A Positive Future for Spirituality

Eleanor Rae

The September 2005 issue of Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science has an article on spirituality by David Hay and Pawel M. Socha entitled “Spirituality as a Natural Phenomenon: Bringing Biological and Psychological Perspectives Together.” The authors, working independently, arrived at basically the same conclusion: “spirituality is a human universal, appearing in many secular as well as religious forms, although its most typical manifestations have been in religious experience.” Hay, a researcher in religious studies in Scotland, argues that spirituality has been naturally selected in the evolutionary process because of its survival value. Socha, a Polish professor, views spirituality “as a socioculturally structured and determined attempt to cope with the existential human situation.”

These arguments for the universality of spirituality reminded me of the work I did for the National Association of Lay Ministry back in the 1980’s. The Spirituality Task Force sent out a questionnaire both to our membership—lay and clergy—and to an equal number of people not involved in church ministry, asking if they had ever had what they considered a religious experience and, if so, to describe it. We were surprised by the overwhelming number of positive responses we received from the people who were not involved in church ministry, and how many of these experiences occurred in non-church settings. The Holy had made itself apparent wherever a person might have been.

As well as raising the issue of the universality of spirituality, the authors’ article also caused me to reflect again on the issue of the relationship between spirituality and religion. In her article on spirituality at the UN in the last issue of Weaving the Connections, Alayne O’Reilly mentioned the Women and Spirituality Working Group that was formed in preparation for the Women’s Conference in Beijing held in 1995. One of my most vivid recollections of that group was our struggle over the choice of words—whether to use “spirituality” or “religion” as part of our name. We never came to a satisfactory conclusion on this issue, which remained a “hot topic” (one woman, for example, flew in from Nigeria and returned almost immediately—the only purpose of her brief visit was to give her input on this discussion). My own view is that each of us is called to her or his own spirituality or unique relationship with the Divine. We cannot totally live out of another’s spirituality, even if it is the spirituality of someone as seminal as Jesus.

This is not a call for still more individualism for I do recognize the need for true community in our fragmented society. Rather, it is a call for each of us to be willing to speak out and share our religious experiences—which seem to be common among all of us—with one another. Thus will we be formed into the holy people we are being called to be in our own unique and challenging times.

                                                                                                                                             Earth Mandala by Susan St. Thomas

Feminist Feminism

Mary E. Hunt

Many women shy away from the word “feminism.” I suggest that they do so at their peril, and mine. The word “feminism” means many things to many people, though most agree that it involves the foundational notion that women are full human persons. Such language may sound antiquated, just a step away from women’s suffrage. Would that it were the case. I think it might be helpful to review the concept of feminism, and argue for its continued importance, especially in religious circles.

 A look at how feminist work and discourse has evolved shows that it was focused primarily on gender rights until womanist (African American) and later feminista/mujerista (Latin American) colleagues insisted that survival issues were at stake: survival of women and dependent children, and of whole communities, including men. These insights, and the hard work they signaled, changed feminism forever. Commitment to economic and ecological      well-being, to anti-racism,anti-colonialism and anti-heterosexism are now integral aspects of feminist agendas.

 Why, then, do so many progressive women of all ages studiously avoid the term, choosing instead to speak of “equality,” “partnership,” and the like, whentheir lives have been improved immeasurably by what history calls “feminism”? Many of them say they don’t like labels. Admittedly the price of calling oneself a feminist can be high in social terms, but I invite people to examine the price in political and economic terms of not doing so. I know that the impact of struggling for justice is always felt well beyond one’s small circles, and I am honored and humbled to call myself a feminist alongside remarkable colleagues over the centuries―and strong women to come.

 Although gender exclusive feminism is (and ought to be) dead, 21st century feminism that takes gender issues as part of a complex interweaving of oppressions, what Elisabeth Schüssler Fiorenza has coined “kyriarchy,” is alive and well as a critical analysis and strategy for bringing about justice. As such, feminism is an understandable threat to those who want to roll back gains made by women, people of color, and others who have been marginalized―or at least to keep those gains from increasing. Part of their strategy is to declare feminism over. It won’t work, however, as long as injustice remains.  

