Relating Creation Spirituality
to Lutheranism
Doctorial dissertation by Marilyn E. Jackson
VIII. INTERVIEWS AND CONCLUSION
Introduction
When I have mentioned to Lutherans that I would like to develop the connections between Lutheranism and Creation Spirituality, there has been interest in the past. However, a few people told me in so many words that I might find Lutherans rather stodgy. What I did find is that there are variations based on the particular culture and denomination within Lutheranism that peoples families come from. There are also differences in belief as far as liberal vs. literal interpretation of the Bible and church tradition.
In a recent monologue, Garrison Keillor compared Lutherans to the faith he was raised in. The Lutheran choir was so much larger than the one at his church, as Lutherans allowed those who might not have the correct understanding to remain in the Lutheran family. That echoes my experience, growing up and returning to the Lutheran church. I feel I can explore my own views and still be part of the family.
On the other hand, there are traditions and theological precedents which people, especially clergy, are wary of rocking. However, with all the competing spiritual movements, many lay people have left, as far as I can tell, and churches in places like the San Francisco Bay Area, have closed. There are other reasons, including the cost of housing, perhaps, driving the children of many members out of the area, but the multi-cultural and postmodern context cannot be ignored and the question, in my view is, how do we talk about this? If we don’t, I don’t see how Lutheranism will grow in a postmodern era. Since Creation Spirituality addresses the spiritual yearnings of many as well as impending environmental concerns as well as supplying a fun creative perspective, it provides a good backdrop for discussion.
Interview Process and Ideas for Future Projects
Apart from traditional schooling, a story of learning most people have heard is the folk or fairy tale narrative where a person (often young) asks or is asked a question. The reward for finding the answer may be great or just the satisfaction for finding an answer to intrigue. In order to find an answer, the young learner goes on a journey. They ask their question to each person they meet along the road, and a new adventure ensues which leads them down another road to encounter a new person, who they ask, and so on. Eventually they find an answer, and the answer itself is often not what they would have expected.
I think this ancient tradition must have something to do with action research, in which one dialogues with a variety of people to see different sides to a question. By learning the answer from each person, one can put together a picture, like a puzzle, or like the story about the half a dozen or so blind men who try to describe an elephant, though each only feels one part of the large animal and each comes up with a completely different answer.
I interviewed over 50 people during the summer of 2004. Out of the interviews I developed an Interview Collection (Addendum II) of mostly autobiographical essays of religious and spiritual journeys. The key to my interview process was to listen and record the responses as accurately as I was able. I then gave participants a chance to make or suggest edits if they wanted to take the time. I felt that in a small way, this invited them to participate in the project as well.
Listening carefully was an important way for me to increase the objectivity of the information gathered. I felt I was doing people a service, for the most part, by writing up what they had to say. There were instances when they preferred anonymity, because of the personal content of the interview or because they didn’t have time to edit it to express what they would want to say. I used a somewhat journalistic style of reporting, by often including how I know the interviewee, how I came to interview them and related information. Often the interviewees discussed their family members as well.
I used an ancient method of inquiry and dialogue to gain wisdom from those I sought out as well as those already around me who I ended up interviewing. The people I interviewed had not studied my topic as extensively as I had and generally had only a few comments to relate. I did not ask a long list of questions but sought to engage people in reflecting on their life and sharing their journey of religious belief or non-belief. This brought out a rich collection of life stories. I took note of their ethnic and religious upbringing in most cases. I learned about several important theological ideas, a few new ways to connect Lutheranism to Creation Spirituality, as well as religious history, names and terms that were new to me.
If I had started with a specific list of questions, I might have been able to report differently. However, I don’t see understanding this to be something that can easily be organized into a long list, but more a set of concepts that need to be fit together. However, to see what statistics could be gleaned, I did make a chart afterwards to analyze, resulting in some demographics which I report from in the next section. I could not possibly have fairly reported the full richness of all the stories into a chart as they were more narrative and conceptual than factual and that is why I am not including a chart in this summary.
It was difficult for me to get started doing interviews. I attributed this in part to my introverted tendencies. However, after the rest of the paper was fairly complete, I wrote a short essay on creation spirituality for the benefit of helping interviewees understand what I was doing. I interviewed a few close friends, then started calling old and new friends and acquaintances, which energized me. I emailed to friends and acquaintances, the essay on Creation Spirituality plus an excerpt from my paper on the work of Matthew Fox plus my table of contents and an introduction stating what I wanted to learn from them. I got a good response to the emails. For friends I had been less in contact with, acquaintances and referrals, I called them first and then sent the email. I mailed the information to a few who preferred that and mailed to almost everyone, a copy of my paper on N.F. S. Grundtvig and popular education in Scandinavia (Addendum I).
After things were under way, I didn’t have much problem finding people to interview and following through. I set up a few appointments every week as the summer progressed. I called one referral and received a great interview on the spot, though as I wasn’t at my computer, this was hard on my hand and difficult to interpret. However, the interviewee edited and emailed me back what I wrote up.
As I got into interviewing, I found it easiest to just let people talk, in most cases starting with where they grew up, their parents and childhood. I encouraged them to suggest referrals in my initial invitation letter and followed up on some of the referrals. I enjoyed the opportunity to do each of the interviews and decided that every person is a book of knowledge. I realized that usually, people are told what to believe and seldom are they asked what they believe, except by children or occasionally, their teachers, but in those instances, they may not feel free to share their real beliefs. For this reason, it is courageous for people to say what they actually believe, which often includes doubts, though not everyone shared their doubts.
At the beginning of each interview I reiterated what I had emailed many of them, about the main theme of my paper which relates Creation Spirituality to Lutheranism, as well as the background theme of relating popular spirituality to traditional religion. If they didn’t know much about my main topic I encouraged them to tell about their faith journey and how their beliefs may have changed.
Most found it easiest to tell their stories and my themes often colored what they had to say. Several started by saying they weren’t sure what creation spirituality was. Sometimes I asked them to first give me their explanation. Other times I gave my explanation. Some picked up on the theme of spirituality and popular trends, others the environment, others about having a spiritual feeling for looking at the night sky and the discoveries of science about the origins of the universe.
When it came time to interview, many had not read the materials I had sent very carefully, though probably had glanced at it. If I saw them in person I gave them another copy but did not encourage them to spend more time reading it if they hadn’t already by the time of the interview. I mainly tried to make them feel comfortable to share their stories.
When interviewees were not sure what to say, I provided a few questions. More often I asked questions to clarify for myself what they were saying, as well as to help them develop their stories. I sometimes asked more questions of Lutherans and those who had more to say about theology or church history which I did not know about. I let them talk a short time or a long time, depending on how much they had to say or how the conversation developed. By the time I had done plenty of interviews, it was hard to stop. People I had committed to interview generally wanted to follow through, as did I.
Since I felt like I jumped in feet first to the interviewing process as I hadn’t undertaken this before, I may have been a little rough around the edges. I could have been more formal with the process in terms of letting participants exactly know how I would use their interview in advance. I may not have been consistently clear in explaining at the beginning or right after the interview, that I would be printing the interview in an addendum collection after my dissertation, though the final decision of how to use them actually came after I had started. By the time I sent them back what I had written, if I hadn’t been explicit by then, most let me know how they felt about what was written and we took it from there or I sent confirming emails to those who didn’t respond or tried to follow up with a phone call.
If I had done the interviews earlier, before finishing the paper, I would have found more material to explore, especially about some Lutherans who have focused on the environment. It would have been an advantage to involve some interviewees earlier on and have more time to contact others. Since my topic is not well-known, I wanted to think it through as much as possible first and to put together the two concepts of Creation Spirituality and Lutheranism, which I already knew a lot about, before feeling comfortable talking about it with others.
