Experiencing the Sacred
One of the books I’ve been reading lately is, Grounded: Finding God in the World: a Spiritual Revolution by Diana Butler Bass (HarperOne, 2015). In the early pages of the book she says that “God has moved off the mountain” (p. 26). In the following chapters she writes about finding God in earth, water, and sky. The world around us is a sacred revelation, she tells us.
Bass reminds us that creation is not a top-down hierarchy but a web of mutuality and interdependence. This web of relationships is embodied in the word “neighbor,” which she recalls comes from the Old English words meaning “near” and “dweller” (p. 196). Our neighbors are those who dwell near us—including “Mother Earth” and “Father Sky.”
Reading Grounded and the Study Guide of the Eight Points by which we define Progressive Christianity is a nice balance as both call us to follow a spiritual path that leads to a deeper awareness and experience of the Sacred and the Oneness and the Unity of all life.
If we are to find God in mutuality, interdependence, and unity, then surely social justice and environmental justice are markers on the path to the sacred. Being attuned to the sacred in all of life means that life demands our ethical attention. Empathy and compassion and respect are ways of living in this world that keep us in touch with the experience of the sacred within us and in the world.
May you experience the presence of the Sacred this week.