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Choose Life

Victor Clore

I am offering you the choice of life or death, blessing or curse. Choose life then, and you and your children will live. Love your God, obey God’s voice, and hold fast to God: that is life for you, and length of days. Deut. 30:19b-20a

We see a rising tide of spirituality these days, which is remarkable, not to say ironic, given the secular air we breathe. Apparently people are searching for something deeper than mere sensual satisfaction. Whether they are finding what their hearts seek is not so apparent.

Spiritualities are blooming like wild flowers. Which ones do I choose to plant in my garden? How do I choose a spirituality that will serve my body, soul, mind and heart? Which spirituality will prompt me to fall in love with God, follow God, hold fast to God? What Spiritual Way will my children be likely to follow? As I page through the latest offerings on my favorite bookseller’s Spirituality shelf, I keep these questions in mind.

One mark of wholesome spirituality is that it respects my body. Some of us come from traditions that fight against the body. Fortunately, we are starting to see the wisdom in Goldbrunner’s holiness is wholeness. There is no spiritual solution that will instantly lower my blood pressure, melt away my cholesterol, and dry up my bleeding ulcer. But over time, I can expect that a genuine spirituality will set a healthy tone in which my body can thrive.

I want my spirituality and my psyche to be partners. My psyche is my soul. It gives me a sense of comfort or distress, within myself and with other people. It embraces my moods, emotions, and passions. It colors my memory and shapes my attitudes. My drives and motivations are in my psyche, along with my personality, character and disposition. So are my foibles, anxieties, and tendencies toward addiction. It is a lot to ask, but I need a spirituality that is a worthy helpmate to my psyche.

My mind is another spiritual dimension. Its specialty is knowledge. Knowing comes in many shapes and sizes. I know my mother. I know the ABCs. I know how to abstract square root. I know Jesus lived in Nazareth. I know how to drive a car. I know myself. Knowing means to examine, ponder and consider, to analyze, discuss and debate, to have insight, to deliberate and infer, to grow in wisdom and discernment. All these activities boil down to three things: I pay attention to my experience, I understand what that experience might mean, and I judge whether it is real. Everyone can do this. Everyone should. But we cannot do it without spirituality. If I skip a step, I am "jumping to conclusions." It is my spirituality that prompts me to focus on my experiences, to risk a leap of insight, and to be confident that my judgments are reasonable.¹ Spirituality is more than meditation or prayer. It anoints my knowing.

Besides body, soul and mind, there is heart. Heart is our most spiritual dimension, the part of our self that is closest to God. Scripture uses the Greek word pneuma to mean a deep affinity with the Spirit of God; it moves me to "hold fast" to God. It gives me life. The heart is a relationship – God’s love "poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit" (Romans, 5:5), and my loving response. The Heart radiates Divine Grace. It transcends specific religions and cultures; it is a gift to all of humanity. The heart guides moral judgment. Aside from knowing what is true and real, I need to consider what is good, decide what must be done, and whether it is up to me to do it. I know in my mind by being attentive, intelligent and reasonable. I know in my heart by being responsible and being in love.

What, then, is spirituality? We could describe spirituality as an achievement that some people attain. We might cite Dorothy Day or the Dalai Lama. Or we could describe spirituality as a style of prayerful life, as in Benedictine spirituality, New Age, Carmelite, Hindu, or Lakota spirituality. Any description is as valid as its experience; but since your experience differs from mine, we can get into endless debates about what is spiritual and what is not, what is more and what is less spiritual. We can, however, explain spirituality in a way that fits everyone’s experience. Spirituality is our capacity for transcendence and authenticity.

