Jay Michaelson asks: "Am I Religious?"

In a fascinating essay for Zeek, Jay Michaelson explores the meaning of spirituality and religion in his life. Jay is the director of Nehirim, a spiritual initiative for GLBT Jews in New York. The essay's quite a mouthful, but it's worth every bite. Here's a small taste:

One group I admire, Q-Spirit, has developed ritual that they lead at gay circuit parties around the world. Their aim is not to make these parties spiritual; it is to invite the participants to see that what they are doing is already spiritual. Many gay dance clubs are re-enactments of ancient ecstatic rituals: the trance-inducing music and dance, the ingestion of somatic substances, the two-spirit people as shamans. All that’s missing is the heart, the spiritual intention.

I have two main concerns about the word “spiritual.” The first is that it, like “religious,” has been tainted by its associations – in this case, with cheesy, feel-good New Age stuff, and with an ultimately unethical lifestyle of spiritual hedonism. The second problem is deeper. For many people, being “spiritual” is about having a certain feeling. But the thing is, there is nothing to get, and no particular feeling to have. Being in love with God is like being in love with a person; sometimes its ecstasy, sometimes it’s laundry (paraphrasing Jack Kornfield here). And sometimes it’s intense pain and sadness. The question is not, how do I get away from the ugly or boring bits and into a cool “spiritual” vibe. But rather, how can I accept everything as what God is like right now. This acceptance does not mean “I accept everything as the will of God” or “God has a plan” or “There is no reason to change anything.” It means, just this – whatever is going on for you at this moment, reading, sitting, wondering, worrying: this is it.

Read the whole piece: "Am I 'Religious'?" at Zeek.