I now have more resources to continue to develop some of the themes. The interviews opened up for me some new resources of Lutheran theology such as Christus Victor theology and history such as about different Lutheran denominations as well as confirmed some themes of my paper, such as the Lutheran emphasis on salvation by God’s grace.
Another result was for the interviewees themselves to develop their own thoughts and self-awareness of their feelings about spirituality, religion and the path they had been on. I got feedback from most who really enjoyed the process as well as seeing the result on paper. It allowed them to reflect on their lives, organize their thoughts and bring forth their knowledge and experience to make a statement in a way that I doubt would have happened otherwise. It was an enjoyable way for me to connect with people. From those I already knew, I learned some things I didn’t already know and might not have found out about otherwise.
About 30 gave back some edits, mostly via email. One complimentary interviewee wrote, "You are a superb interviewer, and presented a lot of information very concisely and well" and "I’m thrilled to part of your research!" Another wrote, "I thought you did a very nice job of reflecting the interview well and my circular thinking." Another wrote, "I appreciate what you're doing. The more voices raised for spirituality the better" and after I suggested some new edits from a followup email wrote "Cool, very cool." One wrote, "You did a good job getting down the essence of my interview." One who I had thanked for his interview responded "Thanks for your care in handling this, and for your interest in an important nexus of issues. Thanks back at you!" Another wrote "Your write-up of our interview was a good record." Other short phrases of appreciation included: fine; good work; good job; looks great!; thanks; nice job; lovely, thank you; and excellent.
On the other hand, my write-ups were accurate to a fault because in the end result I often lost my voice as the author in deference to the interviewee’s voice, especially when they made their own edits. I tried to keep my voice in it and worked to put it back in after their edits. However, rather than spend a lot of time going back and forth time with each interviewee, I may have erred slightly on the side of making sure the interviewees who responded were satisfied with the result rather than making the write-ups completely perfect from my viewpoint.
I didn’t intend my dissertation to be the final word on this subject, but to start some conversations. I also have found some possible fellow travelers in the prospect of further ventures because of the interest generated in several interviewees who are curious to read the final dissertation. By sharing this dissertation with as many interviewees as possible, I anticipate followup conversations and ideas to percolate. I also anticipate there will be a natural ripple effect of influence among interviewees and readers of the paper that may go undetected as with any thoughtful experience that touches peoples’ lives in a meaningful way.
WISR’s material on Action Research was easier for me to understand after having jumped into such a project. The dissertation up until the interviews, using the language of WISR’s writings on Action Research, was a product of mining my own experiences, reviewing literature and finding ways to make connections between Creation Spirituality to Lutheranism.
According to WISR’s Action Research material, there is a pre-research stage of inquiry where one comes up with ideas and formulates in detail the questions to seek answers to in the later, more formal part of research. Using one’s own experiences for ideas to form questions around is a way to take well accepted customs which are normally taken for granted, to stand them on their head or pose them in a new light and make them a subject for research and inquiry.
WISR’s Action Research material talks about note-taking as a tool for developing ideas. When I write notes it is while listening to others speak or when I have a flash of insight, which helps conceptualize what I am thinking at the moment. However, more often than not, when I go to write a paper, these notes are nowhere to be found. I have felt that the ideas I generate percolate and integrate in my mind until they reach a saturation point when it is good to put them down on paper for preservation and further development. I call this process “scraping the pumpkin” like when you scrape out the insides of a pumpkin in the fall when it is full and ripe for cooking. However, it is also works for me to start writing before saturation point as this can form the beginnings of a structure to add to later on. Hopefully not to force the analogy, but I have learned by living with a gardener, that it is OK to eat pumpkins before they are completely ripe, as they go through a green stage when they taste like zucchinis.
For writing, I used my own observations as well as drew heavily on books and other essays and documents. I find that I often learn more from being forced to summarize what others say than by merely reading. Research on the internet has been quite helpful, not only for big topics, but also to check out little topics. For instance, when I would write-up my interview notes, I often checked out my notes of what they said, including the spelling of authors’ names they had mentioned, on the internet.
The downfall of relying just on one resource is that you may either not get enough information about something or not really have the best and most accurate source. On the internet it can be tricky to get authors, publishers, places and dates. You get an address in cyberspace, but don’t always find out the title, author or their physical location. I have learned to try to go to root directories of websites and that way found more bibliographical information.
As my paper developed and I formulated statements and judgments, to use another phrase from WISR’s Action Research material, from time to time I was aware of making statements that might not be substantiated by good sources. When I caught myself in that kind of situation, I tried to find better sources or changed what I had written. Sometimes I had written something a long time ago but had an incomplete source. It is common, for instance, for people to copy a newspaper article to pass out with no reference information. At times I have had to take out something I’ve written if I realized I didn’t have a good source or wasn’t certain of its validity.
Since I am a Lutheran and wrote about Lutheranism, I was a participant observer as referred to in WISR’s Action Research materials (WISR Action Research, “Broadening Our Experiences“ 3-26-81, 6). Moving into an interview role, it was natural for me to interview Lutherans and others I already knew and to branch from there to referrals and or others I thought would be responsive. Except for some formalities, I didn’t feel much like a separate observer, but more of a conversationalist, listener, learner and recorder of peoples’ thoughts and stories
I don’t work at a specific agency, as much of WISR’s Action Research instruction is directed toward, but have been part of many Lutheran communities and networks and interviewed many people in parts of these groups and networks. Only a few of them already had a big interest in Creation Spirituality and would naturally see why I might want to do this project. This has been a way to educate people a little about Creation Spirituality. Most knew of Matthew Fox but had only one or two impressions of what his work was about. It would be interesting to go about this project with a goal for more participatory research and more intensely include others who are interested in the topic. That might take more effort at coordination on my part and might lead in a different direction, however, depending on the priorities of individuals involved.
It was easier to type than to write long hand, so taking interviews over the phone while typing at the computer made less work for me in the long run. Meeting people face to face was a more fun and sociable experience. I tried to meet in person more at the beginning and especially if I didn’t know the interviewee well. The live interview worked better than an email exchange, though I made an exception in a few cases. The written exchange didn’t allow for the spontaneity of a live dialogue and my ability to ask questions to bring out their life story. I thought about using a tape recorder but never did.
During the summer of interviews, I took two trips to Minnesota. The first trip was to attend the Augustana Heritage gathering in St. Peter, Minnesota in June, which celebrated Swedish Lutheran American heritage. The second was to a family reunion in August.
My wrist became sore at one point, though fortunately right before my trip to the family reunion, which gave it a break. On this trip, I was reading a book about developing one’s intuitive mind, called Sixth Sense. This was an intuitive choice, as the book had something to say about scientific research.
The book tells about Archimedes’ realization of displacement theory while taking a bath, from which he jumps up and runs down the street naked, shouting "Eureka," meaning "I’ve found it." The book explains how intuition can be accessed from a more scientific than religious standpoint, though it doesn’t mean to discount religious views. How I understand what it is saying, is that there is a part of the brain that can actually access information not reached by the five senses. Not only information from elsewhere, but the brain can put things together for us and we need to let the information seep into our consciousness, through daydreaming as well as nighttime dreaming. One can often receive this information by relaxing and doing something like taking a bath or going for a walk or even washing the dishes. When the body is comfortable and relaxed, the mind is free to connect ideas when not hindered by linear thinking or stressful activities. Brain researcher MacLean wrote that "Intuition is what the brain knows how to do when you leave it alone" (24-25).
