Poor of Spirit

Maybe you are searching for the feminine in God like in Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe at Cathedral of La Plata

This is an age that places the highest value on certainty. We want our leaders bold and unfailing in their convictions and prefer politicians who are confident and refuse to be questioned. Technology and the internet has made the practice of fact-checking easier than ever (yet somehow presenting articles with conflicting information). People are criticized for questioning our social institutions because of our unwillingness to be uncertain or critical of such important parts of our communities. Even many of our institutions that acknowledge the supernatural and the sacred push the idea of an irrefutable certainty of beliefs.

As the week that Christians call Holy Week is upon us, I wanted to speak about the poor of spirit. My last two blogs in this series on poverty have focused on economic poverty, something near and dear to my heart. Yet I am also a deeply spiritual being that aches at the disconnection that exists between our religious communities and folks searching for food for the soul.

I believe there is a spark within, something I call a soul and that we are not just functioning nervous systems controlling our limbs and organs. We are not our thoughts or our memories or our bodies but something else. A heart, a soul, an essence that is created by someone or something Divine. This belief of a sacredness within would have existed without my religious background.

I have been beyond fortunate to have been raised in a religious community that fed me nourishing words of love, hope and acceptance. I believe that even if I was not brought up in a community of faith, I would have still searched for something to satisfy my spiritual needs. Being spiritual does not necessarily mean being religious. Religion, which has been a part of humankind for over 100,000 years, creates a unifying system that has three elements: the sacred, beliefs and practices and a moral community.

While I see many wonderful elements of faith communities such as the abundance of friendship, guidance, and comfort, I understand how many people have been deeply hurt by organized religion. Churches have been exclusive, judgmental, and self-righteous. The same people who are marginalized in society are often on the margins in our religious communities as well. I know many individuals who had toxic experiences with organized religion which have put them off religious communities in their adulthood.

However, the need to have absolutes is another factor that drives people away from religion. On one hand, religion gives explanation and a type of peace to the chaos that is our world. We live in a scary place full of heartbreak, injustices and extreme inequality; we crave something that makes sense of both the pain and the joy that we experience. However, we are also unwilling to not have all the answers.

Perhaps you have heard someone (other than Drake) say it was "God's Plan" in the face of a tragedy or that "everything happens for a reason". I see this need to justify terrible events as more for the person giving comfort than the person who is experiencing the devastation. When a religious person say these types of statements to a person experiencing great loss it creates the image that God is making you feel pain for a reason. This idea that God is inflicting this on you personally leads to the thought that you did something wrong or bad to have caused this event.

A better alternative is I don't know. I don't know why that drunk driver hit you car. I don't know the reason why you had a miscarriage. I don't know why your child has cancer or your father died when you were young or you are suffering with depression. Because tying to answer these questions is something we will never be able to do in this lifetime and using God's rightness as an excuse is wrong. God should not be seen as the Punisher but of never-ending compassion, love and grace.

Besides the certainty some try to promote during time of darkness, there is also the hesitance of questioning anything at all. When someone starts questioning if the bible is God's perfect word they may not share that with their Christian community and instead stop attending bible study. When someone is looking for the feminine in God and Christianity they may withdraw from the Church in search of satisfying their spiritual needs elsewhere. Someone who is doubting the existence of God may leave their circle of religious friends out of fear of being forced fed their explanations and beliefs.

In Jesus' famous Sermon on the Mount he says "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven" in Matthew 5:3. This is a message for those questioning God. Jesus is saying it is fortunate to be uncertain in religious laws and promises because the alternative is being so sure in your convictions that you are closed off from others and from God.

The poor in spirit, the ones questioning faith are suffering as they challenge the world and what they determine to be the truth within themselves. Yet they are rich in their uncertainty; they do not settle for a religious teaching which does not ring true to their souls. They question religious institutions that speak words of exclusiveness, superiority and promote blindness to social issues.

For the readers who are strong in their convictions: please be patient and open to those uncertain in their beliefs. Perhaps you will be moved by their faith journey.

For the readers who are unsure what or if you believe in anything: listen and care for that voice within. Acknowledge that there are forces in life you do not understand. Do not be afraid to read, visit, and interact with other religions or spiritual practices. Understand that there are non-judgmental people willing and wanting to be a part of your exploration.


Muchas gracias for reading!! See you next with part four of my series on poverty!