In my last post, I suggested that our public discourse is now infused with anger that we are losing our souls….. (https://incarnation-place.com/) Here, I look more closely at what that means for us as a society, and how we can re-orient toward a life of flourishing.

Recently, esteemed documentary filmmaker Ken Burns interviewed Krista Tippett, a best-selling author and award-winning broadcaster. Their conversation was a fascinating and wide-ranging conversation about faith and spirituality. (https://www.pbs.org/kenburns/unum/playlist/) 

Krista Tippett suggests that humanity today is at an evolutionary inflection point. No longer guided by traditional religious teaching, humanity is struggling with the absence of trustworthy guides for moral life. Until recently, religious institutions were the primary vehicle for moral formation and identity.

Moral formation and identity are not only about “good behavior”. Rather, morality refers to the larger question that philosophers, spiritual leaders, and theologians around the world, throughout history, have pursued: what does it mean for humans to lead a worthwhile life? 

Christianity offers the language of “virtues and vices”. Virtues are qualities such as generosity, humility, honesty, kindness, and patience. Vices are the opposite of virtues, and include qualities such as greed, pride, envy, and wrath. The pursuit of virtues produces a moral life; the pursuit of vices corrupts life. This is central to the moral guidance given in western religions, including Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Eastern spiritual traditions, such as Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, and Vedanta, also echo this teaching. Eastern traditions use words such as wisdom, compassion, respect, and equanimity to name humanity’s highest ideals.

Today we live in a society increasingly dominated by the language of division, engaged in a perpetual state of war. Leaders incite their followers to attack, condemn, and exact revenge. Individuals and communities increasingly isolate from one another, view others as enemies, and justify wrath. People refuse to take responsibility for their actions. 

We are losing our souls because we have become entangled in a web of everything that goes against virtue. The path of rage, vengeance, and greed can energize, focus the mind, and give a sense of purpose: “eliminate the other guy!” This mindset is contagious, so it’s no wonder our public discourse is full of this forceful and threatening language. It is also addictive. Like all addictive behavior, individuals and groups weave their thinking with lies and half-truths, cloaked in the expression of a victim identity. Forgiveness has no place. Our  country’s trajectory is fostering the very worst in us. We are spiraling down in a path of spiritual decay. We are losing our souls, collectively and individually.

Tippett observes that, in the United States, it has been only a few generations since religion served as the source of moral guidance. The fracturing of religious institutions leaves an enormous gap in our moral imagination and vocabulary. As Tippett says, we are at an inflection point. Our calling today is to articulate a common vision for our human life, a vision that captures the moral guidance of virtue and the turning away from vices; an identity that fosters our basic needs for connection, belonging, and acceptance. This is a spiritual vision, says Tippett, that transcends religion. How we respond has far-reaching consequences, not only for our society but for the future of generations to come.

Readers of this blog know I am deeply influenced by Buddhist practices which help bring alive some of the essential teachings of Jesus. As my son once said, “Jesus tells me what to do, Buddha tells me how to do it.” Jesus tells us to love God with all our heart, mind, and soul and to love our neighbor as ourselves. Buddha tells us to study our minds in the service of wisdom and compassion toward self and others. 

How can we turn the tide toward a more wholesome and life-giving society? Here are some suggestions. I encourage you to offer your own thoughts below in the comments section. 

~ Build coalitions. Find people in your community who share your basic values. Connect with them. Listen. Take up a group activity. Read a book together, or watch a film together, and discuss it. 

~ Engage with people who share different opinions from yours. Learn to listen. Ask questions to help you better understand what needs and concerns underlie and fuel differing opinions. Can you find one or two core values you agree on? However, the conversation ends, strive to part with respect. 

~ Focus on intention. Keep clear what values most deeply inspire you. Strive to live into these values in all that you do. And begin again, no matter how often you fall.

~ Turn to spiritual teachings that speak to what you most believe is wise. This Christian teaching guides me daily: God’s presence in is continually moving within us, no matter how dark and painful the journey, bringing us back to love. This reality, in the words of theologian Robert Mulholland, is: “… a long steady process of grace, working far beyond our knowing and understanding…” (M. Robert Mulholland, Invitation to a Journey, Intervarsity Press Books, 2016, p. 26)

May we know peace, within ourselves and in the outer world.

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

~ How do you respond to the ideas presented here? What do you agree with? What do you disagree with? 

~ How do you engage with those who make choices or hold opinions you disagree with? 

~ What helps you maintain respect for others you disagree with?

Again, I encourage you to offer your thoughts, reflections and questions in the comments section.