Albert Einstein placed high value on his intuition and wrote, "The intellect has little to do on the road to discovery. There comes a leap in consciousness, call it intuition or what you will, and the solution comes to you and you don’t know how or why"(22). Though creativity and visual thinking were also important for Einstein, intuition was key (22-23).
Intuition can be a guiding force for developing anything. Though writing a research paper involves much linear and creative thinking, for making judgments it is helpful to have some integrative advice from our intuition as well. On the other hand, I find it sometimes hard to discern between prejudice and intuition and between what my head says to do versus my gut so perhaps I need to study intuition further. I know that I did have many Eureka moments where I ran to the computer to add key comments. When I think of what future activities this paper may inspire, I will naturally lean heavily on intuition for direction, then test those ideas out.
One person who is very interested in Creation Spirituality asked where this project might lead. I said I didn’t know, but was just following the process for now, which he accepted. It would be great if in the future, some new ventures might come out of it. The first stage to organizing something would be to share as much information as possible with those who are interested. Another first step is to get to know and at least consult with those who might want to design future activities.
I have found that anything planned for a group of people should be given shape by that group of people and not just by one individual. This way, others will be invested as well and can help it branch out to make a larger impact. It can also happen that to see it through, a project may take a life of its own. It also may depend on a lot of continuous energy on the part of the initiator, even if they are able to delegate responsibility. Being a person who comes up with a lot of ideas and likes to see completion, I have learned to be a little cautious.
That having been said, this process of interviewing people about their religious beliefs, based on their life’s stories, was an oral history project in a way, and has some potential to generate enthusiasm to continue. I have learned about the value of this type of interview process for getting to know a community of people from which base more can be accomplished. Since I know in more detail about the interests and concerns of several people, I have a much better clue as to how to attract their interest in further discussions to harness ideas to impact society in a meaningful way. One interviewee has expressed strong interest in continuing to interview people in this way, especially women.
Perhaps a network of people interested in relating Lutheranism to Creation Spirituality may be developed in the future. On the internet, I found out about a conference in Holden Village in Washington on Liturgy and Ecology at which the Lutheran theologian and environmentalist, Paul Santmire and others are presenters. It will be interesting to follow what develops from this. My vision would be to organize gatherings like this patterned after the folk school model, perhaps with a multicultural perspective in local or bioregional settings. By organizing in our own areas, it is easier to talk about local environmental concerns. Perhaps church synods might even consider encouraging this.
I understand better now how interviewing can be an exciting process for learning. When you find out where others are coming from, it can help you define for yourself better where you are coming from. You can learn a lot from people that is different from reading. Others with specialized kinds of knowledge can explain things more quickly to you and direct your learning based on the knowledge they have already put together. New questions can arise from talking and listening to people. A topic can become more alive and more interactive when discussed aloud among various people. It is important to realize that that each interview process is directed by the interviewer, where they are coming from and what questions they ask. Therefore, it is important for them to be enlightened to start out with and have some thoughts where they want things to go, but to be a little flexible and not too set in their ways.
Having been through an interview process, I can imagine how one would go about doing it in another setting and why it would be useful. I think it is important to hone down the goal of interviewing first, but perhaps one does not need to write such a long paper as I did first before jumping into interviews. For example, to apply this process to another situation, to improve and develop my neighborhood as a community as well as economically, I might first write something up about neighborhood and community development and agencies that support this. Then I might go around to interview neighbors as well as people working in organizations serving neighborhoods, picking a few questions like how long people had lived and worked there and how they feel about violence, the environment, local parks, their work experience and opportunities as well as community organizations. This process might open up avenues for discussion and further study about all these topics, and let me know what is relevant to people and what resources might be helpful to introduce. This information would be helpful in the development of organizations such as neighborhood watch groups and community centers. Perhaps this is similar to market research in business, applied here to education for social change.
Many rich themes were brought out in my interviews, and more than I will reiterate here. However, I have put together a few statistics in this section to see what might be learned from that process and following that is more analysis, summary and some concluding thoughts. As mentioned above, several emphasized the theme of spirituality and popular trends. Others emphasized the environment. Interest in the discoveries of science, the Big Bang and origin stories of the universe spanned a few different cultures, evidencing the claim that science’s new story is potentially meaningful to the whole world.
Over thirty had some knowledge of Matthew Fox and Creation Spirituality. The majority who knew something about Fox either knew one or two aspects of his ideas or had a very vague idea of what his work was about. A very few knew a lot about the Creation Spirituality and about Lutheranism but hadn’t connected the two as consciously as my dissertation. Several had read works by Fox. At least five had heard Fox speak and two had been to workshops and seemed to know quite a bit.
Some had done a lot of thinking about their spiritual beliefs, others less. Spirituality is a relatively new term for Lutherans but common for Catholics and Eastern mysticism. A few were critical of the popular view of spirituality and saw potential for introspection without outward application of one’s faith in the world.
Some talked about the environment as God’s creation and as part of their every day concerns and beliefs. Lutherans who have theologized about the environment, Joseph Sittler, Paul Santmire and Larry Rasmussen were all mentioned in interviews.
Toward the end of the summer of interviews, if people didn’t bring it up, I started asking about the connection between spirituality and the environment, as most hadn’t brought it up and I realized it was an important perspective relating to my paper. However, for some, including the last two interviewees, the environment was a pervasive theme, and was evoked by the phrase Creation Spirituality more than any additional prompting from me.
The 50 people I interviewed were split evenly between men and women. There were different relationships among them. About 17 represented seven extended families, including husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, fathers and sons or daughters. Several had been or are part of the same congregation. I didn’t ask ages but guessing, I counted 16 close to their 40s, 17 in their 50s, 7 in their 60s, 8 in their 70s and 5 in their 80s. I imagine there would be more diversity of belief if I had interviewed more younger people.
I thought of the non-Lutherans as a comparison group to the study. Some people thought they would not be helpful, but I usually encouraged them, especially at the beginning when I was first starting out. The variety of perspectives was helpful for looking at different sides of things, judging on what people knew and didn’t know and even what they chose to say or not say.
My friend and interviewee, Jenny, was going to a Quaker college when I first met her. She told me about the value of interviewing the ordinary "Jane" or "Joe" off the street. Interviewing someone who is not an expert gives different kind of feedback. It can be very helpful for someone who is absorbed in academic work to get perspectives from people with a variety of real-life experiences.
Though a majority were of Swedish Lutheran background, other Scandinavian and European backgrounds were included plus a small, more internationally diverse segment which added to the sense of how different pieces of the broader spectrum fit together. There were parallels among various religious tendencies. For instance, across the spectrum, several were interested in or had experienced Eastern religions. An atheist said that if there is a God, God is to be found in humans. Similarly, a Lutheran said God is found in all of humanity.
I have experienced it to be a very Swedish Lutheran dynamic to make connections with people, as I wrote earlier in my paper about taking trips with my parents across the country and stopping in churches along the way on Sundays. My parents always found ways to connect with people. In Swedish Lutheran churches especially, they knew people who knew people who knew people, etc. It is a form of spiritual outreach, a way to build community with Christian values.
I had known many of the interviewees well already, some only slightly, and some had been referred to me. One I found primarily via the internet, by typing in the words Lutheran and Creation Spirituality. By looking at things from different angles, different results can emerge. Several were from Swedish Lutheran roots and several had Norwegian, Danish, German, German from the Missouri Synod, or a mix of Scandinavian backgrounds. Several were ministers or had taught religious studies at college or seminary. Several had parents or close relatives who had been ministers.