Transcendence means to reach beyond my limits. I first learned to use a computer by trial-and-error, without understanding the intricate programming that drives it. This is commonsense knowledge. When I got a new computer, I set about learning different programs by the same commonsense, hands-on method. However, if I were to take a course in computer programming, I would discover the theoretical concepts that underlie computer programs. Then I could adapt easily to many programs. I would transcend commonsense knowledge and enter the realm of theory. Then I could make another leap. Once I see myself becoming competent, I could teach my coworkers some computer basics. I would transcend abstract theory and enter the realm of self-appropriation. ²

Transcendence integrates what had seemed to be fragmented, unconnected, chaotic or impossible, by considering these things from a different viewpoint. It is creativity. ³ Transcendence functions in us all. In the language of faith, it is being created in the image of God, and being transformed by being conscious of love. It is entering the "cloud of unknowing," which brings divine love to bear on the other realms of meaning. In the face of sin, fear or impossible odds, it is the Law of the Cross. It is being related to God in prayerful silence. Simply put, transcendence is being drawn by love beyond our perceived limits. Transcendence may be defined as the unlimited desire to know and to love.

Spirituality is also authenticity. It stresses immanence; it is being immediately present to one’s self and to one’s context. Authentic living is the practical determination to live my life as honestly as I can, at all levels, in my body, psyche, mind and heart. Body, psyche, mind and heart all have blind spots. Authenticity challenges and heals these blind spots. My body desires respect, but it may express that desire by expecting to be pampered. What it really needs is discipline; discipline is not disrespect. A sound spirituality helps me tell the difference.

The movements of the Psyche are incomplete and can be erratic; they develop and decline, and are subject to distortion. My psyche desires self-esteem, but it may mistake impulsive selfishness for self-determination. Some psychic dynamics are explosive, sick, even self-destructive. Selfish and violent tendencies are not authentic, and lead to death. Just as psychological therapy is not all warm and fuzzy, authentic spirituality is tough love. It will not let me wallow in self-pity, narcissistic preening or bizarre relationships. In this case, authenticity demands that we reach for the transcendence of conversion.

The Mind is also subject to blind spots and bias, despite its ability to reflect and integrate. I can give poor attention to my experience, or focus too narrowly on particular experiences. My mind craves insight and understanding, but I can confuse a particular insight for a noble truth. Insights come a dime a dozen. In a court of law, the opposing attorneys present two very different versions of the truth. We can judge too hastily, we can procrastinate indefinitely, or we can mistake whimsy for reality. The human mind, wonderful though it is, needs Divine Grace to thrive. We need a spirituality that can help us sort fact from fancy and make reasonable judgments.

The Heart recognizes what is good for me, what is good for the community, and what is an ultimate value.⁴ But even the Heart can be blind-sided. We can lose heart because of fear, guilt or shame. We may act on personal compassion rather than social good; we may ignore values. Authenticity goes beyond clear thinking; it urges commitment and decision. Authenticity always involves love: the will to extend myself for the sake of my own or another’s spiritual growth.⁵ It always chooses life. Authenticity is integrating experiences, insights, judgments, responsibilities and love, day by day, in any way I can. Authenticity is being true to one’s self-in-relationship.

Authenticity does not stand on its own. It needs transcendence. Genuine subjectivity is a continual yearning to become more than I am now. Authenticity and transcendence are partners in spirituality. Spirituality calls me to two things: to be true to my self, and to reach beyond my self. As a human person, to be true to my self is to reach beyond my self.

Everyone, of any religion or of no religion, yearns for some form of authenticity and some kind of transcendence. We have an unrestricted desire to know what is real and to do what is good, but people will articulate these ideals by different lights. Some people seek transcendence in the beauty of the cosmos, and authenticity by developing their human potential. For those who believe in God, transcendence is rooted in the existence of God, who is Transcendent Being; and authenticity is working through their God-given potential.⁶ For Christians, transcendence means being invited to participate with the Risen Christ in the Divine Relationship; and authentic living means loving one’s neighbor as oneself, even when this act of authenticity leads to the cross.

