New Age Spirituality – Morning Has Been All Night Coming ( Part 16 )
The concept of the New Age is new with a capital N. It came about during the early 20th century, with many of its ideas and practices adopted by adherents and practitioners throughout the Western world in different ways. As such, there are now countless books on New Age Spirituality.
But there is a difference between the New Age as such, and New Age Spirituality. If it is said that ideas come and go, and rather than being static, the New Age idea has evolved over time. To some extent the same is true of New Age Spirituality.
The New Age has been rather productive of books on its own spirituality, but I have not yet read one on the subject of modern Christian spirituality that represents what I would call 'NewAge' spirituality. So I will say here that what I offer below is a modern Christian spirituality, consistent with the New Age.
Why have a New Age Spirituality? The traditional church model has been rejected by many Christians and non Christians alike, because it is based upon an ancient model of man, which largely no longer applies. There was no such thing as divorce, or women in ministry or even churches as we know them today.
The New Age is a time of great possibilities, but it also raises many difficult questions. How can we live in the world that we now inhabit, but with a higher consciousness and consciousness of purpose? Can we still be Christians, or is our Christianity itself part of the enemy?
But perhaps the biggest change is that within the Christian church there has been a rise in unspiritual lifestyles. The church can be said to represent the purest expression of Christian spirituality, where it has been applied faithfully. The church is the body of Christ. But the institutional church has often been a far cry from this.
Why does this matter? The New Age idea is based upon a rejection of the past, in order to evolve beyond it. This often happens in a spirit of triumphalism, where we 'come out' as New Agers, albeit without necessarily letting go of our past completely. It is based upon the belief that there are no rules, only guides to living in accordance with higher values; something that Christians may also have difficulty understanding.
New Age spirituality is evolving into a time of discovery and discovery leads to new rules, and much new thinking. Our spiritual lives have changed, we have become aware of ourselves within a wider cosmic context that is bigger than the human individual. We need to evolve, and spirituality can help us to do so.
So if I am going to write about New Age spirituality, what do I mean by this? Firstly there are many books on the topic of New Age Spirituality. One that I have read and greatly admired is 'Foundations of Truth' by Esther and Jerry Hicks . This is an older book, but still a vastly useful guide.
Subsequent to this came the rise of 'The Law of Attraction', which I am not going to spend time on here. The essence of this is an energy that attracts like energy usefully. This was popularized by a book called The Secret . This book is said to have attracted the attention of Abraham Hicks, who wrote back telling them their work was unoriginal.
Secondly, there are the various types of 'Channeled' books and spiritualities. The idea of channeling is that an individual is 'tuned' to the spirit of a particular guide. In this way, the channeler is said to receive instructions and guidance from the source of truth, the 'Higher Self'. This can be diametrically opposed to what we find in scripture.
The issue here is often one of authority. We have seen that in New Age spirituality, there are many different kinds of channels and teachers. This can also be true within Christian spirituality too. How can we find a reliable, consistent source of spiritual instruction?
This leads us to the third type of New Age Spirituality, that which is based upon Spiritual Guides. This was introduced to me by the writings of Dolores Cannon. Her books are also influenced by 'Abraham'. But where Esther and Jerry Hicks give more of a structured framework for understanding the law, Dolores Cannon had discovered something quite different.
I cannot over emphasize how powerful these books were for me. The effects were profound. At a time when I was rejected by the church, Cannon became my immediate identity. She introduced me to a spiritual world that was entirely new to me. It felt as though she had become my friend and teacher. I wanted to learn from her, but I did not feel comfortable at doing so because she was not a Christian (which is where the difficulty lies for many in this process).
The channeled messages are ostensibly from Abraham Hicks, who sounds like he comes from the same source as Esther and Jerry Hicks.
Conclusion:
The ideas of spiritual guides, the author unknown, and of the law of attraction have their place. They are valid and useful, but they only ever work when applied within a framework.
This was one reason for writing 'Getting in the Gap' , as I hope it has shown. The law 'works' because it is an extension to the rules that govern Christian spirituality and prayer.
The most important reason for writing this book is different however.