Wednesday, February 22, 2017

                It was a deal that I couldn’t resist; three bags of potato chips for five bucks. I love potato chips. In fact, I am a potato chip connoisseur.  My kids have always appreciated (i.e. mocked) their dear, old dad’s penchant for trying any new variety of potato chip that comes out on the market. Sure, I was skeptical about the P.E.I. scalloped potato chips and found them rather disappointingly bland. I’ll eat dill pickle in a crunch! The bacon and cheeseburger ones were interesting. Not fond of ketchup potato chips. Haven’t tried the chili ones yet. Really liked the Swiss Chalet dipping sauce flavoured potato chips. I am no slouch when it comes knowing my potato chips.

                The three bags, this time, were maple & bacon, poutine, and buffalo wings & blue cheese. I am finding them all a little stale which why they may have been on sale. Potato chips need to be crunchy fresh to be really enjoyed and savoured. But the poutine ones are pretty good.

                It has been said by those who study the sociology of religion that people choose their spiritualty like I choose flavours of potato chips. Some folk keep trying new ones. Some people pick and choose depending on what their spiritual taste buds are in the mood for. Among the young and the restless like Millennials and even Generation X, they are not content with just one and only one faith expression. Some are very eclectic in their spirituality choices, taking a little from various faith sources.

                Spiritualty has become a very personal and individual choice, divorced from buildings, institutions and authoritative sources that used to fuel religion.  Spirituality is now about individual expression, the senses, interactive circles of friends, life’s journey, and connecting with that which gives purpose, meaning and peace of heart, mind and soul. I would argue that even atheists and agnostics have a spirituality, sans God, of course, but they have chosen things like humanism and secularism   to move them through their lives.

                Spirituality is diverse, multi-flavoured, unique, deeply personal. People aren’t religious anymore, some say, as much as they are spiritual. For those of us left on the shores of churchdom, it is perplexing.

                At its worse spirituality becomes just another consumer item, some thing to be devoured and when one grows tried of the flavour, one moves on to the next, new taste.

At its best, people find a real, living connection to something and yes, sometimes even to Someone, that gives them a satisfying spirit of joy, confidence, assurance, well-being and peace - that which I might dare call grace. Good for them!

                Once upon a time the Christian movement could have easily spoken to this spiritual hunger.  The book of Acts tells story after story about what happened among the people in whom the presence of Jesus had inspired a great spiritual awakening. “When they prayed the place in which they were gathered together was shaken; and they w ere filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the world of God with boldness,” (Acts 4:31). They came alive. They found a close circle of like-minded friends. They were deeply motivated to do good works together. It was an inclusive blend of cultures, nationalities, genders and social standing, finding equality and unity in their diversity. The relationship with Jesus as with others was deeply personal and gave them individually and collectively purpose, meaning and satisfaction. Their joie de vivre attracted others to explore this fresh breeze of spirituality with them.

                I am not sure how we re-gain that flow of spiritual energy easily.  I am not sure that it should be easy. Significant spirituality begins with being open to the flow of God’s love in whatever form which his presence might take. “You know well enough how the wind blows this way and that. You hear it rustling through the trees, but you have no idea where it comes from or where it's headed next. That's the way it is with everyone 'born from above' by the wind of God, the Spirit of God,” (John 3:8).

                I wonder what flavour of potato chip Jesus might have liked?       

Dale