Traffic jam on the spiritual superhighway

...Williamson, whose own heritage is Jewish, attended AA meetings as part of her own spiritual quest, although she is not an alcoholic She came across A Course in Miracles on someone's coffee table, worked her way through it, and her life was changed...

...PECK • WILLIAMSON • MOORE • BRADSHAW • GIRZONE Traffic jam on the spiritual superhighway DENNIS M. DOYLE HHH^^ ecently,Ihadalivelycon^^^^^^^B versation with a young, ^^H^^^T bright, confident theolo^^¦^^^^ gy student, the sort of stu¦H iHB dent I might expect one day to explain the mystery of the Trinity after having demanded and been granted an interview with all three Persons...

...that personal fulfillment requires community, that the flip side of autonomy is responsibility, that when we run out of self we find God...

...She became a popular lecturer on the Course, with followers numbering m the thousands...

...He mixes psychological vignettes with the fascination of relating myths to our hfejourneys...

...They're saying that there's more to life than subjective feelings...

...He is one of the main populanzers of the term "dysfunctional family " 20...

...He became famous through his PBS senes, Bradshaw On: The Family, in which he combined the explosive energy of recovery from alcoholism with useful tools for analyzing family dynamics...

...A single mother, she is currently the New Age guru of many in the Hollywood set, as well as the founder of organizations on each coast that help persons with AIDS...

...When I mentioned a popular contemporary spiritual wnter to her, however, suddenly this critically minded student's demeanor changed, she became hushed and almost reverential When I asked her why she was so taken with this particular author's thought, she became uncharacteristically inarticulate, finally mumbling something in general about "self-awareness " Like this student, many well-educated lay Catholics in the United States today are looking beyond the classroom and the pulpit for spiritual and religious sustenance And in growing numbers they have been seeking it in their local bookstores, in the works of such mega-selling authors as M. Scott Peck, Marianne Williamson, Thomas Moore, John Bradshaw, and Joseph Girzone These authors might feel uncomfortable being lumped together, but their similarities abound...

...if you feel depressed about poverty, start giving five dollars a month to help the poor The key to healing is all in the mind...

...Even more of its appeal comes from the many narrative-analytical vignettes about his patients' lives (the names and details have been changed to protect the guilt-ndden...

...Mystification, a term Bradshaw takes from psychiatrist R D Laing, is "an altered state of consciousness in which a person feels and believes that there is something wrong with them as they are, and creates a false self in order to be accepted by their parents or other crucial survival figures " Real love replaces mystified love when adults work through the childhood pains that bind them in reactive patterns and they become free to take on the responsibilities of soulful interaction Bradshaw is a creative synthesizer whose ability to package ideas and model their relevance with personal examples has helped many people However, the blunt edges of his brutal honesty and his confrontational approach to rooting out the ills from one's family of origin can, in some cases, result in more harm than good And, though he acknowledges the value of religious community and ntual, his examples reveal his own unresolved resentments toward formal religion Sebastian Moore's Let This Mind Be in You (Darton, Longman and Todd, 1985) deals with the connection between spirituality, memones, and the working through of one's development, but is less accusing and more grounded in the tradition Joseph Girzone In 1986, Joseph Girzone retired from the active Catholic priesthood on the advice of his physician Girzone, a priest for many years, had been warned that he was heading for a stroke Perhaps Girzone's symptoms were stressrelated he had already begun to articulate his frustrations by writing Joshua A Parable for Today (Macmillan, 1983) This enormously popular work, later followed by several sequels, tells the story of Jesus (Joshua) returned to life in the modern age Joshua attends all the different churches and also the synagogue...

...Williamson claims that Christians don't own exclusive rights to the language of Christianity She explains that in the Course Christian words "are used for their psychological rather than their religious significance " Williamson focuses skillfully, even hauntingly, on the need to surrender one's self to God Self-surrender issues in "miracles," which are most fundamentally "changes in outlook" that occur as the basis of one's perceptions shift from ego and fear to God and love This is the heart of her spirituality...

...terrors are transformed into opportunities for growth Moore's positions, however, are not without their own eccentricities...

...Here he defines spirituality as a "mystical friendship with Jesus" requiring that "we open ourselves to God, and show a willingness to follow his grace in our lives...

