God Squad: Finding a path through a theological blitzkrieg

The Dalai Lama, in a forward to "How do You Spell God?," one of my books with Msgr. Tom Hartman, wrote these words that I have quoted before because of their wisdom and clarity: 

“All the world’s religious traditions are similar because they help us become better human beings. For centuries millions of people have found peace of mind in their own religious tradition. Today, the world over, we can find followers of many faiths giving up their own welfare in order to help others.

"I believe that this wish to work for the happiness of others is the most important goal of a religious practice. Human beings naturally possess different interests. So, it is not surprising that we have many different religious traditions with different ways of thinking and behaving. But this variety is a way for everyone to be happy.

"If we have a great variety of food, we will be able to satisfy many different tastes and needs. When we only have bread, the people who eat rice are left out. And the reason those people eat rice is that rice grows best where they live. For most of us, our religion depends on our family and where we were born and grew up.

"Usually, I think it is better not to change that. However, the more we understand of each other’s ways the more we can learn from each other. And the more easily we can develop respect and tolerance in our own lives and in our behavior towards each other. This will certainly help to increase peace and friendship throughout the world, which is one of the aims of all major religions.”

I would echo these words and suggest that you begin (or rather continue) your spiritual journey by eating what grows best where you live. You are a Lutheran and you might want to begin by figuring out what are your most important questions about God and the spiritual life. Then study your Protestant faith for the answers.

If you discover after serious and sustained study that the answers are not there for you, then, and only then, try one other faith tradition and see how it confronts the mysteries of human existence and our need for hope and salvation. I have discovered that, in general, the Eastern faiths of Buddhism and Hinduism begin with the individual worshipper and then proceed out to the world.

In the Abrahamic faiths of Judaism, Christianity and Islam, the basic spiritual move is from trying to fix the world and then moving back to fixing ourselves. Both ways end up changing the world and ourselves, but they accomplish this journey in two very different ways.

The other suggestion I have for you so that your spiritual quest might become less chaotic is to learn how to pray. Religion is not philosophy. Philosophy is a path to truth. Religion is a path to hope. Follow the directions from this great poem by Mary Oliver,

It doesn't have to be

the blue iris, it could be

weeds in a vacant lot, or a few

small stones; just

pay attention, then patch

a few words together and don't try

to make them elaborate, this isn't

a contest but the doorway

into thanks, and a silence in which

another voice may speak.