My previous posts on “what is true and real?” have been focused on spiritual belief, examining the “mirage” quality of my faith. I have not exhausted that subject but today I want to look at “what is true and real?” in the context of our deeply divided society.

Since watching the events of January 6 and listening to voices echoing sentiments of those who stormed the capitol, I have wrestled with anxiety and struggled to remain calm and resist the urge to vent. This post has been in the oven for a week or more. Every time I started to write, my mind was muddled, my thoughts so random that I couldn’t continue. Hopefully, my thoughts have marinated enough to make sense not just an echo of continuing outrage.

I have become convinced our answers to “What is true and real?”is what divides us. There is no question, those with whom I disagree believe their narrative is true and real. One principle which neither of us are willing to compromise … there can be only one truth.. leaves no capacity for empathy, sympathy, mercy, much less compromise. Being “right” justifies dismissal and condemnation of them. (just their views, after all I hate the sin not the sinner).

For those near, dismissal and condemnation is hidden, for others, my resentment, anger, disdain, hatred, is restrained by a costume of righteousness…the seams of which are weakening. Facts, data are useless in the face of self-certified truth. Bias, preconception, self-righteousness are fruits of our secular autonomous selves. I find few exceptions to that conundrum on either side. Unless we are willing to accept protracted conflict and further dismantling of our democracy and relationships, dismissal and demonization of “them” is not a viable option. Unfortunately, I am seeing more and more people willing to sacrifice any and everything to defend “truth”.
After conversations and calmer reflection, I have remained steadfast in my condemnation of insurrection, violence and hatred. However, it would be a mistake to dismiss “them” in mass. As in all tribes and families, there are toxic people that must be dismissed and/or abandoned to proper consequences.
Toxic people have such an outsized influence on our perceptions of the world, something as simple as blocking or unfollowing 5-10% of the people you used to follow, and checking the news once a week instead of once a day, can be completely transformational for your day-to-day experience and general mood.
Mark Manson

I want to believe the solution is simple… truth is truth… so what’s the problem?
Absolute truth?
For most of my life I held an uncontested belief that truth is absolute. A belief supported by unexamined assertions of my religious education. For example:
“All truth is found in the Bible.”
“… you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
“the Bible is inerrant and infallible”
Armed with confidence that “truth is absolute” any … inherited, discerned, or taught truth was indisputable. I was a willing to defend truth at all costs.
When you believe you have the truth and truth is absolute. there are no limits.
Are you sure it is true?

More to come.

Still on the journey.

If you have not read previous “What is true and real?” posts, you can read them HERE and HERE.

In my previous post I concluded: “Mirage, an illusion of something that is real, describes my belief… true but unreal.”. Subsequent conversation about “true but unreal” understandably produced some pushback. This post will probe that idea further.

My beliefs developed in my echo chamber… family, relatives, friends. Consistent and continual messages created images, pictures representing reality. Those pictures became my reality, what was true.

Numerous propositions were true. For example, I was warned early on that electrical outlets are dangerous and I should never stick an object in them. My Thomasian skepticism led me to encounter reality. In that experience, I learned that picture was reality. On the other hand, there was Santa Claus. Discovering that picture was not reality is a painful memory.

My religious belief formed in a similar fashion. I grew up in a sectarian echo chamber (read “The Perfect Echo Chamber). When coupled with a secular worldview, where the individual is the focus of truth adjudication and the disenchanted mind employs neat and clean, easy to use, bivalence logic, belief was cut and dried…true or false, the result was an unholy amalgamation of disenchantment and enchantment. Viewing scripture through lens of logic and reason, produces a mirage. an unreal illusion of truth.
I recently came across a phrase shared by Fr. Stephen Freeman that is helpful in understanding belief as a mirage… true but unreal.

“Noetic perception” is a phrase that describes the ability of the human heart to perceive that which is Divine. As such, it is our capacity for communion with God and the whole of creation. … Without such a perception, we do not see the truth of things. By the same token, without such a perception, we cannot know the truth of our own selves.

A journey birthed in secular waters of disenchantment, created a deficiency of “noetic perception”. Unable to perceive that which is divine, belief proved to be shallow, lacking in meaning and purpose, ultimately dependent on my preferences. As Freeman observed, I was unable to even know the truth about myself.

What is described above does not characterize my belief today. However, even after decades of spiritual journey I am keenly aware of how deficient I am in “noetic perception”. To the extent that “noetic perception” flourishes, what is true and real is revealed.
An obvious question is: How does “noetic perception” grow?

Could it be that be that deficiency of “noetic perception” is an underlying condition that makes Christians most vulnerable to secularism?

More to come.

The antidote and ultimate vaccine for secularism is unseen reality. As I become increasingly aware of the influence of disenchantment, engaging unseen reality …”what is true and real” is crucial.

In my previous post I confessed to the influence of secularism, aka disenchantment, in my life. I am increasingly convinced that disenchantment is a source of dysfunction in my relationship with God. I choose disenchantment rather than secularism to describe my malady because secularism carries baggage which distracts from the core issue of disenchantment. I feel as though I have “hit the tar baby” and am grappling with a “Gordian knot”. ( my apologies for mixed metaphors) In this and succeeding posts, I want to share my struggle.
To reiterate, my struggle is not about losing my soul, it is about receiving God’s gratuity of abundant life.

Here are some definitions and thoughts:
Disenchantment: (my interpretation)
The ethos of our secular culture, the result of the Enlightenment and the Age of Reason… science, technology, and skepticism rule. Devoid of transcendence, all that is left with is individual preferences and choices. Only the material is real.

Enchantment:Pre-modern ethos dominated by supernatural forces, witchcraft, and ghosts. A world full of thin places, where the border between this world and the Other world was porous and leaky. People could be demon possessed or afflicted by witches. The night was full of occult menace and magic. Black cats were bad luck.

Both disenchantment and enchantment are worthy of deeper investigation, but from my cursory explanations, here are some observations:

• Scripture and its historical events occurred in the pre-modern context of enchantment. 
• Enchantment, as described above, is illegitimate in our disenchanted culture.
• Although there is a great deal of interest in enchantment, i.e. superheroes, fantasy, science fiction, most people would disavow any reality for them, we have special categories for those who do not.
• Disenchantment rejects transcendence, paradoxically people continue to seek transcendence in their lives.
• Transcendence is the core of Christianity. Without transcendence, Christianity becomes a religious commodity, void of meaning and purpose.

Deeply shaped by the ethos of secular culture, engagement with transcendence is nonsensical, We are like fish, swimming in the waters of secular culture, blind to other reality. That cultural reality is the basis for “disenchantment” being the greatest challenge to a relationship with God.

Early on, disenchantment molded my understandings and practices. Exemplified by a secessionist view of the Holy Spirit, disenchanting the Spirit and relegating her work to a cerebral exercise. Additionally, incapable of embracing the mystery of Eucharist, the Lord’s Supper was observed as a memorial feast, avoiding any illusion to the presence Christ.

Various encounters during my spiritual journey have exposed the tension between disenchantment and enchantment, creating a nagging dissonance which is being revealed in these posts. Here are some things I am pondering:

To what extent has disenchantment (secularism) distorted my understanding of scripture?
Does believing something to be true make it real?
Is it possible my belief is a mirage, true but unreal?
Accepting the antidote and ultimate vaccine for secularism is unseen reality, how do I see unseen reality?
Why does it matter ?

Future posts will probe these questions.

Still on the journey