Beneath the clashing of nations and the grinding of industry, a new spirituality is emerging. It is nascent, its manifestation still taking shape. Fortunately, it is not a new religion--yet. But it is a movement, stirring within our cultural depths and gathering both mass and momentum as it rises.
Its hallmarks contain the seeds of what we need now, more than ever, to participate in the healing of the Earth and to retrieve the inherent dignity of every human being. It may be our only viable way forward.
One hallmark of this movement is the acknowledgment of the sacredness of the Earth. It is not our "environment," as if we were somehow detached from it, and it most certainly is not our possession to do with as we please. The Earth is a living, breathing, growing organism endowed with the same spark that created the Universe and that infuses every molecule of every being, human and more-than-human alike. The Earth is alive.
Another hallmark of this movement is the recognition of the Divine Light radiant within every human soul. No one needs to be saved, except from those dark voices that gather like storm clouds, full of judgement, to tell us that we are less than who we are, that we need a magic fix, or a corrective theology, or a strong leader to set us right. No, we need only claim the life already flowing through our veins and the wisdom already resident in our souls. Our most natural spiritual instincts are those that return us to the essential sacredness of our own being. For we too are alive!
This is a theme to which we return many times here in the Cave. It concerns a growing awareness of the innate sacredness of the Earth and a commensurate appreciation for the sacredness of the Soul. It would appear that the "spiritual terrain on the far side of conventional religion" is a rich and fertile land worthy of our attention and respect, even of our reverence. But this is not the terrain ordinarily cultivated by our mainstream religious traditions.
Celtic theology never lost a wondrous sense of the vibrant sacredness of all things. Spiritual teacher John Philip Newell, in his book, Sacred Earth, Sacred Soul, introduced us to nine Celtic thinkers whose voices have been suppressed or diminished within the dominant theology of Mediterranean Christianity. The soulful writing of the Welsh monk Pelagius, for example, was judged as heresy by the ascendent theology of Augustine of Hippo. More recently, the evolutionary theology of French scientist and Jesuit priest Pierre Teilhard de Chardin was not published until after his death, beyond the censure of the Catholic Church.
Newell's most recent book, The Great Search, extends the range of those voices to include prophets of this spiritual awakening from across religious and cultural boundaries: from Thirteenth Century Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi to modern-day Catholic priest and "geologian" Thomas Berry; from English mystic Julien of Norwich to the dynamic but tragic Etty Hillesum, a young Jewish woman living in Amsterdam during the Second World War. Each in their own way and in their own time, they announced a spirituality tied only to the ecstatic love of Life in all its deep mystery and extravagant diversity.
Newell is gentle in his demeanour and careful with his words, so it would be easy to miss the strength of his beliefs. Having recently renounced his ordination ("giving it back," as he describes it) as a minister of the Church of Scotland, he is committed to teaching this ancient but emerging spirituality not only in the Iona Community and at the American Spirituality Centre in New Mexico, where he frequently leads retreats, but also through his books and lectures, wherever people will gather, wherever they will listen--as we do here in The Mystic Cave.
To listen to my conversation with John Philip Newell, click on the Play arrow below. To learn more about Newell, his teachings and his work, follow the More Info button to the show notes.
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