Beyond The Basics: Religion on a Deeper Level

It was just about five years ago now that Time magazine ran a cover article announcing that some scientists working on the Genome Project (that pioneering study of mapping DNA, the basic genetic unit of human life) claimed that they might have identified what they were calling “the God Gene.” (article, “Is God in our Genes?” Time magazine October 25, 2004.)

Of the 35,000 genes consisting of 3.2 billion chemical bases that make up the human genome, this intriguing new observation posited that our DNA may actually be hard-wired to seek a Higher Power.

Just as some of us are genetically inclined to share certain traits and talents, and as others may be genetically inclined to inherit certain physical features, some geneticists are now suggesting the likelihood that the human inclination to believe in Divinity may in fact be dictated by our instinctive, evolutionary need to gather into communities essential for our survival. The Time article reports,

“Ask believers of any faith to describe the most important thing that drives their devotion, and they’ll tell you it’s not a thing at all, but a sense – a feeling of a higher power beyond us…But that raises a provocative question, one that’s increasingly debated in the worlds of science and religion: which came first, God or the need for God?…If some people are more spiritual than others, is it nature or nurture that has made them so? If Science has nothing to do with spirituality and it all flows from God, why do some people hear the Divine Word easily while others remain spiritually tone-deaf?”

Long before the genome studies, back in 1979 investigators at the University of Minnesota began their now-famous twins studies, testing pairs of identical twins separated at birth and raised in entirely different environments. And among the remarkable things it turns out identical twins had in common, identical twins were twice as likely as other siblings to believe as much – or as little – as their sibling did. This would suggest an internal factor stronger than environment dictates our spiritual inclinations.

Molecular biologist Dean Hamer, Chief of gene Structure at the National Cancer Institute, claims to be an Agnostic himself, and in his book, The God Gene, (Doubleday, NY, 2004) claims that human spirituality is an adaptive trait, and he says he has located one of the genes responsible, but he is quick to add that his findings “are agnostic on the existence of God. If there’s a God, there’s a God. Just knowing what brain chemicals are involved in acknowledging that is not going to change the fact,” he says.

People of course have been wrestling with the roots of faith from time immemorial, and these latest speculations from genetic science assure us that the wrestling will continue. “God has set eternity in the hearts of people,” says the Book of Ecclesiastes, “yet they cannot fathom what God has done from beginning to end.”

How ironic and interesting that science may prove this more true than we’ve ever known in our theologies. How sad that so many people even in this modern time conceive of faith and spirituality as something threatened or at odds with scientific understanding, scientific investigation, scientific expansion of knowledge about the amazing structures and fathomless workings of life’s chemistry.

Carl Jung touched upon this when he called for a new approach to modern spiritual consciousness, a new paradigm of spirituality that encompasses the realities of the world in which we live, yet honors the wisdom and insights of the past.

Robert Wuthnow, the prominent sociologist of religion at Princeton, says that a new paradigm of spirituality for our time would be different from the kind of spirituality that many of us were raised in, growing up in traditional mainstream American churches and temples.

Wuthnow says a new paradigm of spirituality for our time “must not simply be seeker spirituality, with its emphasis on fluidity, nor should it continue to focus on dwelling spirituality with its emphasis on institutional rules and predefined doctrine.” Wuthnow, like Jung before him, sees the need for a new practice spirituality, one that incorporates all elements of our being and emphasizes how we live out our spiritual types.

I think most Unitarian Universalists are comfortable with a seeker spirituality, having rejected the Dweller spirituality common to more doctrinaire faiths. And yet many of us never seem to develop the kind of practice spirituality that would represent spiritual maturity if we ever reached it. We are proud of our UU status as “religious seekers.” But to truly challenge ourselves to go beyond the basics of religious search, we must understand the several facets of such a journey.

