When Being "Spiritual But Not Religious" is Not Sufficient
Lillian Daniel has written a very good book titled, When “Spiritual But Not Religious” Is Not Enough: Seeing God in Surprising Places, Even the Church. In it she observes how important the community/church is for our spiritual development. She concedes that the church has done a lot of foolish things in its day. She writes: “Now, let me acknowledge that on all sides of the Christian spectrum, there is much I do not want to be stuck with, from Koran-burning, pistol-packing pastors to the more ordinary preacher who was trying desperately to be inspiring and shouted out, ‘Let us launch out into the depth of the sea, standing upon the rock that is Jesus!’ Really? No wonder many good people get like the pop singer Prince—they want a new name for what they do, like the artist formerly known as Christian.” The church has indeed done some embarrassing things, things that many of us do not want to be associated with. But the church has done...