{"id":15976,"date":"2018-01-18T17:34:39","date_gmt":"2018-01-19T01:34:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=15976"},"modified":"2018-01-18T17:34:39","modified_gmt":"2018-01-19T01:34:39","slug":"an-enchanted-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/an-enchanted-life\/","title":{"rendered":"An Enchanted Life"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>To some, secularity could be described as an absence of God, or a space in which God is not believed in or readily sought after. Another definition of secularity describes it as an evolution where God was once exclusively acknowledged and worshiped, but then adapted to a choice for individuals to question God’s role, identity, and existence. “The shift to secularity in this sense consists, among other things, of a move from a society where belief in God is unchallenged and indeed, unproblematic, to one in which it is understood to be one option among others, and frequently not the easiest to embrace.”[1]<\/a>\u00a0 This definition of secularity offered a polarized, and rather rigid explanation, suggesting an evolution throughout the generations from those believing easily in God to those questioning their faith or belief in God. In comparison, I found this definition to offer a more hopeful and open explanation of secularity, embodying the ethos of the author: “Secularity in this sense is a matter of the whole context of understanding in which our moral, spiritual or religious experience and search takes place.”[2]<\/a>\u00a0 This explanation invites a learning experience where one can search and discover what they choose to believe about God and their spirituality, versus not believing in God, or having a passive, indifferent spiritual journey.<\/p>\n

The concept of an enchanted world and a modern world was an underlying theme in Taylor’s book, The Secular Age<\/em>. As we have progressed in society, the enchanted world gets left farther and farther behind as a secular, modern, world of science, psychology, and industry replaces the magical beliefs of yesteryears. The great divide between an enchanted world and a modern world has grown wider throughout the centuries. An enchanted world has porous citizens who are able to be inhabited by good or evil spirits, also possessing a more openness where they believe in magic and enchanted objects. In contrast, the modern world is about disbelief in the enchantment, encasing a buffered self where people prevent themselves from connecting to the enchantment around them. Instead of being porous individuals open to enchantment, they are committed to developing a “buffered identity, impervious to the enchanted cosmos.”[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

In the modern world, it was fascinating how Taylor described buffered individuals as missing the spiritual or enchanted world hence attempt to reconnect with it through spiritually themed movies and entertainment. Vampires, angels, and demons are frequent themes in Hollywood movies, and popular novels, and are beckoning us to connect with the enchanted cosmos we are innately longing for. Objects in the enchanted world hold value, symbolism, and even magical powers. This reminded me of a time I was trying to sell my house and shared with my Catholic friend my desire to sell swiftly. Earnestly, she offered to bury a saintly relic in my yard designed specifically for the speedy sale of my house. My buffered self, marveled at the sincerity in which she truly believed in the magical power of the relic in our modern age. One can draw the conclusion that people come to church to see the magical, the enchanted cosmos, and to be touched by a divine spirit that reaches beyond our imagination and secularity.<\/p>\n

Of all the life events that seem to combine the two worlds of the enchantment and the modern, death seems to pull the two worlds together. There is something so mysterious and magical about a body without a spirit, the spirit’s final exit, and the lifeless body that is left behind for those to bury and grieve. Yesterday, I sat with a young couple who buried their first, beautiful still-born child. Seeing the tiny hand and feet prints arranged thoughtfully around the mini urn, and listening to the parents talk lovingly about the child they’ll never watch grow up, they took comfort in enchanted thoughts. They pictured her in heaven being lovingly rocked by family members and friends who had gone before. The reality of the death was described in scientific terms by the mother, a medical practitioner by profession, but the afterlife was described with enchanted concepts that brought comfort to the grieving parents and warm thoughts to those listening. In that moment, it seemed so natural and appropriate to bring the enchanted world into the modern as we visualized a better life of love and celebration for the tiny unlived life.<\/p>\n

Taylor speaks to how people handle these life crises as psychology and therapy have replaced the role of clergy and the church in our modern age. People are freed from the oppression religion has brought by identifying sin and provoking shame, but are now imprisoned in the pathologies diagnosed by psychologists and treated for a sickness that can’t be cured. Where one treated for sin, now the other treats for sickness, providing neither relief or healing for the individual. Unfortunately, where the church or faith fell short, psychology has attempted to pick up the gauntlet in mending the human spirit, while both have provided a distraction or oppression by not addressing the root issue of “divine discontent”.[4]<\/a> Although not easily seen or readily diagnosed and treated, for it “…may be buried deep down, but it is a perpetual human potential.”[5]<\/a> \u00a0For those who deny their spiritual reality and purpose, despite their successes, they will feel a hollowness that no clergy or therapist can fill, except for the spirit of God. As the individual wrestles for their spiritual beliefs and faith in a secular world, psychology and theology can work in tandem to be a support to an individual discovering their faith, rather than offering to be a substitute for the divine journey one must take.<\/p>\n

As we live in a secular world, may we be porous individuals filled with the Holy Spirit, buffered against evil, while welcoming the divine, enchanted cosmos into our lives and inspiring those longing for the magic touch of our Creator.<\/p>\n

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[1]<\/a> Charles Taylor, A Secular Age<\/em>, Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press: 2007, 3.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Ibid.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid., 146.<\/p>\n

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[4]<\/a> Ibid., 621.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid., 621.<\/p>\n

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To some, secularity could be described as an absence of God, or a space in which God is not believed in or readily sought after. Another definition of secularity describes it as an evolution where God was once exclusively acknowledged and worshiped, but then adapted to a choice for individuals to question God’s role, identity, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":86,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[835],"class_list":["post-15976","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-charles-taylor","cohort-lgp7"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15976","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/86"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=15976"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15976\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15978,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15976\/revisions\/15978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=15976"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=15976"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=15976"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}