To What Should You Surrender?, Pg. 2

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To What Should You Surrender?

By Arlene F. Harder, MA, MFT

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Page Two of Two Pages

Golden Men and Wooden Goblets

In speaking about religions, Ralph Waldo Emerson was reported to have said that, "In the first generation, the men were golden and the goblets were wooden. In the second generation, the men were wooden and the goblets were golden." This has been the history of the formation of religions throughout millennia. Just look at the founders of the great religions. Jesus, Gandhi, Mohammed, Buddha. None of them were orthodox. All were charismatic spiritual seekers, mystics, prophets, troublemakers, critics of the establishments of their day.

Why have their teachings been turned into a blueprint for millions of followers? What set these people apart? They all lived a spirited life. They all had a passion to seek the truth.

If you believe there is truth in the religion to which you subscribe, then by all means find that truth. Live the religious life and life it fully. If you choose to be a spiritual seeker, then by all means seek with all your heart and all the passion you can muster.

In either case, don't let your life become wooden while you drink from golden goblets.

Contrast Between Religious Life and Spiritual Quest

Here, from Hymns to an Unknown God* by Sam Keen, is a comparison of what it can mean to live a religious life or to join a spiritual quest

The Religious Life	The Spiritual Quest
In the beginning is the word, the revelation, the known God	In the beginning is the question, doubt, the Unknown God
The path of life is well mapped	The adventure is uncharted
Chief virtue is obedience to the will of God	Chief virtue is openness, waiting, listening
Repeat the sacred ways	Choose, create, invent
Religious life centers on sacred objects and places: churches, shrines, texts, sacraments	Spiritual life centers on profane experience, existential questions, ordinary moments
Ascent	Descent
Revelation	Awareness
Based on miracle, mystery, authority, a revealed scripture	Based on searching for evidence of sacred in events of my life
Institutional, corporate	Individual, communal
The Gothic urge to rise above it all	The incarnational thrust to get to the depth of things.

When you read this list, which perspective most appeals to you—and why? Remember, one is not the "right" approach and the other "wrong." Both are challenging ways to live and be difficult. But both offer peace of mind if accepted openly and with awareness of the choice.

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