Part Five, Spiritual Wealth
This topic is the most difficult for me because by anyone’s measure I am not a spiritual person. I actually see two systems of measurement for all the wealths I include here. First, we measure ourselves. Second we are measured. Either way is most useful to the measurer… So here I will deal mostly with the personal, and try to proportion that to the abstract.
“What is my worth to God” I might ask. [Work this in somewhere.] I hear a lot about praying and many insist it is powerful. I think it is, but more in a humbug sense. Many local congregations have prayed that hurricanes would not strike them. Three hurricanes missed us this year, and our prayers were successful. The prayers in areas hit hard probably are not saying much, but we agree they were all sinners and deserved what they got.
My mother called prayer “Adding to God’s job jar.” I seem to have more success asking what God wants me to do, rather than tasking him. “Anything you want to put in here? I have asked several times as I write this. (And yes, it is getting sort of long.) My belief, unshared, is that this only works between me or you and our holy spirit or personal God. (I do not mean the Personalized God – God in human form.) When someone else tells you what God wants you to do, that is servitude, not spirituality.
I was not raised to be spiritual, nor did my life experiences serve to develop spirituality. In fact I really don’t know what spirituality is. I do recall some experiences which I take to be spiritual. I was born into the depression, and life dealt with necessities and realities. Few had time for fantasy. My father was a lawyer. He insisted on reasoned judgments. My mother had a preacher uncle and a liberated life-style. Religion and its attached faiths, to her, were boring and restrictive. (So too was motherhood.)
One of my premises is that intuition is essential to faith. And I had my intuition tamed at an early age. My dreams of my dead brother which impelled me to get up in the night to play with him did not go over well with my parents. (They had their own problems on that score.) I learned to read by sight-recognition of words, but I had to set that aside to learn to spell out the words. I would add numbers in my head, but once in school I had to show my work, a different thought process. My best teachers (I thought) made me analyze and draw conclusions from information I was given. The lesser instructors just made me remember the information. Until I had been tested.
For many, church or religion are their source of spiritual wealth. I fell short on that score. My parents were social church goers; Easter was mandatory, other Sundays optional. Except for me. I was sent to a socially important church (Episcopal) every Sunday. There I was taught to not believe some things I was learning in school. I guess I became difficult, and was put in the hands of the lady who handled difficult cases. In a later time and under different conditions she would be called “A party Pink” or Fellow Traveler.” I learned I could doubt stuff, and we have duties and obligations to our fellow man. And that Franklyn Roosevelt was not basically evil. (That lady was a misfit like me.)
The church was preparing me for confirmation. There was a whole list of stuff I didn’t believe which I had to swear before God I believed. I went to my lawyer (dad) to work out the perjury issue. We shifted to a more honest church in New York City where Mother could parade on Fifth Avenue Easter morning. Practical, cool, and not spiritual.
When I think back on my experience in the Navy, I see occasions when I had to think rationally, and times when I acted from instinct. I think of the instinct as being spiritual in nature.
In danger and in war we often must act or react with great speed. In my day this only could be done well by well-trained men and women. (Computers are replacing us now.) There is no time to put two and two together. This requires an instantaneous processing of sensed information by a part of our minds we never consciously access.
It was a stormy night, the second in a row. I had the watch on the bridge. I was soaked and had been for two hours. My lookouts were soaked, the port lookout was scared, the starboard fellow numb but determined. The captain was in the charthouse, resting on a stool, wet and tired. He had been awake two days. The night was black and I was sensing the incoming waves. Some were breaking salt water over the bridge.
Something told me to bring in the lookouts. “Get in here and dog the hatch” I shouted over the wind. They staggered in as the ship rolled to a greater angle and then started back. I tried to see through the port, but all was black. I had a sense, it wasn’t fear but urgency. I could feel the ship, I was of the ship. The ship and I had to do something.
“All stations standby for roll. Left full rudder, starboard ahead full” I was loud, clear, and urgent. The talker relayed my message to all stations – the engine room, information center, and after lookout. The helmsman spun his wheel to turn the ship left, and in the engine room the throttleman added speed to the right propeller to aid the turn left. The Captain woke up and made his way to the wheelhouse. The bow rose a bit, the ship heeled hard right; we all hung on.
Long thin ships penetrate big waves like a needle.
The ship plunged into the wave and its waters welled over the wings of the bridge. Seconds seemed like hours, and the waters passed. Another rogue wave didn’t get us. I had done my part as a team, and all the others had done their parts. Not much thought involved, it was mostly intuition and instinct.