Nowadays we are surrounded by countless authorities in spirituality. We realize that we need to be discerning, and search out representatives of sound spirituality. Some are not sound, and some are harmful. Wholesome spirituality cherishes my bodily self. A worthwhile spirituality is well integrated psychologically. Authentic spirituality helps me know better. It can be like an old friend, quietly listening to whatever experience I want to talk about. But it also asks endless questions, sensing that I have not raised these questions for myself. It even questions my most brilliant insights. It presents a broader life-context within which I may make a more reasonable judgment. Finally, spirituality is responsible and loving. Transcendent and authentic spirituality opens me to love – other people’s love, and God’s love. There is no other way to choose life.

Rev. Victor Clore, Ph.D.
clorevi@udmercy.edu

¹Cf. Lonergan, B., 1972, Method in Theology. New York: Seabury, pp. 47-53, 302. Note that the process often unfolds in the opposite order: we find ourselves in a network of relations in which judgments of love and value already exist and are given to us as a gift. Then we come to understand how and why these judgments are important. Finally, we apply these judgments, and what we understand, to our immediate experiences.
²Cf. Lonergan, B., 1957, Insight, New York: Harper & Row, ch. XIX.
³May, R., 1975, The Courage to Create, New York: Norton.
⁴Lonergan, B., 1972, Method in Theology, ch. 2. These classes of goodness are embedded in Western Culture. Lawrence Kohlberg’s theory of moral development is based on these three levels.
⁵Peck, M.S., 1978, The Road Less Traveled: A New Psychology of Love, traditional Values and Spiritual Growth, New York: Simon & Schuster, p. 81.
⁶Some authors set transcendence and immanence against each other: a transcendent God is remote and inaccessible, whereas the ideal is to think of God as supremely immanent in our experience. This is a red herring. All of life, including God, is both transcendent and immanent; they are two dimensions that inform one another. Transcendence and immanence do not oppose each other.

Selected Readings
Barry, W. & Connolly, W. 1982. The Practice of Spiritual Direction. New York: Seabury.
A classic manual for spiritual directors, covering topics like the centrality of religious experience, the relationships between the person and God, and between director and directee, supervision, etc.

Coles, R. 1999. The Secular Mind. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
A contemporary reflection on the difference between being a thinking materialist, and an anxiously aspiring creature who looks outside to Another, to God.

Dyckman, K. & Carroll, L. 1981. Inviting the Mystic, Supporting the Prophet: An Introduction to Spiritual Direction.
A good primer to the art of spiritual direction, treating the basic themes of spirituality, prayer, the desert, decision making, and the charisms of mystic and prophet.

Fuller, A. 1986. Psychology and Religion: Eight Points of View. New York: Lanham.
Summaries of the thought of eight important intellectual beacons in the topic of religion and psychology: W. James, S. Freud, C.G. Jung, G. Allport, A. Maslow, Watts, E. Fromm, & V. Frankl.

Gorman, M., R.S.C.J. (Ed.). 1985. Psychology and Religion: A Reader. New York: Paulist.
A collection of 30 essays by a variety of well-known theologians and psychologists who have attempted to integrate psychology and religion in their work.

Hood, R., Spilka, B. Hunsberger, B. & Gorsuch. 1996. The Psychology of Religion: An Empirical Approach (Second Edition). New York: Guilford Press.
A thorough textbook, which surveys a wide range of research data in religion and psychology.

Houdek, F. 1996. Guided by the Spirit: A Jesuit Perspective on Spiritual Direction. Chicago: Loyola Press.
A basic handbook for the training of spiritual directors that explores the director-directee relationship.

Moore, T. 1992. Care of the Soul: A Guide for Cultivating Depth and Sacredness in Everyday Life. New York: HarperCollins.
A thorough integration of spiritual practice and psychological depth from the viewpoint of Jungian theory, by a psychotherapist, using the archetypes of ancient culture and myth.

Ruffing, J. 2000. Spiritual Direction: Beyond the Beginnings. New York: Paulist Press.
A manual for experienced directors that treats some of the subtle dynamics in the spiritual life.

Wulf, David. 1991. Psychology of Religion: Classic and Contemporary Views. NY: Wiley.
A thorough textbook integrating psychology with history, philosophy, and religious ideas and practice.

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