Although I didn’t insist on recording ethnic backgrounds for everyone, for most I made some kind of record. I was aware that many were from Swedish Lutheran background at least in part. There were over 20 with Swedish background and about 12 with other European backgrounds such as English, Scott Irish, or mixtures which I did not record. There were at least 7 with German background, about 5 with Norwegian background and about 5 with Danish background. Three identified primarily as African American. Two identified as Jewish and a couple others had Jewish genetic or familial influence. One immigrated here from India.
At least 45 had some Lutheran background and about 6 of those had Missouri Synod influence. About four had Presbyterian background, three~Baptist, two~Episcopal, one~Jewish, one~secular Jewish, one~Muslim, and others had various Protestant backgrounds. A few Lutherans had Catholic influence at some point in their lives and three are active in Catholic meditation retreats. Two Lutherans are Benedictine Oblates, a lay volunteer position that you don’t have to be Catholic to be a part of.
Of the Lutherans, about 20 had primarily or a strong Swedish Lutheran influence and about four had Norwegian Lutheran influence. Two of four of Danish background had Grundtvigian influence. Over 30 now belong to the Lutheran Church/ELCA. About two adopted Christianity as a child or as an adult. Six grew up going to Missouri Synod Schools and none of them belong to the Missouri Synod Lutheran church today. In addition, two in one family were closely related to members of the Missouri Synod.
At least fourteen were members of a Christian church at least for awhile during their childhood and are no longer. Over 30 were born into a practicing Christian family and have belonged to a Christian church their whole lives.
32 lived near the West Coast. 16 live in the Midwest and most of those are in Minnesota with a few in Illinois and Wisconsin. Two live in the Mountain time zone, in Colorado and New Mexico, and three near the East Coast. Of those in the Midwest or East Coast, other than those who were Jewish, all but one grew up Christian and remained in relatively close contact with Christian churches. Thus, those who left the Christian church live mainly near the West Coast.
About 15 have studied Buddhism or other Eastern spirituality, to different degrees. At least four practice Eastern meditation regularly. About six had interest in Indigenous culture and spirituality, including Native American and Saami. Four don’t belong to a religious organization. There was one each of agnostic, atheist, Church of the Brethren, Baptist, Bahai, Jewish Orthodox, Muslim, Science of the Mind. One identified her spirituality as the Sacred Feminine. One had Congregationalist upbringing but was Lutheran now. Two were involved in a Pentecostal church for awhile.
Four talked about the scientific findings about the universe in relation to their spiritual belief. Some mentioned Carl Jung. Some mentioned feminism. Several experienced walking as a meditation. Four had experienced at least one theophany, which I learned means hearing a voice from God or a spirit or seeing Jesus or other celestial beings.
A few are peace activists and several have been very involved in social justice work. I think all have at least some perspective of how their faith relates to social justice. Several have been involved in ecumenical and interfaith dialogue. One is identified as homosexual and though it didn’t come up in many interviews, I know that a few belong to Reconciled in Christ congregations which are open to lesbians and gays.
Several mentioned books or speakers which overlapped between interviews. Theological themes discussed included Grace, Original Sin, Kirkegaard, Theology of the Cross, Christus Victor theology and Reevaluation of Atonement theology. Some talked about interpreting the Bible metaphorically rather than literally. A few were skeptical of doctrine about the Virgin Mary.
A few were critical of the Apostles’ and Nicene creeds. A few mentioned the first article of the creed which talks about God the Creator and Martin Luther’s commentary in his small catechism, in relation to my theme of Creation Spirituality. Salvation theology was questioned for its relevance because of the tendency for navel gazing in contrast to the specter of the universe we are a part of.
Reflection and Analysis from a Summer of Interviews
I would have liked to interview some Native Americans and African Americans, especially those who are Lutheran, though I made attempts to contact a few. I know that several African Americans came to be Lutherans through the Missouri Synod.
I had expected to talk with more self-identified pagans. I spoke to one woman who, with her family, gathers as I do at Saami Equinox and Solstice gatherings in a lavvu in Oakland. I unofficially began to interview her in our conversation. Her mother grew up Lutheran and she was baptized Lutheran by her great-aunt while her mother didn’t know it. She was nursing her two year old while we spoke. She was raised in Catholic and Christian churches while growing up in California. As I understand it, she has mixed European heritage, including Norwegian and is married to a Native American from Wisconsin with a Scandinavian sounding last name. She belongs to a Unitarian church and participates in pagan women’s circles who meet in nearby hills for rituals and potlucks. There is a children’s pagan group that meets monthly as well. When she heard about my interviews, she said she would try to find me a "full-blown" pagan who had grown up Lutheran.
I would have liked to interview a cousin who was a Lutheran minister for awhile and who attends a week-long retreat on Science and Religion at Star Island off the coast of New Hampshire every year. Her father, a retired Lutheran minister, went with her this past year and commented to me afterwards that he worries now about the quality of the water and the people who will be living 1,000 years from now. I intended to interview a classmate at WISR who was raised Protestant, was a self-described Pagan or Wiccan when I met her and while at WISR organized a conference on Anti-Semitism and the Left.
Over the years there have been others I have spoken to about my topic though I didn’t contact all of them. One was a Lutheran woman from Canada who studied at the Institute in Creation Spirituality in Oakland after I did. She was studying to be a minister and spoke critically to me about what Fox thought of Lutheranism. She shared some of her papers with me but asked me not to quote from them.
Another person I could have looked up was a missionary teacher at a seminary in East Africa who didn’t agree when I told him I had learned that the Old Testament passage about having dominion was incorrectly translated. I had read that it was not originally intended to imply domination but careful stewardship and that its translators had injected their views and he had read otherwise. It was a fine point for Biblical scholarship and important in the discussion of Creation Spirituality relating to the Old Testament. However, he did share my concern about the environment and told about an African seminary student who had expressed that before the missionaries they worshipped trees and there were a lot of trees around. Now that they had a new faith and no longer worshipped trees, there fewer trees around. It would be interesting to followup with people such as these for further study of this topic.
While traveling on one trip to Minnesota during my 2004 summer of interviews, I read much of Reclaiming the "L" Word, on renewing Lutheranism. The author, Kelly Fryer, relates some of her trials at a church in northern Illinois. One story was how they put up a rainbow image to promote a welcoming atmosphere for all kinds of people. A lesbian couple joined and another couple left as a result.
Kelly Fryer writes about a group of diverse Lutherans she was part of, which included African-Americans, Asian-Americans and Native-Americans, who talked about how hard it is to be Lutheran in a church that is predominantly white, middle class and northern European. Finally she asked them why they were Lutheran. They looked at her as if she was crazy and then said that no other church "is so clear about a God who loves me just as I am. No other church is so clear about what it means to be saved, not because of anything that I do or AM, but by grace through faith alone."(33)
At seminary, Fryer’s professor drew an arrow pointing down. It didn’t mean they were all going to hell but that God always comes down. God in all God’s glory comes to meet us and move us on a good path. The theme of trusting in God’s love and grace was important to many interviewees who either were or had considered themselves Lutheran at some point in their life. People from other backgrounds did not stress this theme, generally.
I didn’t interview my mother, who is a retired grade school teacher, but I will include here a few things she has shared with me that relate. At their church they have Creation Sunday in the spring when they talk about the creator and the environment.
My mother recently showed me a book she was reading by Ruth Youngdahl Nelson, a well-known minister’s wife. The story I remember hearing about her was that her husband was known as Ruth Youngdahl Nelson’s husband. She was also a peace activist, mentioned by interviewee Hilvie Ostrow. I remember that she was part of a group that protested the Trident Submarine in a little boat and said, "Not in my America."
