-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sunday Thought: The New Age of Spirituality

The field of religion and spirituality has evolved greatly
since my childhood when my parents first took me to a
Nazarene Church in the early 1950s. My earliest
experience with religion was "fear-based," which is true
for many people. It was a turn-off to me and once I
became old enough to make decisions for myself, I
decided that I didn't need any type of religion or
spirituality in my life. There was no concept of "joy'
present in the Nazarene Church fifty years ago. That
did not seem right for me, and it wasn't.

I went out of my way to avoid my spiritual being
for nearly 25 years of my life. That is unfortunate.
Can you imagine pretending that spirituality was
a non-factor in your life for that long? Actually I can,
and I know of people who have ignored their spiritual
nature for 85 years of their life. I am thankful that I
found my way back in the early 1990s when I
discovered meditation and a host of other practices
that helped me get in touch with my spiritual side.

Things are different today. We have many options
in how we can tap our spiritual side. We live in a
"new age of spirituality" today. You can draw spiritual
guidance from a vast array of "wells" that exist in the
world. Many are thousands of years old and have been
a source of spiritual inspiration and help to people
on all continents. Truthfully, each of us has to cobble
together our own spiritual belief system and an
accompanying set of practices. That is the way it is
supposed to be.

As a Boomer, I have found a lot of valuable guidance
from New Age Spirituality, especially some ideas and
practices from Buddhism, and more recently from
Unitarian universalism. Both are a LONG way from my
original exposure to religion and spirituality in a
"fundamentalist" Nazarene Church. I find both to be
very helpful in my everyday life, which is what matters
most to me.

You may find this quote by the futurist John Naisbitt
to be of interest:

"In turbulent times, in times of great change, people
head for the two extremes: fundamentalism and
personal, spiritual experience...With no membership
lists or even a coherent philosophy or dogma, it is
difficult to define or measure the unorganized New
Age movement. But in every major U.S. and European
city, thousands who seek insight and personal growth
cluster around a metaphysical bookstore, a spiritual
teacher, or an education center." --John Naisbitt,
MegaTrends 2000.

All this says to me that we live in an exciting "new age
of spirituality' today. This is a great time for spiritual
growth from my perspective.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------