Awkward....


Right now I am reading a book called "A Chosen Faith."  Its sort of a primer to the Unitarian Universalist faith.  I am thinking about formally joining our local congregation.  (I already sing in the choir.)   Unitarian Universalism seems to line up with where I am right now.  However I find myself still in the awkward getting to know you stage with the congregation.  Folk are fairly friendly and there is a lot to do and a lot to get involved with.  However there are not a lot of younger childless couples in the church so its a bit harder to form those easy friendships one does with ones peers.  This has me thinking about the place of awkwardness in the spiritual experience.  We'd all like to be up on the mountaintop, blissing out to a spiritual high, but life is not often made of moments like this.  I think the Buddhist view of the present moment helps.  i.e. "Dwelling in this present moment, I know this is a wonderful moment." Thich Nhat Hanh.   If I remember to breath and be at peace with awkwardness and uncomfortableness it can be easier to deal with.  However, sometimes these awkward experiences have caused me to discount the "authenticity" of a spiritual experience.  For example, when someone starts sneezing during meditation, I  can loose my peace and start getting annoyed and uncomfortable.  Then I might start discounting the whole experience, thinking "If this were an "authentic" spiritual practice,  would anybody really sneeze.  Wouldn't we all just start glowing with inner light or something?"

I appreciate that Buddhism convicts me to accept things as they are.  I think a lot of people I consider "spiritually flaky" are all about finding these perfect, blissful experiences, which can often lead them to have no common sense in the real world.

I think that when we are on the mountaintop, we should appreciate it for all it's worth, but being back down in the valley, trucking through the mud, is a spiritual experience too.   The mountain top experience may in fact be a reward for learning the lessons that the muddy valley had to teach us.  When we spend all our time dwelling on being annoyed and uncomfortable, I think we miss what the here and now is trying to show us.

Comments

Cassandra said…
I'm not familiar with Unitarian Universalist so I looked up the website. I like the emphasis on social justice. I think people have a right to be treated well regardless of who they are and it's nice to see a group of people working toward that goal.

You have a good point about spiritual experiences in the valleys. We can learn a lot there!
November 23, 2012 at 8:29 AM
Noah said…
I am pleased you are attending a UU church there. Not sure whether I will ever formally join a church again tho. Attendance+support aka both time+financially should be good enough.
November 27, 2012 at 2:21 PM
Robert said…
I agree with your last thoughts totally. It's learning how to be happy with pain, depression,everyday stuff that is the hard work.
December 20, 2012 at 1:14 PM
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