“He was not, himself, a Buddhist. He was the thing Itself: an enlightened being. Just as Jesus Christ was not a Christian, but a Christ, an enlightened being. The challenge for me is not to be a follower of Something but to embody it; I am willing to try for that.” -Alice Walker
I was speaking with my stepmother last night, with whom I am close, and I was telling her a bit about this class and the vast array of things we talk about. My Stepmother, Father and youngest Sister live in Dallas, Texas. Both parents were raised Chaotic and stepped away from religion for most of their adult lives. They have since found a mega, nondenominational, Christian Church that they go to regularly and have become very invested in it. I will be honest, I didn’t understand this return to the church. It felt forced and the “we just ask you lords” falling from my teenage sister’s mouth with such passion has been very off putting to me. In reading Alice Miller’s speech I was struck by the above passage in particular. I think when I think about religion this is my fundamental problem with it. To quote Judas in Jesus Christ Super Star, “All your followers are blind, too much heaven on their minds.” We so often see people, especially in the Christian South, following Something. The literal texts, a preacher, an idea but they often aren’t embodying Christ and his teachings.
As I spoke with my Stepmother last night I began talking about Spiritual Ecology and how it really resonates with me. She was perplexed, it didn’t make sense to her. Both my Father and Stepmother have voiced that they wish I had a foundation of faith in my life, a condescending thought that just because I don’t go to church I must have faith in nothing. So when I read this line from Alice Walker, and in truth the whole piece resonates with this sentiment, it clicked. Here was a way I could bridge a divide. Here might be a way to talk to my family about their faith and mine. How they are different but also that ultimately it is how you embody your faith that is important. Here’s hoping Alice’s words can help begin bridging their familial gap, it is certainly worth the attempt.