...Marianne Williamson In A Return to Love (HarperCollins, 1992), Marianne Williamson offers her reflections on A Course in Miracles (Foundation for Inner Peace, 1975), a three-volume spiritual workbook alleged to have been channeled through a Jewish psychiatrist, Helen Schucman, directly from Jesus Christ...

...In his most recent book, Creating Love The Next Great Stage of Growth (Bantam, 1992), Bradshaw blends his work on the inner child and family dynamics with a broader reflection on spirituality and the meaning of human relationships He acknowledges the strong influence of both Peck and Moore For Bradshaw, spirituality involves learning to relate to God and others in ways that are real rather than "mystified...

...Williamson makes no mention in her book of the "channeled" ongins of the Course, although she does frequently remind us that no one actually dies, they just move to a different channel She retains tnmtanan language from Christianity Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spint...

...we take medicine only because we are not advanced enough spiritually However, one does not have to buy into Williamson's denial of sin, her reductionist use of Christian terms, or her eccentric social views to be touched deeply by the genuineness of her conversion and by her ability to share this m a winning way And for those who live life in the driver's seat, Williamson provides powerful therapy to "let go and let God " But I would suggest that readers also try Dorothy Day's autobiography, The Long Loneliness (Harper & Brothers, 1952), itself the story of a single mother whose conversion intertwined with her commitment to service, but whose awareness of sin, reverence for tradition, and personal commitment to poverty stand in contrast to Williamson's approach Thomas Moore Thomas Moore is the author of Care of the Soul (HarperCollins, 1992) and SoulMates (HarperCollins, 1994...

...Missing is respect for a few clear rules, one does not have to be an avid fan of John Paul II's Ventatis splendor to be rattled when Peck says sweepingly that "it is possible for premarital or extramarital sex to be quite chaste...

...I was somewhat relieved, therefore, to see late in the book the inclusion of some balancing images, such as Jesus casting off those who refused to feed and clothe him as well as a final chapter on the importance of the Cross But the sweetness and gentleness are still spread too thick for Girzone to capture anything like what Dietnch Bonhoeffer called the cost of discipleship Girzone contrasts the barrenness of church services "so antiseptic and sterile that people gaihenng for worship relate to others only on the most superficial level" with the power of AA meetings in which people express their hopes and pains...

...For Catholics, it misses both the purpose of the Mass and the deep expenence that millions of Catholics actually have of the Eucharist Also, programs like Renew have spawned many support-style, faith-sharing groups without turning the liturgy into a massive therapy session I recommend as an antidote Henri Nouwen's With Burning Hearts-A Meditation on the Eucharistic Life (Orbis, 1994), which attempts "to weave a network of connections between the daily celebration of the Eucharist and our daily human expenence...

...He shares his simple wisdom, which contrasts sharply with the hardheartedness of contemporary religious leaders, most of whom are cast in the role of the Pharisees Because Joshua teaches that religion today is not what it was intended to be, he is brought to trial at the Vatican However, the entire book functions as a trial in which the churches, especially the Catholic church, are indicted for their institutional sins Joshua's appeal comes from the simplicity of its message...

...These advice books try to provide such a language...

...Peck has every justifiable reason imaginable to use the stones that he does A voyeunstic element, however, is undeniable Yet psychological guidance remains the heart of the book Peck offers a common-sense package of psychoanalytic theories that allow one to discover whether one tends more toward neurosis or toward a character disorder, or both The reader comes to understand transference, egoboundaries, psychosomatic disorders, and a host of other terms Peck challenges headon those psychological approaches that are self-esteem-centered, determinist, ration18ahst, or reductionist...

...In a culture where different religions and denominations seem to divide more than unite us, we search for that spiritual lingua franca that will enable us to communicate across fences about these most important of human concerns...

...There is really no such thing as sin, the story of Adam and Eve describes the trouble that can arise when one begins to "judge...

...Beyond discussing his own baptism, he says little else of rituals other than to warn us not to confuse them with reality His own nondenominationalism reveals an abstract, genenc version of Christianity...

...So what is the tremendous appeal of these books...

...They do it by linking spirituality with what Carl Jung called "mdividuation," the process of becoming a differentiated individual who relies more upon one's own self to make decisions and less upon one's unexamined social conditioning...

...First, read also other works, such as those suggested above, that assume less of a dichotomy between spirituality and mcarnational religion...

