Spirituality in a Postmodern Age: The Decline of the West and Spirituality.

Adam and Eve Expelled From Garden

Postmodernism: — a state of mind in a particular period of history affecting every area of western culture

Postmodernism is a term that has gained popularity in scholarly writing as well as casual conversations. Thomas Guarino (1996) says, “It’s a “movement” that has inspired raging debates about ‘the cult theory’ across the arts and sciences” (p. 654) My intention in this paper about postmodernism is not to solve the debate, but to understand the influence that state of mind held has upon contemporary beliefs about spirituality.

What Does Research say About Postmodernism?
A description given by Daniel J. Adams (1997) says, “The postmodern era can best be understood in terms of four major characteristics: the decline of the West, the legitimation crisis, the intellectual marketplace, and the process of deconstruction” (Toward a theological understanding of postmodernism).

What Adams perspective demonstrates is a fundamental shift in thinking that began in a demonstrable period of time and is associated with significant phenomenon in Western Culture characterized with the period of decline.
His analysis of Western Decline draws attention to point of view that is fundamental to an evolution of spiritual meaning that has correlates to historical-cultural development. Adams (1997) says, “the legitimation crisis, identified with metanarrative show [what] is now being seriously called into question” (2). Unlimited development and capitalistic in American ideology versus environmental pollution, limited resources, concerns about nuclear proliferation—use of energy, environmental threats, third world poverty, and the goals of the NAFTA have deligitimated what had characterized capitalism and the success of the West. Postmodern thinking is characterized by a shift in state of mind about core beliefs that are delegitimized in an essential devaluation of past matters of importance.

Adams, draws attention to another significant development correlated to Western Decline the, “metanarrative of Judeo-Christian sexual ethic” (p. 2)  characterizing American culture.  His perspective identifies the shift of views about sexuality chastity, homosexuality, marriage, divorce, and traditional view of marriage as another deconstructed normative value in culture. With Judeo-Christian ethics disempowered from authoritative acceptance, norms from the past are replaced with a plurality of views with no central source of knowledge or universally held value to describe a way of life experience in America. Deligitimation in postmodern life of the Judeo Christian ethic demonstrates changing beliefs about marriage, sexual behavior, and accepted norms indicate a shifting emphasis upon past.

A perspective about the impact of postmodernism upon Christian thought is offered by David Couchman (2002) who describes how mind set has been affected: “if you drop a frog into boiling water, it will jump out immediately, but if you put it in cold water and heat it slowly, you can boil it alive because it does not realize what is happening. … We think we know what is going on, while the culture in which we are immersed is slowly killing us without our realizing it” (Couchman, 2002, p. p. 74).

References
Adams, D. L. (1997). Toward a theological understanding of postmodernism. Retrieved March 30, 2011, from Crosscurrents: http://crosscurrents.orh/adams.html

Couchman, D. (2002). Facing the challenge of our times equipping christians to respond biblically and effectively to postmodernism. Evangel , 20 (3), pp. 74-78 retrieved from EBSCOhost March 09, 2011.

Guarino, T. (1996). Postmodernity and five fundamental theological issues [electronic version]. Theological Studies , 57 (4), Retrieved from EBSCOhost March 30,2011.

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Finding Peace in The Holidays

The Christmas holiday for many people is attached to a deeply embedded need that every human being has to experience the joy of connection with other people, especially family and those that we love and care about. In the religious world, especially Christianity, the message and symbols of the season point to a belief that Christ is the source of the peace that is the essential theme of the Christmas message. Indeed, it is true that faith in the person of Christ as redeemer and Savior is the path to personal peace between God and man. Therefore,  in that relationship there can be found, both a method and power to guide, structure, and build the elements of present peace, and eternal hope for peace in a person’s experience of life.

However, that is not the lived-experience of many people during the holiday season. Unfortunately, it is a time of when the void between the meaning, ideas, and symbols of the season are magnified in the experience of the Christmas season. A good question to pose in the holidays is why is there  such a disconnect between the message of peace and the experience of people.  Think for a moment, how much peace could be experienced in the midst of the celebration; if people who are without peace would surrender to the Prince of Peace during this wonderful time of year?

