Back to Shore: Remembering the Healing Substance of Religion

This article can be found in YES! Magazine. Peace & blessings...

The "Interfaith Amigos"

by Pastor Don Mackenzie

A drift from substance is a recurring pattern in religious life. What will it take to call ourselves back to the essentials?

Imagine for a moment that you have climbed a very high mountain. You are finally at the top. Looking back, you can see the road behind you: You can see back through time all the way to 2000 BCE—the time of Abraham the patriarch. And if we look closely, one of the most vivid patterns we find is that of religions coming into being to contribute to healing—the healing of people, of communities, and of the planet. They are like a glass that holds water: The water is spirituality—that sensibility that bears within it oneness, unconditional love, and compassion. All of these things contribute to healing. Religions, then, are institutions and conveyances for healing substance.

Then why does religion seem to play such a major role in violence?

The pattern that I’m suggesting we recognize looks like this: A religion is formed, but soon the substance starts to leak out. Sometimes we end up with hollow shells—institutions totally emptied of substance. We end up taking care of the glass, and not noticing that the water has evaporated. Becoming aligned with institutions bent on violence instead of healing represents an evaporation of purpose.

More: http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/interfaith-amigos/back-to-shore?utm_source=wkly20100625&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=titleMackenzie

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Somewhere in our history, the link between inner spirituality and its expression in the world as loving social action grew faint. To renew that connection, we can draw deeply on traditions that call attention to our Oneness. ~ Paster Don Mackenzie