It is my view that the media, in an increasingly conservative culture, has succeeded in selling the notion that women’s full humanity is either: a) achieved (a hard case to make); b) not desirable (a not-so-hidden agenda); or c) something that can be achieved without naming or specifying it (an historical first if it were to come to pass).Such cultural forces are hard to counter, but religion is

one  dimension where feminist work makes a difference. When I think about the past forty years of feminist/womanist/mujerista work in religion, I realize that we have achieved a great deal (although we are far from “there” yet). We now have women in ministry in most religious traditions, and feminist scholars and professors where few existed a generation ago; we have attention to inclusive language and imagery that was unthinkable in the middle part of the last century, and so forth. It all makes a difference because such voices are powerful beyond their numbers as religions shape cultural values.  

Though we are still far from the mark in the larger cultural setting as well, the input of religious feminists there has been forceful. Feminists in religion speak up for women’s reproductive health, support rights for same-sex families, champion education, jobs, and social services for people who are poor. We are concerned about how poor people are treated in the prison system; how the mentally disabled are incorporated into the work force; how children are cared for; who has access to medical care. These are concrete ramifications of expanding the understanding of the Divine and of building on the ministries of women―and they make a difference.  

 While we need many and varied approaches to justice work, my suggestion is that we reaffirm feminism as an important one. The obituary on feminism has been written and rewritten, but the movement, and all it encompasses, is very much alive. It is needed now more than ever as economic disparities grow, war rages, and the cultural tide flows more conservatively. Religious feminists can clarify such matters and be helpful in shaping a social/political agenda that seeks justice and inclusivity. We can do no less.

 Mary E. Hunt is a feminist theologian and ethicist and the cofounder and codirector of WATER ((the Women’s Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual). The complete version of this article appeared in its quarterly journal “Waterwheel”, Vol. 17, #1, 2004-5.

Associates of C:WED:

Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., founder

Giles E. Rae, publisher

Anne Andersson, editor

Representatives at the United Nations:

       New York: Rosalyn Dischiavo

                          Lina Gupta, Ph.D.

                                  Alayne O’Reilly, Ph.D.

       Vienna: Susanne Schaup, Ph.D.

Mission Statement

 The Center for Women, the Earth, the Divine is dedicated to exploring the parallels that exist between the imaging and treatment of women and of the Earth, and how our images of the Divine are related to these parallels.

     We began by exploring these relationships within the context of our own tradition--the Christian. While we continue our exploration in this tradition, we have also engaged people of other traditions such as the Buddhist, Goddess, Hindu, Indigenous, Jewish and Muslim. Our work is made available through talks, workshops, writings and retreats. The immediate purpose of the Center is educational, while the ultimate goal is the healing of the Creation.

                                                                                       ————————————

     The founder of C:WED is Eleanor Rae, Ph.D., author of Women, the Earth, the Divine, President Emerita of the North American Coalition for Christianity and Ecology and founder of the United Nations Earth Values Caucus.

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Sacred Longings: The Ecological Spirit

and Global Culture—Mary C. Grey

Reviewed by Eileen M. Harrington

The first thing to note about Mary Grey’s newest work is that it is published under different titles in the United States and in Britain. While the main title of the book—Sacred Longings—remains the same, the subtitle of the British version is Ecofeminist Theology and Globalisation. The subtitle of the US version, however, is The Ecological Spirit and Global Culture. This difference suggests what marketers think will, and will  not, sell in the US today. What is an “ecological spirit” anyway? The good news is that Grey’s book delivers on what both subtitles seem to imply, delving into the ecofeminist response to globalization as well as the spiritual needs of the so-called “first world.”

 Grey’s introduction clarifies what Sacred Longings is about:  “the pilgrimage for truth and the recovery of heart” through an examination of economic globalization. Grey believes that all people, everywhere, are searching for the Sacred in their lives—that which connects them deeply with each other, the natural world and something bigger. That Sacred is what many call religion, but Grey won’t be limited to this.