I really don’t know if I knew what I was doing then. It was like another person inside me had acted. It isn’t the only time I had experiences like this; the North Atlantic makes sailors and kill sailors. When this one happened, I was the product of a long process.
Protestant religions recognize that some people sometimes have a spiritual moment, described by the Methodists as “A heart strangely warmed.” Our Southern self-styled Christians call it “Born again.” I may have experienced this once, when I went with my sister to a service given by a Jesuit priest in some meeting hall. I don’t recall the words, but they brought me to love Jesus, the man. Before, he had always been an abstract figure, spectral and divine. A jug of wine was passed, and some saltines. I left with a strange feeling, unafraid and a bit light headed. This was my Born Again experience. (Of course it might have been a contact high, the parishioners were a hippy bunch.)
My naval training began in a naval prep school. I learned some history, tied some knots, and performed that manly form of ballet called military drill.
At collage I was accepted into the Naval Reserve Officers training program in spite of flat feet. I learned the basics for naval service, and being slated for the reserve forces I was not instructed in career development. This set me apart from my peers on active duty since their agendas were focused on promotion and unblemished service records. I was focused on doing my job and hopefully seeing some of the world.
My job involved mostly rational activities like operating a steam plant and making sure all the scheduled events of the day occurred on time. As time passed I became responsible for other guys. In this I used crew-building, which suited my nature. Others took a more authoritarian approach, which worked for them. Crew building requires certain attitudes. Self-importance is not one of them. The group working together becomes a formidable force. I have my job, which is to ensure the crew knows what and why it is to do things. They know how to do it. Trust is important, and I tend to trust people. I have to earn and keep their trust. It is reciprocal. I have encountered some who don’t fit this. Group pressure usually changed them, and one or two I had to get rid of. I rate trust as a spiritual value.
I submit empathy as a form of faith. It has many manifestations, and ability to empathize is an important strength. Basically it is feeling outside your own body. I have empathized with some people – not everyone. And with pet dogs. And with machines, which is weird. As I gained experience at sea – the “School of the Ship” I began to “Feel” the ship, particularly when I was driving it. Very hard to describe, but I have aviator friends say they have the same feeling with their aircraft. It may be the reason I like to drive a sports car. It was this feel of the ship that helped me out of some tight spots at sea. (I served in and drove the smaller ones. One tanker I cruised on just smelled. Not much feel there.)
Spiritual wealth can be theologically or psychologically defined. It can come to us in delusional and temporary forms. Magic mushrooms will do the trick for a while, but divorce us from many of our other forms of wealth. Successful self-deception can comfort us, but at the expense of other attributes. “To thine own self be true …”
Faith in fables, whether religious or political can be a foundation for a sense of security. By bonding to like-thinkers we take comfort in the social support of the church or tribe. Pure logic and raw truth and the appearance of cynicism, make few fast friends and give us a limited social circle. Security and freedom from the stresses of fear are an important spiritual value.
We live among an array of functional fallacies. Some strengthen us, others make us evil. They enrich us or impoverish us. From a practical standpoint, fallacies can drive us humans as well as, or better than, truth. I find the fallacies (Faith) of religion very useful. They help us deal with things like death. I feel less helpless when I can blame God for misfortunes. If I feel God endorses my enterprise, I have the ultimate motivation to work at it. Others, with greater religious faith, are stronger and richer than I in this respect.
Since spirit is emotional in nature and may be hard to control, it is both a strength and a vulnerability. Fearlessness may be poor assessment of danger while courage is willful acceptance of danger to achieve a purpose. Either might be applied to overcome real or imagined dangers. The strength of character is equally valid. We face many delusional dangers in this world. Our response depends on our acceptance or assessment of them. We take comfort in an assurance that we are bound for Glory and those we don’t like are going to Hell. Even if we inform those who have a difference of faith of their fate, they usually happily go about living their present lives. Some even think we have our destinations mixed up.
Politicians of all sorts take advantage of our emotional nature to meet their need for our money and votes. They select or conjure dangers that can be cured by their philosophies. They who stand for peace see strong militaries a threat while those who think peace is best maintained by a convincing defense will advocate for strong forces. There are those who think different means apply to different situations and these are mostly ignored as being boring or dismissed as being undecided or confused.
{The only way to ensure peace on Earth is to destroy all life on it. Everyone knows that, no one wants that. Well, almost no one.]
Few of us are content with the wealths we have. This can be good since it causes us to develop our powers and exercise our talents. Complacency can be a lonely trait. When discontent becomes greed, an unacceptable expression of desire with concomitant self-delusions, it is personally and socially destructive.
