With deep gratitude, we continue our exploration of Robert Ball’s Walking on Water: Self-Esteem and a Journey of Faith. (for publication information and a way to secure a copy of this book, please see the post from August 13, 2012 – “Living in the good news”)
In this post we turn to the beginning of this very important volume where Dr. Ball gives valuable advice on our need to understand our deepest longing and the importance that we “recognize ourselves as spiritual beings.”
Convinced that the fear of insignificance occupies a central, tormenting place in the lives of all human beings, and that the only force truly capable of reducing that fear to the point where life becomes manageable, possible, productive, and fulfilling is the faith that we are loved, this book proceeds on the assumption that the deepest longing in all of us is a spiritual longing.
In using the word spiritual, I am acknowledging that the longing is not necessarily religious. Indeed, many have found their experience of religion to be antithetical to their personal and spiritual needs.
To recognize ourselves as spiritual beings is to affirm that the longings within us cannot be satisfied without some acknowledgment of, some contact with, some relationship to a transcendent power. Though I am offended by the notion that all spirituality can be enclosed within the parameters of the Christian faith, I am also limited to Christian spirituality by my own personal knowledge and experience. I write, therefore, conscious of the limitations of my own experience and desiring to be as inclusive as I can. My understanding of Jesus Christ is that his life and teachings were inherently inclusive, and my experience is that the gospel expressed in his life and death and resurrection, and proclaimed in his words, touches both the depths and the breadth of what it means to be human. (6-7)
One of the strengths of these statements is that they come from an understanding that we humans are not God – we are not a higher power – we are finite humans who sadly often try to be the Creator rather than being content to be the created – created fully in the image of the Creator.
It would surely be helpful if the more of the religious world would be willing to live as God intended – stewards of creation rather than trying to be owners – people given the freedom of choice – fully conscious that we live, in the words of Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham*, in the spirituality of imperfection – another valuable contribution to the literature that everyone should take the time to read.
We will continue this journey in a couple of days by considering more of the valuable observations and insights from the work of Robert Ball.
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