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Web Exclusive…
Spiritual Readings
By Judi Ketteler, November 2005
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Books about spirituality and religion have long been popular. But a new crop
of spiritual-journey books speaks to boomers in ways that have less to do with
religion and more to do with figuring out their purpose in life.
Take Karen Armstrong's
The Spiral Staircase: My Climb Out of Darkness (Anchor Books, 2005), a
memoir about her struggle to find a new spiritual—and
professional—direction after leaving the convent where she had lived for
seven years. Armstrong's first years away from the convent were miserable:
she was shy and sensitive, and felt ill-equipped to deal with a lay world where
everything wasn't ordered and organized around faith. Although she was
confused and frightened as she searched for meaning, she slowly carved out a
niche for herself as a writer and a lay religious scholar. This niche turned
out to be her salvation: "Without realizing it, I was slowly climbing out
of the darkness," she writes.
Such struggling-in-the-darkness stories catch the imagination of today's
boomers because they too are searching for meaning, says Steve Waldman, editor
in chief of Beliefnet an online
community of spiritual seekers whose average age is 40. "When it comes to
spirituality, people are really driven by very basic needs," he says. As
they arrive at midlife, they realize time is growing shorter. Issues such as
morality, illness, and death are not abstract anymore, he notes. The question
"Why am I here?" takes on a new urgency once you realize you have a
lot less time to answer it.
Spiritual quests can lead to physical journeys, as in Christopher
Merrill's
Things of the Hidden God: Journey to the Holy Mountain (Random
House, 2005). After reporting on the war in Bosnia and witnessing so much
violence and atrocity, Merrill, now 48, was physically and spiritually spent.
So he headed to Greece to learn from the monks on Mount Athos. Through his time
with the monks, whose traditions had remained unchanged since the fourth
century, Merrill rediscovered simplicity; he found the monks' sense of
ritual and order a great comfort. Merrill's spiritual journey taught him
the importance of faith. Indeed life does not always carry on, as the monks
remind the pilgrim at every stage; hence the need to prepare for the next
life.
Like many spiritual sojourners, Merrill draws a sharp difference between the
teachings of organized religion and his own spiritual seeking. "Like many
in my generation, I'm 'unchurched,' but I've always had a
spiritual hunger," he says. That lack of convention resonates in books
like Anne Lamott's
Plan B: Further Thoughts on Faith (Riverhead, 2005), a collection of
essays about a political liberal's quirky and often humorous search for
spiritual solace in a world where too many suffer from poverty, political
oppression, and the effects of war. She looks for answers by meditating on the
events of everyday life—things as mundane as grocery shopping or as
challenging as raising her teenage son and caring for her late mother, who
suffered from Alzheimer's.
Though religion is sacred to Lamott, she is openly critical of its role in
politics. "For many people interested in developing their spiritual
lives," says Stuart M. Matlins, publisher and editor in chief of Skylight Paths Publishing, which publishes
25 to 30 spiritually themed books annually, "the role of religion in our
culture as a political force is a complete turnoff." One Skylight Paths
title is
The Knitting Way: A Guide to Spiritual Self-Discovery (2005), in
which authors Linda Skolnik and Janice MacDaniels suggest that you can use
knitting to create a sacred, spiritual place. "The mind needs a safe and
secure place for thoughts and dreams—a place of resting that settles the
spirit and refreshes the brain," they write. They see working with your
hands in a meaningful way as a spiritual activity, a pursuit that gives you
time to meditate and reflect on answering those larger questions.
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