Taken as an average over my lifespan, I was surrounded by material wealths that would have been the envy many. Possession of a television set, much less a color one, is one such instance. I am grateful, (even though the present video programming makes up in variety and abundance what it lacks in quality).
We project our spirits. Our bearing, dress, expression, and conversation all show to some extent how we feel about ourselves at the moment. We can be bright or gloomy, trusting or suspicious, giving or needful, boring or interesting. We can see this in others, they can see it in us. We respond to what we sense. People with positive feelings are more fun or more comfortable to be with. A positive spirit increases our social wealth. Association with positive people increases our spiritual wealth. I seem to associate with both poles.
A strong spiritual asset is an ability to exist outside ourselves. Sympathy and empathy create a shared spirituality which makes the group stronger than its parts. Empathetic associations can be random and of the moment. They can be long term and even life-long. Although the Government may view marriage as its business, this is properly only for tax purposes – a monetary matter. Personal and spiritual elements should not be governmental institutions. (If the Government could tax friendship it would.) When a religion intrudes into Government, then that government tries, with varied success, to rule a largely rebellious “Unfaithful” part of thepopulation.
Spirituality can enhance the sense of self and this can be a problem. An absence of conscience is invaluable to many who seek monetary wealth or social power. A forgiving church can spiritually strengthen those who exploit those who are weaker than themselves. The forgiven or the Chosen can express and exercise their hatreds with impunity. Fortunately, few take advantage of this, and society places checks on some of those that overdo it. Also we seek safety and comfort in our lives. A Church can be like a walled residential community. In it, you adapt to the attitudes and beliefs of fellow residents and this gives a strong sense of security. As long as you remain within the walls. Those who venture outside often gain perspectives that turn them into shiftless wanderers. Interesting people, those.
[I have been taking spiritual wealth as a positive asset. It may also be a negative attribute if you consider spiritual wealth to be freedom from responsibility. Many have wealth in this form, being without care or conscience. The sociopath no doubt sleeps well as he plots his dominion and exploitation of others.]
Giving, is a way to buy spiritual wealth. I feel good about donating to some charities. This works when the giving is not mandated. Each April I donate funds to my government, on its demand. Knowing that some of my giving will feed the homeless and house the hungry gives me some solace, but it could go down better. Saint Paul gave me good advice in I:13 – Giving, or Charity done with love is the sweetest. Automatic payments from my bank account are not very thrilling to me.
Giving of my time and labor is a more precious coin. In fact this is the sort of irrationality that makes spiritual wealth hard to define and measure. In my volunteer work, I associate with others giving the same; this environment makes the time given, with no other compensation, quite rewarding.
Love is a multi-faceted form of spirituality. At its extreme, the love between two people, particularly in its first stages, can be debilitating as all other priorities are set aside to focus on the beloved.
(I wanted to insert a note here but by the time I shifted to italics I forgot what it was. Something about loving wisely being an oxymoron)
In a broader social sense, loyalty is a common form of love and very spiritual in its nature. Through many experiences I have learned to love my country. Like money, this is only of value to me when requited by the other people of the nation also having a loyalty to it. When this sharing is diluted by others replacing loyalty to nation with loyalty to political parties or various other associations, the spiritual value of my loyalty is degraded. I love this county less because there are such people in it.
Another aspect of the sense of loyalty is a primal, hereditary loyalty, we all sense toward the human race. When we hear of suffering of any humans, we have an urge to respond. Many charities flourish taking advantage of this impulse. And when our statesmen decide to go to conflict with other states, a first move is to lessen the humanity of their targets. The practice of other religions is a convenient point of leverage, and has been used throughout history. Ethnic and racial differences work nicely too. When we hear terms like “Those people” we know it is time to harden our hearts and gird our loins for battle.
Dreaming or conceiving of an afterlife is a good way to learn what your priorities are. Regardless of destination there are those I would like to be with. And there are those I would avoid no matter how lavish their future neighborhood.
As I return to write more here, I lost my sister two months ago. She was very religious, rich in spirit what she lacked in tangible assets. I turned to some religious study, which did not embellish my faith very much, but I did gain some understanding. Now, I don’t feel it wrong to believe in an afterlife in heaven and future reunion. In a teleological sense it doesn’t have to be true to be effective in softening grief. Our mental toolbox is full of mysterious gadgets which can be properly or improperly applied. Some of our most effective tools may not have yet been discovered! A mastery of my own mind would be my idea of spiritual wealth.