Last Saturday, the local newspaper had an op-ed piece in the "Religion" section titled, "Power of human spirit available to everyone", written by a student from the University of Oregon.
The author has apparently plumbed the depths of reality, scanned the vast expanses of the heavens, chanted in the rain forests, beat drums on the African plains, drank espresso in Berkley, and chased the deepest mysteries of life and existence throughout the cosmos, and has arrived at the following conclusions:
I believe that in our society today, it is difficult to distinguish between religion and spirituality. I see spirituality as in the individual search for completion, and religion as the institution or house of this spirituality.
However, we do not need a religion to be spiritual to become complete, to find one’s spirit. We do not need a god, nor do we need a prophet, nor a scroll of stories teaching ethics and moral lessons, but simply the faith that our spirit is within us as is the confidence that you can uncover it. ...
Self-discovery simply means experimenting with your passions, following your heart and doing what you love. The more you listen to your self, the happier you become and the more your spirit begins to stir. The day will come when you finally liberate your spirit; you feel blissful, limitless and alive, but most importantly, you feel unstoppable. And not simply on a spiritual level but, as the Buddhist monks have demonstrated, you are unstoppable on a physical level as well.
Live your life well, and you will live your life longer. Close your eyes, take a deep breath, and go after it.
This is your world, and in your hands you have the power to control how it will end.
The logic here is so stunning, the philosophical erudition so profound, and the writing so transcendent, I readily confess my inability to respond in the same caliber or on the same level.
And so I am calling upon comedian Brian Regan to offer this response, which I think says it all, says it quickly, and says it well:
Leah Greenspan can rest assured that that her mush will not make it to scroll form.
Posted by: Charles E Flynn | Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 04:33 PM
Had to laugh out loud at that video. Perfect!
Posted by: Tom | Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 05:22 PM
Regan is a riot. We love his stuff.
Posted by: Ed Peters | Thursday, August 25, 2011 at 06:56 PM
Ahh, the sweet callowness of youth. I hope she lives well and long enough to cringe with embarrassment someday.
Posted by: Lauri Friesen | Friday, August 26, 2011 at 06:18 AM
"...the local newspaper had an op-ed piece ... written by a student ... "
Really, I don't want to be snarky, but this says enough.
Posted by: Joe | Friday, August 26, 2011 at 07:24 AM
Give the girl credit, when she shovels it she uses both hands.
Posted by: Subvet | Friday, August 26, 2011 at 06:10 PM
For the record, the student newspapers at those universities that are allegedly the finest in the USA routinely run articles that remind me of the adjective a priest applied to a paper I wrote as a sophomore in high school, in which I criticized Pope Paul VI's speech at the United Nations:
sophormoric.
Posted by: Charles E Flynn | Friday, August 26, 2011 at 06:53 PM
Perfect post. Had to tweet.
Posted by: ThereseRita | Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 07:05 AM
The "force" is strong in this one :-)
Posted by: peter l | Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 07:17 AM
Oh good grief. That piece sounds like it was written in 1971 by a high school student who'd just been introduced to Thich Nhat Hanh. But I was a senior and was still 'sophormoric'.
My students try to invoke this 'be true to yourself' mantra. I remind them that Hitler did that, too. He followed his passions, did what he loved.
Posted by: Alexis Mauldin | Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 08:26 AM
How right you are Alexis. Sadly, that is in vogue now. May God have mercy on us all
Posted by: Mary42 | Sunday, August 28, 2011 at 07:04 AM
The Buddhist monk who is able to go for extraordinary amounts of time without food or water does not do so because he has "experimented with his passions" or followed the advice of "close your eyes, take a deep breath, and go for it." He has done so by practicing a lifestyle of asceticism that the author of that confused and superficial article would certainly find inimical to her "self-discovery."
Posted by: David K. Monroe | Monday, August 29, 2011 at 05:45 AM
Well, it's silly stuff, but let's hope that she continues to be a "seeker of truth"--because sooner or later, maybe she'll stumble on the Fullness of Truth and see it for what it is. It can happen to anyone. It happened to me.
Posted by: Scott R. Lucado | Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 02:31 PM
Scott, well said. May God bless this woman's journey and may He have mercy on us all.
Posted by: Catholic | Tuesday, August 30, 2011 at 06:55 PM