Golden Men and Wooden Goblets
In speaking about religions, Ralph Waldo Emerson was reported to have said that, “In the first generation, the men were golden and the goblets were wooden. In the second generation, the men were wooden and the goblets were golden.” This has been the history of the formation of religions throughout millennia. Just look at the founders of the great religions. Jesus, Gandhi, Mohammed, Buddha. None of them were orthodox. All were charismatic spiritual seekers, mystics, prophets, troublemakers, critics of the establishments of their day.
Why have their teachings been turned into a blueprint for millions of followers? What set these people apart? They all lived a spirited life. They all had a passion to seek the truth.
If you believe there is truth in the religion to which you subscribe, then by all means find that truth. Live the religious life and life it fully. If you choose to be a spiritual seeker, then by all means seek with all your heart and all the passion you can muster.
In either case, don’t let your life become wooden while you drink from golden goblets.
Contrast Between Religious Life and Spiritual Quest
Here, from Hymns to an Unknown God: Awakening the Spirit in Everyday Life by Sam Keen, is a comparison of what it can mean to live a religious life or to join a spiritual quest:
|
The Religious Life |
The Spiritual Quest |
|
In the beginning is the word, the revelation, the known God |
In the beginning is the question, doubt, the Unknown God |
|
The path of life is well mapped |
The adventure is uncharted |
|
Chief virtue is obedience to the will of God |
Chief virtue is openness, waiting, listening |
|
Repeat the sacred ways |
Choose, create, invent |
|
Religious life centers on sacred objects and places: churches, shrines, texts, sacraments |
Spiritual life centers on profane experience, existential questions, ordinary moments |
|
Ascent |
Descent |
|
Revelation |
Awareness |
|
Based on miracle, mystery, authority, a revealed scripture |
Based on searching for evidence of sacred in events of my life |
|
Institutional, corporate |
Individual, communal |
|
The Gothic urge to rise above it all |
The incarnational thrust to get to the depth of things. |
When you read this list, which perspective most appeals to you — and why? Remember, one is not the “right” approach and the other “wrong.” Both are challenging ways to live and be difficult. But both offer peace of mind if accepted openly and with awareness of the choice.
© 2003 Arlene Harder, MA, MFT
Author of Ask Yourself Questions and Change Your Life and Healing Relationships is an Inside Job