The book is full of hymns and commentaries on each hymn. My mother pointed to one that talked about shame in reference to recent U.S. abuses in an Iraqi prison and commented that some things remain relevant over time. Religion can give people a way to talk about the issues of the world we live in.
For the family reunion I attended this summer, I put together a collection of hymns, prayers, folk songs and poems for a sing-a-long on Sunday morning. I expected we would be short on time and everyone would not go to church, as had been the family tradition a few decades ago. I asked family members for contributions. One of the songs that was new to me was my grandmother’s favorite, "All the Way My Saviour Leads Me." The footnote to the song says it is a gospel hymn, but it is like some of the pietistic Swedish hymns about a personal relationship with Jesus. We also sang my mother’s favorite, Day by Day, another Swedish hymn from that genre, that is about trusting and seeking guidance from "the Lord" every day and from moment to moment. This spiritual emphasis relates to the theme of intuition as well as trust. Trust was one of the Matthew Fox’s many themes in Original Blessing. The sing-a-long worked well in terms of getting everyone united to sing some uplifting messages.
From several Lutherans who had been active in church institutions, I was able to clarify understandings about church and denominational history, in respect to how things happened and the individuals who shaped the ideologies of large groups of people. I learned that changes for more social justice consciousness in Lutheran circles came both from the top down as enlightened scholars affected the theology of the Church as well as from the bottom up in the piety movements where people discovered meaning in personal spiritual practice that the state church did not foster.
Based on what I have learned about the variety of temperament styles (intuitive vs. fact based, introvert vs. extrovert, etc.), I have the opinion that different types of people in all cultures tend to believe in ways that parallel across religious lines, including liberal, orthodox and fundamentalist. I don’t think the spectrum of people I interviewed reflects the world population as a whole but is somewhere between the liberal and orthodox traditional styles of believing in faith or spirituality.
Some prejudices were dispelled for me. On the one hand, it seems clear that every Lutheran tradition has had its conservative side. There is a bit of prejudice by the more liberally minded toward the Missouri Synod or by Swedish liberal Lutherans toward Norwegian Lutherans. It’s true, the Augustana Synod came to be influenced by Dr. Söderblom and others of Sweden, however before that I don’t think they were all that different from several other Scandinavian synods.
Because of my premise about different temperamental styles within religious groups, I went into this process expecting to find a side in every denomination that was concerned about Creation and social justice. For instance, the Missouri Synod private school system, though transferring some heavy original sin dogma, gave a good start to those of that background. Many with less training but who studied the Bible rigorously, have produced people making a positive difference in the world as well, based on some of my interviews.
The pietist movement swept across Scandinavia and reacted against the state religion in Sweden and Norway. Since Sweden owned Norway for awhile, the Norwegian Lutherans reacted more against the state church. The traditions of piety brought a deep emphasis of spirituality of every day life that led many to express their personal beliefs in a public way.
However, the intelligentsia of seminaries, especially from Europe and the eastern U.S., have developed a wide range of theologies that counter fundamentalist views that influenced those who were able to be connected to the latest theology. As interviewee Rev. Verlyn Smith explained, theologians in Sweden and Norway developed deeper understandings of theology that brought a positive focus, such as Christ the Victor theology which was an alternative to the victimization of the theology of the cross.
I really didn’t know about either of the latter two theologies consciously when I started this and now I do have an appreciation for both. Growing up, I think I experienced the Christus Victor emphasis on Easter Sunday more than Good Friday. The theology of the Cross can be meaningful too, when standing up for what is right in the world and you feel that everyone is against you.
From Dave Hurty, I also was able to clarify something I gotten an inkling about at the Augustana Heritage Gathering in Lindsborg, Kansas two years ago, about the legacy of Olof Olsson and the concept that others than Christians can also be saved by God. I remember being presented this as a question of theology in college, but didn’t realize there had been a lot of debate about this in the Augustana Lutheran Church.
On another theme of dispelling stereotypes, I am reminded too that Jews were crucified for their beliefs. Though Jesus is important to Christians, Jesus came from Jewish tradition. Missionary zeal to convert at the tip of a sword is as dangerous from whatever source, in secular or religious spheres.
To integrate fundamentalist anti-intellectualism with new kinds of thinking takes some strategy. At the Augustana Heritage Gathering, Dr. Peter Beckman gave a talk which I heard about and which matches the statement by interviewee Glen Gersmehl of Missouri Synod background, that the words of the Bible should not be read with equal weight but should be judged in light of the Gospel message. Getting this concept across to many Christians, for instance, those who have decided that the Bible says homosexuality is wrong, is not easy.
This paper tries to address what I think are important issues from my perspective of Swedish Lutheran background, influenced by having lived in the states of Illinois, Minnesota and California of the United States of America. To weave harmonious relationships among the diversity approached in interviewees and others mentioned in this paper would take more dialogue than is included in this kind of a paper. I try to take a middle road, trying to understand the different directions people take. The middle is a compromise for some, but as Creation unfolds, it is an important discipline for peacemaking and for a Christian universal perspective of our common roots in the Cosmos.
One interviewee expressed concern about the rise of Christian fundamentalism. Another has expressed informally a concern about "evangelicals." A Lutheran minister interviewee said he was not evangelical. However, Evangelical is the first word of the main Lutheran denomination’s title, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA).
One Lutheran interviewee, Pat, gave me a definition for evangelicalism. The ELCA uses it because it was originally used by the German Lutheran Church in its title. It means to proclaim the Word to all the World, and relates to mission. It is a synonym with "witness," but not "proselytize." The similar term "evangelize," used by other groups, implies converting the World to Christianity. There is a subtle but important difference between seeking to convert and seeking to proclaim the Word or Christian message.
In addition, Pat went on to say that the Confessing Church came out of the Evangelical Lutheran as well as the Reformed Church in Germany as a reaction to the Nazi leadership. Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Reinhold Niebuhr were part of this underground church that taught against Nazi policies. Several of them were martyred and either imprisoned or killed.
Pat said she regrets that the Lutheran Church today still has such a 15th century model. She doesn’t regret the history, just that it is not designed to draw in people of diverse cultures to its liturgy which is mainly meaningful to people of Germanic or Scandinavian descent who grew up in that tradition.
I found an author on the internet, Roy Clements, who said that some Christians who are called liberals by others, refer to themselves as evangelical. He explains that evangelicals rely on the Bible as the inspired Word of God but not in defiance of human logic and reason and not in defiance of the findings of modern science. He feels that those people who rely on the Bible but reject modern science are fundamentalist. He defines those who embrace science but see the Bible as the fallible word of God as liberals. Evangelicals wrestle with the issues between these two extremes. He writes:
Evangelicals have always resisted the crude literalistic approach to biblical interpretation espoused by the fundamentalists, just as they have also refused to accept the liberals' dismissal of parts of the Bible as "human error." They have insisted that the truth is not to be found by letting go of either reason or Scripture, but only by holding on to both.
Clements feels that evangelicals do not express a "mindless recital of fundamentalist proof-texts" but "seek rather a carefully nuanced and academically informed exposition of the Bible," which "does full justice to its historical and cultural background, its literary genre and to the uncertainties that still surround the original meaning of some parts its text."
When faced with a doctrinal issue, he asks, should we yield to the dictates of ecclesiastical councils, or should we follow our private understanding of the Holy Spirit's leading? Evangelicals take a middle road between conservative Catholics and radical Protestants in this discussion. By the former, he means those who rely heavily on the institutional church for both the definition of doctrine and the means of grace. By the latter he refers to those who blithely insist that all they need is provided through their "personal relationship with God" and who demonstrate little or no submission to the Christian community as a result.