...Each attempts to reach that deepest part of our psyche from which we make our most fundamental decisions— whether we choose fear or trust, resentment or love, selfishness or God But taken collectively, these works also reflect a larger cultural phenomenon A social critic might argue that our consumenst culture has produced a literature that on the surface appears to challenge people, but that really reinforces the status quo by training individuals and small groups to conform to and benefit from the system without raising any deeper questions...

...Though Moore encourages people to be guided by ritual and formal religion and to grant "special status and honor" to the dogmas of their own religions, he himself seems to speak from a privileged place above and beyond any particular religion When he does reflect on the stones of Chnstianity, he uses them as individualized pieces cut off from the whole...

...There are various moments in the process of mdividuation...

...Moore combines spiritual guidance with an exploration of myth and tradition Before becoming a therapist, Moore lived in a Catholic religious order for twelve years He left shortly before ordination, but still regards his work as priestly He frequently uses stones from the Christian Scriptures to make his points, though he as often draws upon Greek mythology, Romantic poetry, and Renaissance psychology His main source of inspiration, however, is Carl Jung Moore's style is a cross between M. Scott Peck and the late Joseph Campbell...

...The late Bernard Lonergan pointed out that it is possible to be religiously converted without being intellectually converted one can truly encounter and be transformed by the love of God that is in one's heart without being able to articulate the relation of that love with other complex realities For all of her religious authenticity and the depth of her spiritual insights, Williamson holds strange beliefs in the intellectual realm, not just about Christian doctrine but about many other matters Money is not finite, she tells us, everyone could be nch...

...They both build upon and challenge the self-esteem movement...

...For Catholics who avail themselves of such wares I have two suggestions...

...I suspect that some people who truly need to see a therapist have sought one out because of this book Peck wrote The Road Less Traveled strictly from his point of view as a psychiatrist Since that time he has given up his therapy practice, been baptized a Christian (nondenominationally), and has established an organization, the Foundation for Community Encouragement, which runs three-day seminars for corporations and other groups seeking to achieve a deeper sense of community...

...All have been influenced by Carl Jung and/or the twelve-step programs associated with Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) All criticize traditional approaches to therapy that ignore a person's spiritual life, and several even proclaim a celestial marriage between psychology and spirituality For the most part these authors: (1) stress that the life-journey is an ongoing process that poses difficult problems without easy answers, (2) distinguish sharply between the ego (the smaller or narcissistic self) and the soul (the larger self), (3) encourage people to be self-reliant in their spirituality and to take personal responsibility, (4) yet also encourage people to rely ultimately on God or a higher power, (5) make some type of distinction between spirituality and formal religion, extolling the former while either criticizing or patronizing the latter, and (6) assure people that everything is ultimately O K, and that although life can be tough, anyone who takes personal responsibility can live meaningfully and well...

...Each is easy to read and each is endearing in its own way...

...The primary discipline underlying most of their books is psychology...

...Phillips called "the God of the Heavenly Bosom," a God who is all comfort and no challenge, certainly not the God preached by Jesus...

...Second, caveat emptor Enjoy and learn from these best sellers, but read them the way their authors would have us view our church and traditions: critically, very critically...

...Although there is more than a hint of truth in what Girzone is saying, the comparison is heavy handed...

...He testifies to his own expenence of reading the Gospels and of falling in love with Jesus...

...Despite an almost adolescent quality in its style, it leaves one with the feeling that there are deeper dimensions to reality, that these dimensions are accessible, that simplicity and wisdom go hand-in-hand, and that complexity and even corruption in the institutional church do not have to get in the way of the spirituality of the ordinary believer Girzone gives a more direct statement of his views in Never Alone- A Personal Way to God (Doubleday, 1994...

...Early on, it can appear regressive Narcissism can seem to heighten rather than slacken Corresponding cultural fads in the '70s and '80s valued self-esteem, autonomy, unconditional love, and getting one's needs met...

...Following the Renaissance hermetic philosophers, Paracelsus and Ficino, Moore proposes an animistic vision of the universe, one in which all of creation is expenenced as being alive This view goes hand in hand with Moore's assertion that a scientific perspective is just another mythology Surely rationalistic and reductionistic world views need to be challenged, but Moore's Romantic concepts avoid rather than come to grips with scientific viewpoints...

...Girzone 21 depicts God as so unconditionally loving and forgiving that he comes close to promoting what the late Anglican J.B...

