Empty spirituality?
“Recently I have grown dissatisfied with the theory and practice of what passes for spirituality,” writes author Sam Keen. After conducting a seminar at a retreat center, he adds, “What compelled my attention was the simple observation that amid all the offerings on holistic living, healing, meditation, awareness, opening the heart, oneness, knowing God, sacred bodywork, etc., there was not one reference to justice. Checking the catalogs of several other centers . . . I found the same vacuum.

“. . . Could there be any authentic spirituality, soulfulness or wisdom without a concern for justice? If not among the spiritually minded, where was the quest for justice an ultimate concern?

“Anyone who stands within the Judeo-Christian tradition is challenged by the biblical witness that the quest for justice is the sine qua non of the religious life. The best summary of what God requires us to do is ‘to do justice, to love mercy and to walk humbly with God’ (Micah 6:8).

“. . . Far from being optional, the quest for justice is central . . . Otherwise we are left with disengaged religion, gnostic mysticism, and a godlet dedicated to strengthening the ego’s illusions of self-sufficiency.”

—Sam Keen, quoted by Martin Marty in Context, October 1, 2002.

Gender equity now sails the high seas
In Britain, ships will no longer be referred to as feminine, reports Etc: A Review of General Semantics. The leading shipping industry paper in London, Lloyd’s List, has decided to forego “she” for the gender neutral “it,” deciding it was high time “to catch up with the rest of the world and most other news organizations.”

It’s dizzying up here
“Whenever we decide to follow a calling, we risk giving up a simple life for one that is more demanding and complex. Anyone whose goal is “something higher,” author Milan Kundera says, must expect someday to suffer vertigo, which is not just the fear of falling, but also the desire to fall; it is the voice of the emptiness below that tempts and lures us. The shift from no to yes in your life can be as challenging as any psychological shift. It may drive you to make decisions you previously avoided. You may finally say yes to marriage, step down from or up to power, forgive someone, or confront who you really are. The dizzying, even chaotic result may have profound consequences.”

—Gregg Levoy in Callings: Finding and Following an Authentic Life.

No reply needed
“The volume of e-mail we process daily has reached some kind of crisis point. More and more the medium has become both utterly integral and a major source of exhaustion and disquiet. . . . Even my moderate amount [of daily messages] makes me rail against the merciless immediacy of e-mail, and feel as if I am constantly treading water.

“. . . My romance with e-mail is now on the rocks. E-mail must rank as one of the most time-devouring timesavers of all time. Too often it makes nothing happen—fast. It has come to feel like a Sisyphean labor akin to hauling out the garbage or shoveling snow.

“In moderation e-mail is a boon. And yes, it can save time. But we’d do well to recall the Buddha’s response on being told that a sprinter had shaved 0.1 seconds off the 100-meter record. ‘What,’ the Buddha inquired, ‘did she do with the time saved?’ To which I’d add: write more e-mail?”

—Quoted from an essay by Rob Nixon, professor of English at UW–Madison.

Waiting for sex
“Why is dating today so stressful?” asks author Elizabeth Austin. “The answer is simple: Sex.”

“[In contemporary culture] there is only one broadly accepted rule of courtship: The Third Date is The Date . . . If either party declines sex on the Third Date, it’s a clear sign that the relationship is going nowhere. And if the Third Date culminates in sex, they’re officially a couple . . .

“If we could decide collectively that sex is worth waiting a bit longer for, we’d find that courtship itself might become a lot more fun. . . . we could focus more on the actual date and less on its sequel. . . . We might draw out of a shy person an unexpected vein of sardonic wit or a deep well of political insight. With luck, we’d screen out some of those false charmers who have learned to conceal their mean-spiritedness for a week or two. And it bears mentioning that some things are greatly improved by anticipation.”

—Elizabeth Austin, quoted in Utne Reader, September-October 2003.