Clements elaborates on this theme and then makes the point that it is false to portray evangelicals as extremists. The issue of homosexuality seems to be putting these definitions and theories to the test. Those who call themselves evangelical are being told now that if they are not against homosexuality they are liberals. The issue of homosexuality,
"threatens to divide true Christian believers and rend the church." Only a very conservative catholic would try to force all Christians to follow a single line on an issue by appeal to the decisions of synods or the edict of popes. Evangelicals know that the unity of the church must be maintained without doing violence to the private consciences of individual believers. It is, thus, always better to tolerate a degree of diversity in faith and practice than to reintroduce the politics of the inquisition.
By allowing themselves to be railroaded on this issue, evangelicals are ruining their hard-won reputation for intellectual rigour and social relevance. All the progress that they have made in establishing the credibility of the Christian gospel within modern western culture is being threatened by a group of loony militants who loudly insist that what a person thinks about gays is a crucial mark of orthodoxy (Clements 2004)."
I read on his website that Roy Clements has been a Baptist minister who has served in Nairobi, Kenya as well as in Cambridge, England. He came out as homosexual in 1999 and his website lists several related articles. Since many people think Baptists are all fundamentalists, I think his essay goes a ways toward dispelling that myth. Also, the stereotype that homosexuals cannot be part of the Christian community is dispelled by his excellent scholarship.
I’m not sure if I care to be labeled or where I fit on the spectrum just mentioned, though it would probably be somewhere between evangelical and liberal. The background theme of this paper about the trend for people to leave the formal religion of their childhood for popular spiritual movements has been evidenced by several of the interviews. People have left Christian churches, for various reasons, often precipitated by personal conflicts. People leave, not only because they want to but because they can. In earlier times, national religious compulsion did not allow for this kind of exploration. I don’t feel people, especially Lutheran clergy and lay leadership, feel that comfortable to face and talk about these changes intergenerationally and within families, churches or even many schools.
Amy Goodman of Pacifica’s Democracy Now, recently interviewed Black Scholar Cornell West, Professor of Religion and African Studies at Princeton University. His l latest book is Democracy Matters: Winning the Fight Against Imperialism. He talked about the fight for the soul of Christianity. Constantinian Christianity is controlled by the elite in power but we need to let more of Prophetic Christians in power in theWest.
Though disgruntled Christians can leave their religion for other beliefs, now more than ever they should also be able to stay as well as define their beliefs and not just let others define it for them. On either side, mere acceptance of official church teachings or popular beliefs may leave out a lot of factors that deep thinkers have come to realize. Perhaps there needs to be a closing of the gap between academia and laity as the folk school format offers. Dialogue and popular education at conferences and other gatherings have the potential to bring people together to enliven discussion. As the poet William Stafford writes,
For it is important that awake people be awake, or a breaking line may discourage them back to sleep; the signals we give—yes or no, maybe—should be clear: the darkness around us is deep (Ryan 1973, 135).
At the Augustana Heritage Gathering, Dr. Jonas Bromander of Uppsala University in Sweden spoke about the sharply declining statistics of church membership in recent years since the Church of Sweden has ceased to be the state church. The speaker analyzed these figures to determine the reasons for them. I didn’t hear him express much understanding for other spiritual movements. I hoped to talk to him afterwards but didn’t manage to. Hopefully those reading this paper will gain insights into why different people choose different spiritual and religious paths.
In the interviews I have learned more about where several Lutherans are coming from as well as about some other thinking and theological points to consider. Talking to non-Lutherans has shed light on other trends of thought. The interest in Eastern spiritual teachings was perhaps the most popular trend which crossed individual backgrounds. Other common themes as mentioned include science, feminism, social justice and the environment.
Further research from the perspective of relating Lutheranism to Creation Spirituality might focus on different groups of people. I would consider doing this in the effort to create more understanding between people. Groups to focus on might be Native Americans, neo-pagans, Westerners following Eastern religions, those interested in the dialogue between science and religion, or Christian fundamentalists. Another research idea would be to ask how people’s spirituality relates to their need for ritual and where or how they find the kind of ritual that is most meaningful for them.
Christians have been found guilty by many today of anti-Semitism and the crusades which I am told were anti-Muslim. Christians have persecuted anyone not Christian who they called pagan. Missionaries have been seen as the scourge of the Indigenous way of life. This legacy makes it harder for them to hold up a vision for Creation Spirituality to the world. There are fundamentalists in Christianity as well as other religions, who may not be comfortable with an interfaith perspective.
Many believe their way is the only right way, which they have sometimes come to more strongly because of persecution by other beliefs. You can probably find this attitude in Christians who have been persecuted. Zionist Jews living in Israel today could be used as another example of people who have been heavily persecuted who are nonbendable and committed to their way against the odds. I often find a very anti-Christian sentiment among Native Americans and others reclaiming their indigenous roots such as neo-pagans of European descent who strive to reclaim a pre-Christian nature religion that emphasizes goddesses as well as gods and other spirits.
While engaged in this project I have unlearned stereotypes of religious beliefs across the spectrum, within Lutheranism as well as other religious beliefs, as mentioned earlier. I have become more aware of the importance of being respectful of other peoples’ beliefs, even though you don’t understand them. I think it is equally important that we not hold everyone belonging to a religion accountable for the deeds of others who may have caused aggression in the name of that religion.
Though not a focus of this study, it has given me pause when I come across people in Western culture who don’t know about basic stories that I am familiar with from the Christian Bible. I have an assumption to some extent that Jews know many of the same stories Christians share in their Old Testament. However, Jews whose families joined the secular Left do not necessarily learn any of these. I have this orientation because of my upbringing in which I assumed this knowledge as a child.
It also is curious to me when others take many aspects of the Bible literally and follow a set of strict laws versus seeing love and forgiveness as the final determinant of right action. There is need to important to seek out truth and to dialogue among various perspectives. It has been a valuable process for me to be able to interview people about what they do or do not believe. The Church is something that has been an integral part of my life and there has seldom been much chance to say how I felt about it and it is comforting to know that others question what has been provided as unquestionable. The questioning I can do in a paper like this can ripple out and help others as they define their relationship to Christianity or whatever religion(s) they interact with. There is some value to learning the rules, but as one matures, one need to question and be part of some process of rethinking the culture they are a part of.
One interviewee expressed strong concern about Islam and that it needs a reformation. I mentioned this to the next interviewee who agreed. That weekend, I attended the Augustana Heritage Gathering and heard Dr. Louis Almén give a talk relating Swedish Lutheran global concerns. In it he talked about the call for reform by Muslims that is similar to the issues of church and state that Martin Luther wrestled with during the Protestant Reformation. He said Muslims are not interested in the viewpoint of the European Enlightenment, however, which would allow for the withering away of religion. I decided to get a Muslim perspective and interviewed Iftekhar Hai in the San Francisco Bay area who educates across religious lines about his faith. He said he has been saying for five years that Islam needs a reformation similar to that brought about by Martin Luther.
Since that interview, I found projected population figures for Muslims that were between one fourth and one third of the total world population (Robinson "Growth Rate of Christianity and Islam" 2004) of over six billion (Office of Population Research) and that it is growing at a faster rate than the overall world population. This is just one compelling reason for Westerners to learn more about Islam.
Two interviewees mentioned Karen Armstrong, an author who has written about the rise of fundamentalism in Judaism, Christianity and Islam. She is in demand as a lecturer in "America," to explain the rise of militant fundamentalism and answer the question of why America is so hated. She says this has been in response to secularism and that fundamentalist movements she has studied in Judaism, Christianity and Islam are "convinced that modern secular society wants to wipe them out." She says that fundamentalism has developed in a symbiotic relationship with modernity and secularism that has been experienced as aggressive and invasive. Armstrong says it is an overstatement to say that the motive of many fundamentalist movements is to "re-conquer the secular world for their own faith," and that the majority of them are simply trying to live what they regard as the religious life in a world that is increasingly hostile to religion and marginalizes religion (Armstrong 2003).