Each chapter of Sacred Longings is a web of information and stories. Grey’s writing style is more poetic than logical. She regales her readers with tales of young burned-out activists, Miriam seeking water in the desert, and the tragedy of Psyche and Eros, all in the interest of leading us on a journey from pain, helplessness, and despair—a journey many in the world make every day—to a place of renewal. 

 Thus, Grey’s book, although filled with helpful material that introduces readers to economic and cultural globalization and ecofeminism, is focused on how so-called “first world” humans have lost their spiritual way under the influence of the “free” market. A disturbing number of the inhabitants of the North and West, Grey observes, are addicted to alcohol, drugs, gambling, sex and food. Now, an addiction to the consumption of non-necessary material goods has been added, a serious addiction that threatens not only Euro-Americans, but the rest of the world as well.

 Christian theology, according to Grey, contributes to the development of this addiction by underwriting the divisions between body and spirit, and between women and their own experience. Disembodied theology or religious belief is as serious a problem as consumer addiction because it leaves many devoid of a connection to the earth, their communities and their own bodies.

Grey’s solution to the spiritual/consumer crisis confronting the “first world” begins with water—the reverence for water found in Hebrew scripture, Celtic legends, Celtic Christian hagiography and in many cultures throughout the world. Next comes a spiritual renewal through acknowledgment and reverence for the living Spirit as found in Christianity and other religious traditions. With this water and Spirit, Grey “baptizes” the reader into her chapters on the theology of ecofeminism and on the practice of ecomysticism, two critical pieces of her remedy for the burgeoning spiritual crisis of our time.

 A major component of Grey’s unique perspective is her dual role as scholar and activist. With her husband, Nicolas Grey, she is co-founder of Wells for India, an NGO that supports women and their families in northern India. Her work with Wells for India takes her to some of the poorest parts of the Indian subcontinent, while her scholarship takes her back to the UK to teach ecofeminism and globalization courses at the University of Wales, Lampeter. The contrast between northern India and Lampeter, where consumption is at a level familiar to anyone living in any major city of the world, clearly informs the philosophy and theology of justice undergirding Grey’s writing.

 Sacred Longings: The Ecological Spirit and Global Culture is an important addition to the literature on globalization, especially because of its focus on ecofeminism. It is also one of only two books dealing substantively with the spiritual crisis of globalization (the other is Jay McDaniel’s Living from the Center: Spirituality in an Age of Consumerism). Grey’s book is an outstanding work, one I strongly recommend to my students and all those concerned about the multiple connections between these important topics.

 Eileen M. Harrington is a doctoral student in ecofeminism and globalization at the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley, CA; she studied alongside Mary Grey at the University of  Wales, Lampeter, in the spring of 2002. This review first appeared in Equal Rites,         Vol. XIV, #l. .

A Hopi Elder Speaks

You have been telling the people that this is the Eleventh Hour.

Now you must go back and tell the people: This is the Hour.

And there are things to be considered. Where are you living? What are you doing?

What are your relationships? Are you in right relationship?

Where is your water? Know your garden. It is time to speak your truth.

Create your community. Be good to each other. And do not look outside yourself for the Leader.

He clasped his hands together and said: This could be a good time!

There is a river flowing now very fast.

It is so great and swift that there are those who will be afraid.

They will feel that they are being torn apart and will suffer greatly.

Know the river has its destination.

The elders say we must let go of the shore, push off into the middle of the river,

Keep our eyes open, and our heads above the water.

And I say, see who is here with you and celebrate.

At this time in history we are to take nothing personally, least of all ourselves,

For the moment we do, our spiritual growth and journey come to a halt.

The time of the lone wolf is over.

Gather yourselves! Banish the word struggle from your attitude and your vocabulary.

All that we do now must be done in a sacred manner and in celebration.

We are the ones we have been waiting for.

                                                                                                                      Volume XXVII, No.2/Winter 2001, 8th Day Centerings,

                                                                                                                      a quarterly publication of the 8th Day Center for Justice

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