So Many Misappropriated Values

One of the issues that I have observed is that what seems to be important is not what people really feel or think is important. As a result,  a chronic problem in American culture is the belief that having more will make us happier. In fact, it is not what we get during Christmas that satisfies the need each person has within to experience joy and be happy. In contrast, it is what we give from the heart that is the source of true blessing received in life.  An effective axiom to cite here says, “blessed are they that give, for in giving, they shall break down the barriers that prevent the ability to receive.” Therefore, one of the evidences of culture disconnected from the value  of giving is the profound sense of entitlement that people possess in the 21st Century.  Many individuals hold the belief that they are owed something from others and when they do not get it, they feel that somehow they are unappreciated and are suffering unjust conditions in life. Indeed, every problem that we have is very real to us as individuals.  However, peace will never be achieved in expecting, it will come through how we respond to challenge of personal need and the grace of giving that will make the difference in how we experience life.  At the heart of a distorted misplaced values is the heart of a hurting person who believes that “I don’t deserve this to happen to me …. and this just is not fair.”  The truth is that life is never fair, but in the midst of an unfair life, world, and experience.  What we need to do is to stop and realize  that beyond our feelings of disappointment, i.e., that we should always receive the best outcome in life to experience joy there is a Savior who knows every pain that we feel.  Something to consider is that the times that produce the greatest faith are not when we are whole and everything is turning out right.  It is when we are broken, feeling the weight of life, pressured by circumstances–tempting us beyond measure, that we are able to value the wonder of life and what we have been privileged to have.  As a result, it is at these Divine intersections of life that we are able to experience the greatest potential for an expression of faith that enable the experience of peace.

The book of Romans says that because we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God. In the worst moment of Christ on the Cross, He surrendered all of life to God’s purpose in faith. Dying to self and living to God in a life of surrender is the greatest expression of faith, because when we have nothing else to give, we must trust God.  Therefore it is at that moment, we have found the way that lasting peace can be found in the act of surrender to God.

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Can Change Have a Negative Impact on Relationships?

Image by Beverly & Pack via Flickr

In Gary Collins book The Search for the Soul, quotes Mother Teresa who was asked: what is the greatest problem that people in the world face?  Her reply was “loneliness.” At the same time the culture of today has been described a time of emptiness and spiritual hunger. In the loneliness and spiritual emptiness that is explicit within our modern culture another term has been used to characterize the outlook of people in modern America; pessimism. Is the cynicism of our age, widespread dissatisfaction with a culture that has embraced rationalism, obsession with technology, only to see increased evidence of war, violence, poverty–environmental pollution–the decline of spiritual influence–things are not getting better with all our technology, an indicator of the absence of distinctives beliefs that can empower hope that transcends, mere, things and provide significance to existence?

The existentialism of the modern world that has put so much emphasis on me and I resulted in a generation of people who are together every day, but we have become solitary islands in the masses of humanity and technology.  I recently posted on Facebook, “The hardest thing about being an island is the solitary existence of being alone against the elements. The islands stand alone, solitary and are hardened by circumstances, weather, and time. When the sun goes away and the storms bring the pounding surf and the ravaging winds, the island must stand alone because that is what islands do until they are washed away” (2010).  It is a painful and isolated position that many people in the world have arrived at, but have no destination in mind.  With all the text-messaging, posting on social networks, and twittering; while people are connected to so many people, they may still be disconnected from healthy, meaningful relationships with others that will bring an efficacious way of living.

One of the great problems that characterize existence today is that life is replete with narcissism and self focused interests. If a person wants to deal with the problem of loneliness and find spiritual answers, then having a meaningful relationship with another person is something that requires integrity, honesty, and willingness to get off the island. Maybe, what is needed is realizing that what is best for others may not be what is best for me and being okay with that. This is the place where an attitude of servant-hood begins. The greatest of all spiritual gifts is the expression of love that is given in a way that sacrifices what benefits me and gives what someone else needs. (1 Corinthians 13.)   The great paradox of today is that we have evolved with a great amount of intelligence and technology at our finger tips, but the basic communication skills of people are deficient when it comes to relating to others in ways that foster healthy outcomes.

Has the individualism of the 70’s that spawned humanism, the “Me” generation, the “Now” generation been more than can be absorbed and processed? Alvin Toffler wrote about the stress that too much change to quick has upon culture, “Future shock is the shattering stress and disorientation that we induce in people by subjecting them to too much change in too short a time”.  It is implicit within the behavior cues that are demonstrated by the absence of effort to connect that there is the subtle deception that says, “everything is all right and that we have become an advanced people”, when the evidence suggests that we are broken and need intervention to address the spiritual emptiness and loneliness of people today.  It has been said that, “The greatest deception men suffer is from their own opinions” (Leonardo da Vinci).  What can we learn from marriage and divorce statistics? One half of all first marriages failing in the first five years and  that sixty percent of all second marriage fail?  It is evident that the side effects of an evolving culture has rippling effects that can be seen in the lack of ability to function in relationships which is the thumbprint of the spiritual void in American culture.

One of the great challenges is to understand and not just to diagnose the problem.  To possess the ability make a meaningful contribution to life by being a change agent is the challenge.  We have the ability to understand, but will we? An imposing truth about what will be the answer to loneliness and the spiritual void may be characterized by a statement of truth, “The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn” (Alvin Toffler).  In the Garden of Eden, the first relationship problems were solved by a spiritual solution to the needs of humanity.  What is it that can be learned from that?  The people have changed, but the solution remains that when we do not have a right relationship to God, all other relationships disintegrate.

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