As science and secularism become more accepted, at least in terms of separation of church and state, it is perhaps understandable for there to be ongoing confrontation with traditional and fundamentalist cultures. Focus on dialogue, education and nonviolence will be important as crises continue.
Swedish Lutherans have made many contributions toward peace as Almén’s to be published article, "Globalization Guidance from Our Swedish Lutheran (Augustana) Heritage" relates. Besides the neutrality of Sweden during international disputes, he writes about Bishop Söderblom and his influence on the development of the World Council of Churches, Dag Hammarsjold, who was Secretary General of the United Nations, and a less known figure, Carl Lund-Quist, who was Secretary General of the Lutheran World Federation.
I enjoyed reading the courageous stories Almén related about Lund-Quist. On one occasion he disguised himself as a medicine peddler and borrowed a large sum of money in order be able to visit the Lutheran Bishop Ordass of Hungary who was in prison behind the Iron Curtain. He passed a note to Ordass which he read and immediately burned. Another time when he was under house arrest, Lund-Quest wore a new suit into prison and exchanged it for the one Ordass was wearing. "After the 1956 Hungarian revolt, which the Soviets put down brutally, he feared Ordass would be taken to Russia for imprisonment and/or execution." Lund-Quist went back again and began negotiations that ultimately secured his release. These efforts on behalf of the Lutheran World Federation helped bolster the Lutheran community in Hungary who were struggling under the Iron Curtain.
As the representative of Lutheran World Federation, Lund-Quist visited Lutherans around the globe to keep them connected and find help where needed. He reached out to others too. Almén writes that for more than a generation, Lutheran World Relief (LWF) has provided assistance among the otherwise forgotten victims of the Palestinian/Israeli Conflict. Lund-Quist worked to stimulate greater giving by Augustana Lutherans to help their plight. On one of his visits during the mid 1950’s, an Islamic leader spoke appreciatively of LWF’s work, saying "This is the kind of religion that we understand which comes in the name of Christ to give clothing, food and medicine." There was another incident at a dinner where he was hosted by Arab authorities.
One leader in traditional Arab garb with a sword under his girdle rose and said: "Dr. Lund-Quist, I would count it an honor to Allah to kill you right here. You are an American and have caused us this trouble. But you come in the name of Christ and help our people without anything more than just helping them. Therefore I restrain myself and thank you."
I happened to mention Lund-Quist to one of my interviewees, Pat, to find out that she had worked for him as mentioned in her interview.
Almén mentions other names and has much to say in his dense 23 page document. As I study it, however, I continue to believe that the popular education movement in Scandinavia and elsewhere, heralded by N.F.S. Grundtvig of Denmark, has been a great influence. I feel certain that my strong identification with Scandinavian culture is directly related to the movement Grundtvig started for Danes and all Nordic people as he called them, to celebrate their culture. He saw that Scandinavia would be swallowed up by the classical educational culture of the intelligentsia of Europe. The world figures that Almén talks about, including Söderblom, Hammarsjold and Lund-Quist referred to just above, were all influenced by the free exchange of ideas needed to work on the world scene of politics. The movement of education based in culture and people’s own interests, when made available to all in society, can contribute greatly toward the production of great leaders, movements and a populace living out values of peace and justice.
Summary Relating Interview Themes to Lutheranism &Creation Spirituality
I think of this dissertation as a work in progress if any aspects of it are to become meaningful to more people. Theologians would have a lot to say, as would lay people. That having been said, in this section I will make some connections to show how the interviews backed up and improved upon my theories for how to apply Lutheranism to Creation Spirituality. I couldn’t say that Lutheranism is the same as what Matthew Fox calls Creation Spirituality. However, it intersects in many ways and the dialogues addressed such as emphasizing Original Blessing versus Original Sin, are real for Lutherans who have had different experiences, depending on their cultural and theological influences.
Via Positiva. The theology of grace has been an important theme for many. The Christus Victor (Christ as Victor) theology, brought up by one interviewee, is a new way for me to talk about a positive emphasis of Lutherans. The perspective of wondering at the universe seems to be a fascination for many, Lutherans or not. Passion and concern for the created natural world was another focus for Lutherans and other Protestants interviewed. The theme of seeking spiritual guidance from a positive and loving Creator wove through many interviews.
Via Negativa. Though some acknowledged the healthy aspect of being made self-aware of human sin and error, some experienced real pain because of Original Sin theology. Some were upset at a shallowness and not enough depth or understanding in particular churches, when they were experiencing pain or needed nourishment. A few questioned the theology of the Cross’s emphasis on Christ’s suffering and one applied it to issues women have with violence and abuse.
For a positive side of the Via Negativa I include what Fox has called introverted meditation. Meditation can be a practice in the "emptying" and "letting go" experiences Fox talks about in Original Blessing. Several interviewees participate in Catholic and/or Eastern meditative experiences which I think of as introverted and directed inward.
Via Creativa. One form of extroverted meditation which Fox talked about could be walking. As I mentioned earlier, walking has been a meditation for me as well as some of the interviewees. I think of it as both a way to mental and physical health, and both as introverted and extroverted. It is a partial introverted to walks alone, however when walking with a friend it is a way of connected outwardly. Also, one naturally connects with the communities and environments that are walked through.
However, there is often a fear about walking alone, especially for women, of the mysterious attacker from out of the bushes. When I was in college I asked interviewee Swanie, the campus pastor who taught the class, The Literature of Walking, about the safety in walking alone in a wild area several of us liked to go. He advised me not to walk there alone. A friend and I tried walking about 20 steps apart, with mixed success.
I walk less now in a big city, and ride a bike more. However, I did develop a strategy along the way to use intuition and to try not to tempt fate. I also learned to pray more about this and to visualize positive and peaceful images around me and for those who might cause harm. Visualization is something I learned from neo-pagans. However, some of them would not wish anything positive on an attacker. My Christian beliefs cause me to pray for those who would do harm to be transformed into expressing good and not evil.
For others, a ritualistic indigenous type of experience has been meaningful, though one cautioned about practicing another religion without closely working with its practitioners. I know that others I interviewed have that concern, though it may have not been mentioned in the interview itself. There seems to be a definite interest and spiritual need for earth centered ritual. The importance of and issues related to ritual is a potential topic all by itself.
When Fox talked about extroverted or art as meditation he implied the expression of creativity through the arts. Religious practice frequently uses the arts for expression, in hymns, verse and dance, varying from tradition to tradition. The theme of Creativity was not brought up very often in interviews, but hymns were mentioned for positive as well as negative experiences. The Happy Danes were very positive about hymns though others talked about the negative messages in hymns. Some interviewees talked about dancing as a religious issue and had been given mixed experiences by their religious culture. For most Lutherans, dancing has not been encouraged, but one Happy Dane interviewed talked about dancing as being quite natural in conjunction with religion.
