amen.

So mote it be.

Blessed be!