Should We Think More about a "Secular Spirituality?"/ Steve Hamilton

In one of my past guest posts, I explored the burgeoning scientific endeavors of neurotheology and the nature of consciousness and spirituality, mysticism and empirical data.  I have been digging a bit further in this, and while getting some background with Walter Brueggemann and of course Dietrich Bonhoeffer's initial thoughts on religionless Christinaity, I've been reflecting on the challenges and opportunities of a centered-set secular spirituality (say that 5 times fast!), and I wanted to share a few observations with you and ask for any input or response to this line of thought that all of you great thinkers might have.

 

It seems to me that spirituality among my secular friends presents lots of upside for explorations of faith and the significance of why we do certain things and the meaning behind them in a centered-set, Stage 4 Faith kind of way.  For instance, as Anne Van Dusen of the Alban Institute has noted, in a secular spirituality, traditionally religious rituals can be practiced without a specific religious content or apprehension. The 'church wedding' is a good example. What used to be a religious ritual has evolved into a secular or cultural practice. It remains a deeply significant experience, but often it lacks religious underpinnings for many of the attendees or perhaps even those being married.  What is interesting in our recent history is that ritual - as some sort of symbolic outward expression of a deeper significance - is increasingly embraced in ordinary experiences, not just the private reserve of religious folk.

 

For instance, from the view of a secular spirituality, can we witness that a group of friends gathering to share a meal and "check-in" with each other has some similarity to ancient practices of a prayer circle?  Or perhaps you've been a part of the deeply secular yet spiritual experience of singing around a campfire?  As I've explored some of these thoughts on secular spirituality with some of my Christian friends, I wonder at the typical reaction: "...that's all good for a horizontal-kind of spiritual experience but what about the vertical-kind, what about connection to Jesus?"  Fair enough, except somehow I keep wondering: how do you really know there isn't some vertical aspect just because it isn't necessarily acknowledged or made explicit?  Van Dusen has observed that in the religious setting, ritual can provide access to a deeper experience of faith and spirit. Of course, ritual itself can nurture and structure faith. Likewise, in the secular setting, such ritual serves as a framework that organizes and catalogs individual spiritual experience....as spirituality becomes part of everyday culture and even replaces traditional religion and religious practice at certain points, the gap between those with a faith affiliation and those without widens.  This is especially the case that some of us have witnessed to in the secular centers of many cities that we inhabit. Religious organizations are challenged to offer seekers a means for spiritual connection that is not necessarily available in secular society, and many of my secular friends nowadays look at a typical Sunday church experience and claim that it is merely a knock-off of something they witness or experience in their "normal" secular world...and a cheap knock-off a that.  OK, fair enough.

 

One of the ways to meet the challenges of secular spirituality that has been pointed to over and over again is the Roman Catholic church's effort to sponsor "Tap Room Theology" sessions.  These were mainly about hosting conversations in venues that very Stage 3 college students frequented; the premise is that religious leaders work within the existing cultural parameters (students hanging out in bars and restaurants) to find a venue for conversation about faith and cultural issues.  I'm sure that idea is fairly familiar to many of us here at this blog, not to mention some of us are actually doing it, like our friend Kenny Petrowski, whose church actually meets at the Trash Bar in Brooklyn, NY. There seems to be some focus on intentionally positioning ourselves in certain venues or seeking common ground, whether that be at a bar or coffee house or as Van Dusen elaborates: "A shared secular culture "homogenizes" the collective experience of those who, due to different faith or experiences, might not be able to connect. An immigrant from Haiti may have little in common with a sixth-generation Bostonian, but both are likely to be familiar with Disney or the Simpsons...see Mark Pinsky's The Gospel According to Disney and The Gospel According to the Simpsons,"

 

So I'm wondering what you all think about secular spirituality and the opportunities and challenges therein?  Can or should we foster a centered-set secular spirituality with Jesus as the center of the set?  Would all this link to other efforts (like centered-set worship or worship as the calling card of a centered set) to foster or network people for some Stage 4 Faith revival that has been so much of our conversation lately?