A further note about dancing is that the Augustanta Synod, the American Swedish Lutheran Church, early in the 1900s looked on dancing as an “evil which true Christians must eschew.” After World War II, this position softened and the Augustana Church issued a “manifesto on dancing in 1950,” seeking to “steer a middle course.” The question of dancing was ultimately left to the conscience of individuals, though supervision was called for at colleges. Finally, in their great wisdom, the Church leaders pointed out that the issue of dancing is “but one of the symptoms of the inroads of secularism upon the Church. There are greater, more fundamental problems (Arden 1963, 366).” If this perspective was adopted by the majority of moralists today, perhaps it would clarify how best to deal with many social ills. Besides, as the Danes have shown, dancing can have a positive affect in building community
I had given copies of the book, Original Blessing, to family members when studying at the Institute in Creation Spirituality in Oakland. My brother and interviewee Paul, read it and stated that he liked the emphasis on creativity. I imagine more people might like to know about that way of thinking about spirituality. My other brother is an artist and is not a church member but participates in Greek Orthodox holidays with friends. More emphasis on arts and creativity might be something Lutherans trying to build their church should consider. Nonlinear thinking reaches more people, as brain researchers have found, mentioned in what I wrote earlier in the third path of Creation Spirituality in relation to Lutheranism. Consciously including creativity in ritual can be a natural way to express our part in the whole created world. One of my interviewees, Nani, came to all four paths that Matthew Fox has developed, through her struggles to survive and for that I nicknamed her Nani Lama.
Via Transformativa. Expressing religious or spiritual values in their daily lives seemed important for all interviewees It is clear that among Lutherans, concern for social and environmental justice is common. They based this on personal and pietistic studies of Biblical teachings of Jesus’ examples and teachings, as well as theological interpretations.
Conclusion
Not long after I finished my Masters program in Creation Spirituality, a nephew was baptized and the Presbyterian minister at his mother's church asked for a copy of my dissertation. I feel like Rumpelstiltskin now because while I have been wrapping up this dissertation, this nephew, now a teenager, recently finished reading The Da Vinci Code (Brown 2003). While looking for Christmas gifts, I saw Cracking The Da Vinci Code (Cox 2004) and books about it in a bookstore. Then I looked on the internet and found numerous books critiquing it and with background historical information to choose from. The discussions included the legitimacy of the idea of an ancient goddess culture and questions and assumptions about Gnostic texts discovered in the twentieth century and somehow it all connected to Leonardo Da Vinci as well as the Holy Grail and Jesus Christ. I am glad that mainline Christian theologians are at least noticing what popular spirituality has been talking about for some time now. The epoch change from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius is discussed in the book. The Piscean ideal, Pisces being the sign for fish as well as for Jesus, is for one to be instructed what to believe by a higher source of knowledge, whereas the Aquarian viewpoint, Aquarius symbolizing water bearer, is to learn the truth and think for oneself (Brown 2004, 277)
This
concept is emblematic of the times we live in. On the one hand, there
is probably something wrong about questioning another's tightly held beliefs
and leading them to see that differently so it is harder for them to go
back to their old community. On the other hand, this questioning is happening
in a big way these days and it is important more than ever now to join
that process. What I think is needed is to move forward with a sense of
the old while relating to viewpoints branching away from the mainstream,
especially when the stream streams away from the main.
I happened upon another article about religion in the new millennium, where the author, Betsy Carter’s Jewish parents had fled Nazi Germany and her father claimed he was an atheist until later in life when he embraced the Jewish religion. They attended the high holidays as the Carter was growing up but she also ended up going to a Baptist summer Bible school. As she struggles with her religious identity she quotes from the president of the National Jewish Center for Learning and Leadership, Irwin Kula, who said that “all mainstream religions are attracting and keeping fewer members. For religion to survive,… we’ll have to start crossing boundaries (Carter 2004, 59).” Kula talks about leaving religion for the promised land and then coming back to religion to find it is within you, as in the Wizard of Oz. Kula stated that religion is more about the journey than about answers. Religious systems are tools and resources rather than answers or prescriptions. Carter yearns for a faith that is free from pressure to be judgmental of other religions, that respects freedom of thought while granting peace of mind. She also talks about the importance of having a spiritual community, sharing rituals and life together, giving a transcendent sense of being a part of a bigger and meaningful reality. This kind of synthesis may become more and more the norm as a free society asks questions and struggles to integrate.
As I write about Carter, I know that personalities differ and there are other types that yearn for closure and truth. While she yearns for a middle road, others will look for the answer. For some, this might mean becoming more adamant about their historical faith in response to injustice, for others this might mean leaving the faith they know in anger for something new.
Following this section is Addendum 1, the Interview Collection, just a segment of stories about personal struggles to create religion in the current age, though they are probably more like minded to Carter or myself than those who want a clear difference between right and wrong.
Addendum 2 is The Life of the People: The Legacy of N.F.S. Grundtvig & Nonviolent Social Change Through Popular Education in Denmark, a paper I wrote about N.F.S. Grundtvig and the folk school movement. For me, nonviolence does not mean necessarily mean confronting the police by risking arrest, though that tactic can be effective in getting across the seriousness of a political message. Activities in the movement for nonviolence sometimes allow violence to happen to the nonviolent protester. I think avoidance of violence is important, however, even in dialogue, just saying something that others don’t agree with can be enough of a threat for them to want to harm the person who speaks out. This is why noncompetitive and community education is a way to work through ideas as well as develop skills to relate to and dialogue with others, to help deal with differences between personalities and ideas.
One vision I carry around is the scene from the children’s movie, Dark Crystal, where the gentle child-like peaceniks merge with the coarse vulture-like warniks as the missing shard makes the dark crystal whole in the end. It is difficult to talk to people from other viewpoints to work toward consensus, but I think it is possibly the most nonviolent and effective activity we can do. The Ecumenical Peace Institute which I am a part of, has taught a program called Spirit in Struggle. Struggling can mean a lot of things, and starts with searching in one’s own soul. To achieve peace, we need to respect all people and somehow try to come to terms with even those we don’t agree with.
The sobering truths of today’s world need answers, but many answers are here. Humans need to get together and apply them. The United States is in a war for which the stated reason keeps changing. Answers to overpopulation and pollution are available but need to be applied and communicated.
There are many options to take to avert going to war which is a waste of time and resources when negotiation and diplomacy can solve many problems. However, investments in the military and international corporate alliances seem to control our economy and foreign policy.
Solar, wind and other types of energy need to be researched and applied as the world will run out of gas in 10 years, according to Dr. David Goodstein of the University of California, in his recent book, Out of Gas (Goodstein 2004). Fighting over oil only puts off the inevitable shortages, not to mention the environmental consequences of global warming, so we should be using our resources to explore alternative sources of energy. Whether there are psychological and emotional or communication problems, the folk school concept is useful in developing communities which can function to bring needed changes.
There will probably always be the danger of exclusivity of one culture, class or country over another as happened in Nazi Germany and as corporate and national forces in the United States attempt on the world scene today. A monoculture that doesn’t know its history and expects others to conform becomes a terrible vision for those it tries to impose upon. Total reliance on corporate products available everywhere, like the McDonalds food chain, may easily detract from remembrance and reverence of local cultural history and the connection to the source of food and the health of the environment used to create that food. A multicultural vision based on respect for land-based cultures, their history and building a future together with concern for everyone is the only course I see possible for rising out of past and present quagmires.
However, dialogue and education are needed at every step, especially when people of more and more diverse cultural backgrounds converge and compete for each land base. I don’t think we can go backwards in time or expect things to stay the same, as people learn new things. There needs to be a both/and approach bound together with creativity and love for Creation and Humanity. Nature religion needs to be acknowledged as having something to offer and not just associated with hedonism. With an ever increasing world population, there need to be more efforts toward communication and a willingness to listen and try to work together. The depth of spiritual beliefs expressed by interviewees shows how the mystic path that goes deeply inward will eventually reach outward. The mystic and universal message that crosses religious boundaries is integral to the ever evolving, living and connected cosmic Creation.
