Nothing New Under the Sun

In the world of Progressive Christianity and the SBNR (in its various forms), there seems to be a growing belief that we are on the cusp of a new age of spiritual enlightenment. This has engendered an enthusiasm much like in the 1960s, when the “spiritual but not religious” of that time thought they were ushering in the Age of Aquarius–a time when peace, love, and understanding would reign. Unfortunately that didn’t happen.

The hippies of the 60s and early 70s quickly became the yuppies and capitalists of the 80s and 90s. All that talk about letting the sunshine in was well just talk. Many who grew up during that generation simply chalked it up to youthful idealism. While others grew bitter that the generation which held such promise turned slowly into a Generation of Swine. Such is the way of the world. And the way it has always been. Every generation likes to think itself as special. And in many ways every generation is special, with unique experiences to celebrate and unusual challenges to overcome. But we ought to leave it that.

Think globally, Act locally is an ecological dictum. It doesn’t translate into spiritual affairs–which demand that we act locally and think locally. In other words, the big picture will work out on its own if we simply endeavor, like Gandhi said, to become the change we want to see in the world. This “becoming” though is a lifelong process. It is not a pinnacle that we reach which then allows us to go conquer the world as missionaries or become spiritual gurus for the public at large. To nurture the idea that we are igniting some grand church revolution or world awakening is little more than self-aggrandizement–which is why such transformations never actually take place.

So the next time we find ourselves becoming enchanted with ideas of ushering in a bright new spiritual epoch, let’s turn to the wisdom of Ecclesiastes:

What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again;
there is nothing new under the sun.

Or in the words of David Byrne & The Talking Heads

Same as it ever was…same as it ever was…
same as it ever was…same as it ever was…
same as it ever was…same as it EVER was…

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Gain fresh insight into the Lord’s Prayer. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life. The prayer’s hidden teachings will enrich and inspire you. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

The Moral Effort

In our last motivational, we quoted the progressive Christian Leo Tolstoy as saying that we all can wake up to a real, happy, and peaceful life, as it exists in our consciences (God’s Kingdom within), if we just make the moral effort. That was easy for him to say. While Tolstoy might have inspired Martin Luther King and Gandhi with such words, few of us think we are capable of the moral effort of a Gandhi or MLK. Can’t we all just slide into Heaven by just accepting Jesus Christ as our savior?

Well, that would be nice. But as we talk about in The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life, Jesus never preached that kind lesson. He told us that we must carry our own crosses¹ and seek to become as perfect as God in Heaven². This, unfortunately, requires a little moral effort on our part.

But we don’t have to get all intimidated by the situation. Moral effort is a lot like will power in that once we break it down, and see it just as a small series of individual choices (the things we choose to do and not to do each day), it becomes a whole lot easier to master. The issue here is not becoming a saint, but summoning the moral courage to make one right choice at this one moment in time. As they say, a thousand mile journey begins with a single step.

Moral effort is also made easier when we begin to reduce the clutter–in other words, removing all those things that are often nothing more than background noise to the soundtrack of our lives. This is especially true today, when computers, iPhones, and Blackberries serve up an endless stream of chatter to fill the empty spaces of our minutes and hours, but do little to bring clarity to our moral efforts: to those progressive Christian efforts which require both solitude and reflection, as well as the silence to ask the question, :In what way is what I am about do or say going to benefit others?”

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Gain fresh insight into the Lord’s Prayer. Read our free online book The Lord’s Prayer for Daily Life. The prayer’s hidden teachings will enrich and inspire you. Click the following link to begin reading the Living Hour book now: The Lord’s Prayer.

1. Calling the people and his disciples to him, Jesus said: “If anyone wishes to walk in my steps, let them renounce self, take up their cross, and follow me. Mark -8:34 [↩]
2. “You, then, must become perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” – Matthew 5:48 [↩]

Progressive Christianity & SBNR Bookstore

Press Release (6.13.09) The LivingHour.org has announced the addition of an SBNR & Progressive Christian Bookstore to its online activities. The new online bookstore for spiritual progressives is in association with Amazon.com, and will include fiction, poetry and non-fiction on various subjects. “We are looking to include in our booklist more than just the usual suspects read by Progressive Christians and the SBNR,” says Pastor David, director of The Living Hour.

“Spiritual life in the 21st century should encompass everything: science, history, philosophy, pop culture, literature, etc., and (as Gandhi once said) we should all keep learning about these things as if we expected to live forever,” explains Pastor David.

The first listing of books for Progressive Christians and the SBNR (Spiritual But Not Religious) include Jacques Barzun’s fascinating history survey From Dawn to Decadence; psychologist Carl Jung’s seminal work on the unconscious, The Undiscovered Self; theologian Paul Tillich’s classic call to vocation, The Courage to Be; Michael Talbot’s explosive unification of science and spirituality, The Holographic Universe; and Brenda Ueland’s If You Want to Write, a book on art, independence, and living joyfully.

According to Pastor David, all of the books are chosen with the aim to help readers better understand the world and our place in it. In addition, every selection has been read by LivingHour.org and was picked not just for its brilliance but for its clear, crisp, and entertaining writing style. All are highly accessible and will challenge readers’ perceptions in fesh and exciting ways. New books will be added weekly.

Video picks are also included at the bookstore, including cult director Hal Hartley’s Book of Life (a comic retelling of the apocalypse, where Jesus arrives at JFK airport), and Eliseo Subiela’s provocative Spanish film Man Facing Southeast (Hombre Mirando al Sudeste), about an enigmatic patient at a mental institution, who may or may not be from this world.

Also available from LivingHour.org is the website’s free e-book The Lord’s Prayer For Daily Life, with New Century Gospels, which provides new insight into Jesus’s beloved prayer, as well as his parables and teachings.

To view The Living Hour’s online bookstore please click the following link: SBNR & Progressive Christianity Bookstore.

Talking of Eternal Things

In St. Pauls second Epistle to the Corinthians, he tells the community to remember that “the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.” When this idea is delivered from the pulpit of Christian churches today, preachers usually discuss how it refers to God’s grace, the Holy Spirit, or the kingdom of Heaven.

The problem is that we tend to think of all these things as God’s alone or God’s gifts to us. They come from the outside and thus we don’t consider ourselves as co-creators of eternal things, along with the Father.

But as Sons and Daughters of God, we are all inheritors and builders of His kingdom, grace, and spirit of eternal things that are more magical than Harry Potter’s wand. India’s Mahatma Gandhi once delivered an adage that is probably as well known as St. Paul’s, and that is: “Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever.”

It is by living intensely and learning joyfully that we grab the reigns of our eternal natures in Christ. Human experience and knowledge are not temporal: we cannot truly see the feelings associated with a beautiful sunrise, a first kiss, or the birth of a child, any more than we can see the thoughts connected with learning a new language, tying a slip knot, or mastering differential equations–they are eternal.

This life will one day end. But the harvest of the heart and mind is with you always.

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The Living Hour’s motivational series combines history, literature, philosophy, psychology, religion, and popular culture to help bring about new perspectives for Progressive Christians and anyone who seeks a better understanding of “God” and life’s purpose. Sign up to have these progressive Motivationals delivered to your e-mail box three times a week.