FAITH DEFINED OUR SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD. NOW, IN SPIRITUAL ADOLESCENCE, WE QUESTION. FAITH DEFINED OUR SPIRITUAL CHILDHOOD. BUT NOW WE GROW, AND GROW-UP, EMERGING INTO SPIRITUAL ADOLESCENCE: DOUBTING IN ORDER TO BECOME ADULT. OUR SPIRITUAL AWAKENING INTO THE TRUE MEANING AND ULTIMATE DESTINY OF OUR SACRED AND MYSTICAL PILGRIMAGE TO THE ALL THAT WE CALL GOD, REQUIRES OF US THAT AWAKENING INTO THE TRUTH OF THE SPIRITUAL INCLUSIVITY THAT IS OUR ONLY TRUE PATH. OUR TIME OF REACHING OUT TO GOD AS SPIRITUAL PARTNERS OF GOD, IS NOW, BUT OUR TIME CAN ONLY BE MADE MANIFEST WHEN WE LEARN TO REACH OUT IN TRUE SPIRITUAL LOVE FOR EACH OTHER. WE UNFOLD THE MYSTICAL PATH TO OUR SPIRITUAL DESTINY WHEN WE, THROUGH INCLUSIVITY, BECOME SPIRITUALLY ONE WITH EACH OTHER; ONE WITH OUR SHARED ALL.
We might imagine that human evolution has ceased, or at least is too slow for us to properly discern. But in a sense, we miss the point. Our bodies are undoubtedly vital to our existence here on this physical Earth. But there is another aspect to human evolution that is far more important. At a lower level we refer here to our mental or conceptual evolution. At a higher and much more important level we refer to our spiritual evolution, our spiritual unfoldment, our spiritual awakening. We do not just exist on our Mother Earth, we have for most of our existence on Mother Earth sought meaning: meaning in who and what we are, meaning in what we are about, meaning in the vastness of the cosmos in which we find ourselves. During the Age of Faith much of our questioning was bounded by rules and proscriptions. These were the ages of our spiritual childhood. But we are now emerging into our spiritual adolescence; and so now we question, now we seek to undergo the spiritual quest to some extent alone, and more importantly predominantly within. This is our epoch of profound spiritual questioning and awakening. This is our epoch when at last we understand that we have responsibilities that transcend mere religion and dogma and doctrine and faith. We have resp9nsibities to everything and to everyone. We have responsibilities towards our planet, our Mother Earth, our Gaia, and responsibilities to wards all humanity, regardless of race or creed. Indeed, our spiritual adolescence, as it buds and then flowers, will see such distinctions of race and creed wither and die. And as were grow through spiritual adolescence into spiritual adulthood, we shall at last embrace the ONENESS of the ALL and of US ALL, and shall truly become healers.
Within Christianity, we have, for all but two thousand years,been bound to some extent by the story of St Thomas the doubter. After Thomasput his hands in Christ’s wounds, Christ said ‘have you believed because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe.’ With these words, faith was raised onto its pedestal and, as a consequence, faith became the litmus test of the true believer. But we need to note that Christ did not condemn Thomas. We need to note that Thomas was not thrown into the abyss. And we need to note that scepticism is not a ‘sin’. Most important of all, we need to be aware that it is not faith or belief that is spiritually important; it is how we conduct ourselves, how we behave and think, how we care for others and for our world (‘we shall know them by their fruits’ Matthew 7:16). Must we condemn virtuous Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Taoists, atheists etc etc, because they do not have the sort of faith that someChristians might claim as being essential for salvation?
This is a key time in human history, and in the development ofthe human soul or spirit. We are at last emerging from our spiritual childhood, into our spiritual adolescence. At first sight it might seem that our modern world, our modern post-industrial humanity has moved away from God. But this is not the case. Modern humanity has certainly moved away from religion and doctrine and creed. But modern humanity has not moved away from matters spiritual. Indeed, we reach out to others, not because we feel we are required to because of the doctrines of our religions, but because we find ourselves spiritually relating to others, and feeling deep in ourselves a sense of responsibility towards others, then we have crossed a profound spiritual boundary that is the beginning of the long and difficult road to spiritual adulthood. Few will sense in themselves that their newfound sense of creed-free and dogma-free responsibility towards others, is set deep in their own spiritual and mystical and sacred pilgrimage, but that is what it is. It is the same with our newfound sense of responsibility towards our Mother Earth, our Holy Gaia. Few will sense the living, sentient Great being that is our Mother Earth, but that is what they are responding to. For more and more our sense that we will gain from taking care of our environment is slowly morphing into a deep sense of a spiritual connection with the environment. More and more we see our Mother Earth as not a resource to be exploited, but a holy and beautiful and living ecosystem that we are beginning to love and cherish.
These changes are not creed-based, they are not driven by doctrinal ‘truths’ and imperatives. They are being generated in the unfoldingspiritual awareness within humanity, an unfolding spiritual awareness that transcends any faith system, and indeed that transcends all faith systems. Slowly, painfully, but wondrously, we arecoming of age.
Faith defined our spiritual childhood.
But now we grow, and grow-up,
Emerging into spiritual adolescence:
Doubting in order to become adult.