Tips For Spiritual Seekers

Tips For Spiritual Seekers

From Rev. Sam Sewell

Rev. Sewell is a Pastoral Psychotherapist, as well as being the President of Theological Center in Naples.  http://tcnaples.blogspot.com/2012/01/tcn-board-of-directors-announces-new.html  While Rev Sewell is open minded and encouraging about all spiritual seekers, he makes it clear that he is a practicing Christian who belongs to the Presbyterian Church (PCUSA).

The mission statement of TCN:

The Theological Center in Naples is committed to religious education and outreach among communities of faith while fostering dialog, tolerance, and harmony.

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Personalized Theological Questions and Answers

(Answers will be scholarly in nature, rather than promoting a particular denomination.)

Typical questions some people ask:

What are arguments and evidence for the existence of God?

Is the Bible really true?

Have you ever wondered what the Holy Trinity really means?

What is Free Will in religious thinking?

Does God control everything that happens in my life?

Why does God allow evil to happen?

What is the purpose of the universe?

Is there one true religion?

What are your questions?

Receive a completely confidential response to your theological questions from the staff and faculty of TCN.

Just email your question to Rev. Sam at: info@aaopp.org

QUOTES

Learn to pray and meditate.  Going to the source for spiritual wisdom is always better than listening to human teachers no matter how learned or sincere they might be.  Ask, and you will receive!

Prayer is talking to God.  Meditation is shutting up long enough for God to get a word in edgewise. And make sure that what you hear is not just your right brain talking to your left brain.

Those who think there is a conflict between science and religion don’t know enough about science, and they don’t know enough about religion.

Doubt is not the opposite of faith. Doubt is an essential element of faith.  Without doubt there would not be faith.  There would only be dogma.

If your halo has question marks in it, you are probably on the right path.

There are about 250 Christian denominations.  About 100 of those churches think they have the only true teaching, so the odds that they are right are about 100 to 1.

Don’t blame God for what people or churches do.

There are many dangers to being a spiritual seeker.  Use your highest values to seek your higher nature.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.  Most spiritual truths are already embedded into the fabric of the world’s great religious traditions.  New religions and new prophets are more likely to lead you astray.

Truth is a moving target.  Just when you think you have it all figured out, reality morphs into another dimension.

Make sure you practice due diligence while you are searching.  Don’t have a religious opinion unless you have researched the issue thoroughly.  Did you know that mainline Christianity accepts evolution as the method of creation?  Did you know that main line Christianity does not teach that the Bible is literally true? Did you know that the Vatican has scientists and an Astronomical observatory?

Kindness is the human trait that brings us closest to sharing in the Divine.

 Try a Little Tenderness

By Rev. Sam Sewell

Otis Redding’s music still gives me goose pimples. His advice to “Try a Little Tenderness” was aimed at a man who didn’t understand the complexity or depth of his woman’s emotions. The wisdom in the lyrics reveals a profound truth that no matter what life situation is presented, the application of kindness is the best response.

To support the broad conclusion above I would ask you to spend a few minutes exploring the evidence for this incontrovertible principle.

My wife and I teach a class on the major world religions. What usually impresses our students is that many features of these diverse religions seem to be universal. The virtue of kindness is obviously extolled around the world.

Hinduism is the oldest of the world religions. One of Hinduism’s oldest proverbs is “Help your neighbor’s boat across, and lo! your own has reached the shore.” And, “What use is a melody in an unmusical song? What use are eyes which express no kindness? Other than a facial appearance, what do eyes with no quality of kindness really do? A kindly look is the ornament of the eyes. Without kindness the eyes are two unsightly sores.” Tirukkural 58: 573-575

The ancient Jews taught that a person should not harvest the corners of their field. The corners are left for the gleaners who have no field.  Kindness even extends to the animal kingdom in the symbolic prohibition to not boil a young goat in its mother’s milk.

Buddhism was started by a man who carried the title “The Compassionate Buddha.” In modern times the Dali Lama was asked if he could explain his religion to the American public in a simple way that everyone could understand. His reply was a classic summary of all religious thinking; “My religion is kindness” he said, and then chuckled. I can’t help but like world religious leaders who laugh!

Christ taught that we all have a sacred obligation to practice a personal discipline of kindness. Christians are commanded to be kind to people who don’t deserve it, as a practice of their own faith.  We are kind to others because that is in our Christ nature, and it has nothing to do with other’s behavior. Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. I John 4:7-8. And from Albert Schweitzer, one of the most articulate Christian advocates of modern times: “Constant kindness can accomplish much. As the sun makes ice melt, kindness causes misunderstanding, mistrust, and hostility to evaporate.”

Islam, the newest of the world religions, echoes the teaching found around the world, “God is gentle, and loves gentleness in all matters.” – Prophet Muhammad (as reported in Bukhari.) "Kindness is a mark of faith, and whoever is not kind has no faith."

And so as not to be unkind to the philosophers by leaving them out of this discussion, Plato offered this advice, “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”

In the 20^th century ethicists took on the issue of defining the fundamental principles of ethical behavior. The first stage of this investigation concluded that making up rules for ethical behavior doesn’t work. For instance, if a person named Bob Smith seeks protection by coming to your home, and a dangerous person knocks on your door and asks, “Is Bob Smith here?” do you tell the truth, or lie?

Given this obvious shortcoming of rule making, the first thing the ethicists came up with was situational ethics, or moral relativism. This doesn’t work either. Ethics become weak, and morality suffers in such a wishy-washy matrix. Unfortunately, many people are stuck in this ill-defined morass.

What was needed was a well defined principle; and I’ll bet you can guess that the ethicists eventually came up with; “What is the kindest thing to do?”

Gandhi encountered a situation that required kindness during Hindu/Muslim rioting in India.

Nahari: I'm going to Hell! I killed a child! I smashed his head against a wall.

Gandhi: Why?

Nahari: Because they killed my son! The Muslims killed my son!

Gandhi: I know a way out of Hell. Find a child, a child whose mother and father were killed and raise him as your own. Only be sure that he is a Muslim, and that you raise him as one.

If you would like to see this scene from the movie “Gandhi” go to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0RZLseVx8E

Rev. Samuel Sewell, President

The Theological Center in Naples

http://www.tcnaples.blogspot.com/

Rev. Sam Sewell, is Director of Best Self USA, a Pastoral Psychotherapist, serves on the faculty of Naples Community Hospital as an instructor for Clinical Pastoral Education, a member of Mensa, a U.S. Navy Veteran, and a Member of the Association For Intelligence Officers. He is a frequent commentator on mental health and religious issues. His award winning research on family issues is published in several languages. Member of Sigma Delta Chi Honor Society