Your Spiritual Paradigm
What do you presume to be True?
“Reexamine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul.” (Walt Whitman)
Imagine yourself alone in a wilderness, without a GPS, compass, or map. Perhaps you have a specific destination in mind, or maybe your aim is a more general direction. In either case, where to begin?
With some basic know-how, you’d realize that everything necessary is found in the natural environment. The moon, sun, and stars all serve as tools for navigation. Some understanding of plant growth could also point the way, as would the features of bodies of water and natural landmarks.
Do these methods offer the easiest solutions for finding your way? Potentially. Or maybe not. Collectively, though, they could teach you to trust your own experiences and to work intimately and intuitively with information from your surroundings.
Spiritual independence is much like this -- a “do-it-yourself” navigation experience. There are no printed maps, much like tackling an unknown terrain. There are a couple of tools, however, for those who aim to find their bearings. First is a working knowledge of the terms credo and creed. Next is a commitment to a personal exploration of the former.
In the early 2000s, Unitarian Universalist minister, Rev. Richard Gilbert (in his series, Building Your Own Theology) explained that credos emerge from our own experience. Credos are organic. They grow as we grow. Creeds, however, can seem made of concrete.
Gilbert described creeds as “official, doctrinal statements that are binding among members of specific religious organizations or traditions and are created by professional theologians.” This difference is important. Spiritually independent people are not typically drawn to creeds; in fact, they may be outright averse to them.
Perhaps it’s because, as Gilbert stated, creeds often say “no” to what we may come to perceive as new truth. He said, “They freeze theology at a given point in time and space, while flesh and blood people move into different times and spaces.”
He offered the metaphor of a loose-leaf binder for the act of personal theology building. Gilbert said that it combines “the stability of a core of convictions with the flexibility to modify them in the light of experience.” As a spiritually independent person, flexibility has been important to me.
In the past, whenever I considered joining a formal religion, it always seemed that I was offered a “box of beliefs” alongside the assumption that I would embrace them. I now understand that my perception of Truth and my spiritual maturity will continue to evolve over time, shaped by a growing number of lived experiences and an ever-expanding set of understandings. It requires discernment, however, a topic we’ll explore in detail in future posts.
In his works, Gilbert distinguished between spirituality and religion. He stated that, “Spirituality is self-focused, while religion is community centered.” Although spirituality may largely be an individual endeavor, please know that one need not be alone on their spiritual quest.
I want to sidestep for a moment to focus on some terminology. Gilbert used the words “personal theology” to describe a credo. The word theology, in my mind, suggests a degree of certainty. The internal clarification process I am describing seems better termed as a person’s “spiritual paradigm” – something that, in my mind, conveys some fluidity.
We all have spiritual paradigms. And in my opinion, it’s important to know what they are, because it is from them that we live our lives – consciously or unconsciously. How then, as spiritually independent people, can we best go about the important work of forming our credos, clarifying our spiritual paradigms, in ways that offer room for growth and change over time?
One idea comes from the experience of author and retired clinical psychologist, Dr. Victor Ashear. In a 2018 presentation to a Unitarian Universalist congregation, Dr. Ashear shared what he called the “The Five Big Theological Questions for Everyone”.
He conveyed that what makes traditional world religions attractive to many people is the perceived aura of certainty surrounding life’s big questions. They also provide comprehensive frameworks of beliefs and instructions for living life. Ashear indicated that, “All the participants must do is accept and follow.” This goes back to the credo vs. creed idea discussed previously.
Ashear was clearly not the “accept and follow” type of religious participant. He emphasized, however, that those who reject traditional religion (or aspects of it) also “have spiritual longings as all humans do.” As is probably the case for many spiritually independent people, he admitted that it always had been easier to articulate what he didn’t believe as compared to what he did.
What happens as a result, he added, is that many people “… adopt a kind of smorgasbord of practices and beliefs that often don’t form a coherent whole.” Ashear apparently saw that as a dilemma because he stated that, “In the absence of a religion with ready-made answers… it is useful to fit one’s beliefs into a coherent framework that covers the important bases.”
While he wasn’t diminishing the value of direct spiritual experiences in the navigation of our lives, he emphasized the importance of having a working theological framework in which to interpret and best use them. In his search for such a framework, Ashear took a class from a Unitarian Universalist minister, perhaps based on Rev. Gilbert’s series which I previously mentioned.
Ashear’s experience in the class offered an exploration of liberal threads within Christianity, Judaism, and several other traditions. His participation gave him “permission” to take what he liked best from those traditions; to “sample the smorgasbord”. While he acknowledged that the class broadened his spiritual knowledge, Ashear still felt convinced that a coherent framework remained missing.
In addition, he realized he didn’t have the experience and tools to effectively sort and explore his evolving beliefs. That changed when Ashear enrolled in a leadership class, taught by a Dr. Latham, an instructor with expertise who introduced him to a helpful structure, the kind of framework for which he had been searching.
Based on that framework, Ashear eventually created his own abridged form of it, greatly condensing what had been emphasized in the extensive course to a handful of questions. This modified version consisted of five key queries intended to help people organize their personal theologies (or spiritual paradigms). Ashear suggested that people could use their responses to evaluate where their authentic beliefs stood in relation to specific faith traditions.
Through Latham’s course, Ashear learned that the role of any religious or spiritual community is to guide people on how to connect internally to themselves, outwardly to other humans, and inclusively to the rest of creation. He also gleaned that every religious theological system serves as a filter through which one’s experience is interpreted. As a result, that filter -- that chosen path of faith -- will bring with it inherent biases.
To illustrate this point, Ashear referenced Rev. Forrest Church, then Senior UU minister of All Souls Church in New York City, who used the imagery of a cathedral’s interior for comparison. Using this imagery, one can visualize the stained-glass windows we would find there, see light passing through to create an interplay of colors on the cathedral floor. These hues represent the separate claims to truth held by individual traditions. Each is distinct; no one color captures the totality of the common light source that permeates them all -- and from which all were created.
At the conclusion of his presentation, Ashear asked his audience to consider any new or current spiritual practices in light of their responses to the theological questions offered. He made a final point as well, one that is helpful as we examine our own spiritual paradigms – our collections of beliefs, hopes, imaginings, or theories.
Again, Ashear referenced Rev. Forrest Church who emphasized that “the ultimate measure of any theology rests in its ability to transform character and inspire people to lead more ethical lives, towards improving the wellbeing of others and our world. It is not beliefs that matter most, it is rather what you do with them.”
With clarity regarding our paradigms, we hold greater potential to make solid choices in this regard and to create best-fit spiritual lives given where we are at any point in time. Below are my adaptations of the five questions. Be aware that the order of Ashear’s original sequence has been changed as well as the wording.
These are the versions I typically use with clients who meet with me for spiritual guidance. I find they accommodate a variety of religious and spiritual backgrounds and prompt people to thoughtfully consider and articulate what they genuinely believe, hope, imagine, or theorize to be true.
1. What is responsible for all that exists?
2. Who am I in relation to all that exists?
3. What happens after death?
4. Is there a purpose for my life?
5. How do I know what I “know”?
I use Ashear’s simple framework to benefit my own spiritual life as well. It has given me the means to examine my own paradigm, which I view as a continual work in progress. As I grow, learn, and reflect on my reactions to the questions, over time, I become a witness to my own spiritual transformation.
For those of you who are spiritually independent, with or without a formal religion, I invite you to engage in a similar process.
As for what’s ahead, the five questions will be individually addressed in upcoming posts with more detail provided for each. Until then, consider this a preview of more to come!