Two interfaith church consultants, Robert Norton and Richard Southern, in their book SoulTypes (Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, 2004) were intrigued enough by the Genome Studies that they suggest there are four basic observable “SoulTypes” that characterize our individual spiritual personalities, and which partly explain why no one approach will ever completely serve the needs of everyone on their spiritual journeys. They use as their typology the words Jesus used in the Gospel of Mark (12:28-29). When he was asked which of the Commandments was the greatest and he said: “Love God with all your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength; and the second is like unto it: love your neighbor as yourself.”

Robert Norton and Richard Southern call their four spirituality types 1) heart-centered 2) soul -centered 3) mind-centered, and 4) strength-centered. Discerning which type of spirit you are personally will partly help you determine how you can deepen as a spiritual person. It might be fun to see if you recognize yourself or anyone you know in these four types.

Take for example the Heart-Centered spirit. According to Norton and Southern, the heart-centered spirit is primarily displayed through the orientation of gratitude. They say heart-centered spirituality places priority on feelings, emotions, personal renewal, and transformation. It hungers for joyful experience in religion. The heart-centered spirit finds blessings in everyday living, counts the positives, looks for the goodness in others, the goodness in a benevolent universe, sees life as a gift, sees the beauty in life. Do you see yourself in this type? Or see anyone in your family in this portrait?

The second type is called the ‘Soul-centered” spirit. Soul-centered folks are interior personalities. They are intuitive, contemplative, and introspective by nature. They tend to view life as a sacred journey. They are mystics sometimes, meditators whenever possible. They create quiet corners of retreat for themselves, sometimes personal altars, they were the original monastics. They are often attracted to Centering Prayer or Transcendental Meditation practice, or walking Labyrinths. It is in this type of spirituality where Eastern and Western practices often meet.

The Mind-Centered soul is the third type. These souls prefer orderly thought and intellectual exploration of life’s meaning. Knowledge, words, complex ideas nourish these people, They expect intellectual substance from spiritual exploration. They are attracted to in-depth study of theological topics. They are interested in the meaning and intent of sacred writings and literature. Mind-Centered spirits love Zen Koans and the teaching Parables of the New Testament. They love studying comparative religions. Sound like anyone you know?

And the fourth type of soul we might identify is the Strength-Centered spirit. The Strength-Centered soul sees life as the opportunity to build a better society, to serve others, beginning with a personal commitment. Serving others in this context might take the form of support, advocacy, or direct action on an ethical issue, or it might be manifest in compassion for the less fortunate. It is motivated by a strong sense of idealism, wants to participate in meaningful issues. Formal belief systems are less important to the Strength-centered type than the vision of a transformed world. Actions speak louder than words in the religion of Strength-Centered souls. Walking the walk is more important to them than talking the talk. Strength-Centered souls are long-term committed souls, in it for the long-haul.

Now, put all these soul types in one room, multiply by 250 or so, and you begin to see the challenge of being a Unitarian Universalist community. Heart-centered types trying to make sense of Mind-Centered souls. Strength-Centered types trying to be patient with the meditations of Soul-Centered types! Yikes! And you wonder why we sometimes have a hard time hearing one another or keeping everyone happy all the time!

The challenging mission of the congregation is to accommodate as best we can many different soul-types, many different spiritual orientations. Whatever your personal soul-type happens to be, I hope you will find opportunity to grow your soul here, to bring your passions and your faith quests here to share with our community. There is no one right way to be in this place, no one single way to view things or to view priorities for our congregational agenda, no one single way to think or to feel what you believe in this place. Unitarian Universalism is a 500 year-old way of practicing a life of the spirit. A way that is grounded on the basic principles of Freedom, Reason, Tolerance, and Love. We think that creates a broad enough space here for all soul-types to grow, for faith, hope, and love to bloom here; for goodness and mercy to thrive here. If you are new among us, there is room and welcome for you here. Whether you are Heart-Centered, Soul-Centered, Mind-Centered, or Strength-Centered – or a mix of all four – we need what you bring us. We are all of us souls in process here.

Amen.