In the vows of the eight Ordinands from the March 2008 Service of Ordination and Blessing, we together pledged,
• “I vow to be fully present to God, who is called by many names, as the Source of my ministry.
• “I seek to experience the Divine Presence in myself and all beings, for we are One.”
• "I will honor the beautiful diversity of all spiritual experiences and the wisdom of all Paths.”
In these words we embraced the essence of interfaith spirituality. What is this essence?
In The Mystic Heart 2001), Wayne Teasdale eloquently answers, “The real religion of humankind can be said to be spirituality itself, because mystical spirituality is the origin of all the world religions. If this is so, and I believe it is, we might also say that interspirituality – the sharing of ultimate experiences across traditions – is the religion of the third millennium.” (Teasdale, p. 26)
If the core of interfaith spirituality is this "sharing of ultimate experiences across traditions,” then its source is mysticism: the personal search to experience and embody the Divine as the ground and context of one’s life and work. Here beats the “mystic heart” of the interfaith chaplain and minister. Personal and collective communion with Divinity progressively transforms and renews us as we bear witness to the “mystic heart” of the other -- whatever their culture, religion, circumstances or beliefs. Our work as interfaith chaplains and ministers flows from this awakened consciousness into ongoing service to humankind, through caring, healing, praying, teaching, challenging, and growing.
There is yet another imperative underlying interfaith ministry: the interfaith minister as mystic also serves humankind’s collective healing and awakening. Teasdale explains, “Interspirituality is the foundation that can prepare the way for a planet-wide enlightened culture, and a continuing community among the religions that is substantial, vital, and creative” (p. 26). Teasdale proclaims, “The fully formed mystic or contemplative is the new cultural hero who guides humankind to its maturity” (p. 192).
And as Matthew Fox affirms in The Coming of the Cosmic Christ (Fox, 1988, p. 44), “The mystic lies deep in every person. ... The reason human civilization is tired, depressed, unimaginative in dealing with unemployment, pollution, youth despair, injustice, and inequality is that we ‘do not even know who we are’” (p. 43-44).
In future columns, I hope to bring the mystic’s voice to our work as interfaith chaplains and ministers. Stay tuned.
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Fox, Mathew. (1988). The Coming of the Cosmic Christ, San Francisco: Harper & Row.
Teasdale, Wayne. (2001). The Mystic Heart. Novato: New World Library.