...He mines the baptism of Jesus or the parable of the laborers for whatever psychological nuggets he might uncover, but never acknowledges that these take on their fullest meaning only within the larger context of who Jesus is and what the Chnstian faith is all about To augment Moore, I recommend John Dunne's The Way of All the Earth (Macmillan, 1972), which models "passing over" into another tradition and then "coming back" into one's own, while respecting the integnty of each John Bradshaw Like Moore, John Bradshaw lived within a Catholic religious order for close to a decade and dropped out shortly before ordination Bradshaw's seminary days were charactenzed by alcoholic drinking...

...From a Catholic perspective, these works might be read as a pre-evangelization for a more liturgically rooted, socially conscious, and biblically grounded presentation of the gospel message...

...For her, though, "Jesus" is just a symbol of the love that is within one's heart, and the "Holy Spirit" is the force that will help one remove all of the fearful thinking that covers over one's inner perfection...

...Today there is a great hunger for a spiritual dimension to life, as well as for a practical, accessible way to attaining it...

...These books redirect rather than confront society's individualist obsession with personal growth and fulfillment...

...Many wares are for sale these days upon the supposedly less-traveled road of spirituality...

...Thus, each of these authors' packaging of spirituality calls for individual assessment as well as for reading suggestions to balance off their limitations M. Scott Peck Though not without its own precedents (such as the works of Ench Fromm, Rollo May, Victor Frankl), M Scott Peck's The Road Less Traveled (Simon and Schuster, 1978) was the first and is still the most read among the present-day best sellers Some of its appeal comes from the author's confident, authoritative tone as he sorts through life's deepest mysteries...

...The current best sellers represent a more developed moment in this process...

...Most of all, missing from Peck is any sense of sacramental appreciation...

...This is the core of his spirituality Moore is never one to advise shrinking from one's shadow...

...He explains that he wants "to teach people how to get into community without having to be an alcoholic first, without having to have a cnsis first" The key virtue that underlies Peck's approach to spirituality is "civility," which he defines in AA-style as "consciously motivated organizational behavior that is ethical in submission to a Higher Power " Whereas in his first book Peck stood outside of religion while singing its praises, in his more recent works (A World Waiting to Be Bom, Bantam Books, 1993, Further Along the Road Less Traveled, Simon and Schuster, 1993) he speaks as a Christian...

...People bought books that told them to know their erogenous zones...

...22...

...Problems become unopened doors, dilemmas become new honzons...

...He manifests the Jungian brilliance of maintaining a creative tension among the various elements of the psyche...

...These interlocking themes, including the need to be vigilant against abuses of religious authority and religiosity, are not incompatible with Catholicism The key theme of abandonment to divine providence is certainly a traditional one for Catholics, as are the mystery of suffenng, the sanctity of the individual conscience, and the importance of growth in virtue It is the variations on these themes that require a critical eye...

...Such ideas are worth pondering...

...Bradshaw is a compelling speaker who exhibits a no-holds-barred honesty as he gets in touch with his rage...

...Peck's work in community-building fits well with the Catholic principle of subsidiarity, which demands that social problems be addressed through the most local of solutions The activity most proper to social justice is forming groups, such as labor unions and base communities, to work for change But missing from Peck is the Catholic insistence on engaging also in a deeper social analysis, one that critiques the larger political and economic structures on a national and global level For example, though he claims to be launching the cure for society and the whole world, Peck offers no critique of the excesses of such phenomena as class exploitation or the consumenst mentality This is a considerable lacuna for someone with such Utopian ambitions, since at least some people are in part the victims of social forces that he outside their control I believe that what Peck is doing is of enormous value, but I recommend Thomas Merton' s Conjectures of 19 a Guilty Bystander (Doubleday, 1966), as a work that illustrates how spiritual reflection can be brought to a still deeper level of social awareness...

...Although he draws the principles for these seminars from a variety of sources, a major source is AA...

...He is not afraid to say that he became a Christian because he "came to believe that, on the whole, Christian doctrine approaches the reality of God and reality in general more closely than the other great religions " Peck himself advises us always to examine things critically by asking, what is missing 9 From a Catholic standpoint, missing in Peck is any acknowledgment that for at least two decades the churches have already been engaged in senous community-building, as for example base communities, faith-sharing groups, lay ministries, and the Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults...