In 2005, I was one of a small group of people who began an engaged spirituality class on Sundays at the Church for The Fellowship of All Peoples in San Francisco. This class grew out of my interest in understanding more about the intersection of spirituality and activism, and about the people who have successfully integrated these two seemingly disparate aspects of their lives.
We decided to start by reading a book by Janet Parachin entitled Engaged Spirituality: Ten Lives of Contemplation and Action. The term engaged spirituality is borrowed from Thich Nhat Hanh, who refers to his own religious commitment as “engaged Buddhism.”
Engaged Spirituality discusses the lives of ten individuals from diverse backgrounds—some well known like Martin Luther King Jr., and others, like Native American Vine Deloria Jr., whom few people have heard about. However, all of these people have one thing in common: the practice of “engaged spirituality,” which Parachin says is exemplified by persons who find within their spiritual tradition the resources that nurture their being, enabling them to “engage in activities that move the world … toward love, justice, compassion, responsibility and respect. (…Beloved Community…) It is not an either/or prospect but a conscious, intentional commitment to engage both… challenging us to grow… by leading us to expand beyond our comfortable boundaries.”
These ten people’s stories are inspiring. Reading about them led me to develop the following ten ingredients for living a life of engaged spirituality.