Scanning the Zohar-- Part 2

Dabbling in Kabbalah wasn't the only thing that I did in searching for some authentic spirituality. I did other things too numerous to mention, but they all had one thing in common-- do it yourself. If I was going to have a spiritual experience of untold bliss, then it was up to me to employ the methods suggested by the guru du jour, who turned out to be whoever I was reading at the time.

An aside-- not everything these authors wrote were bad or wrong. There was actually some very wise advice. But I made the mistake of thinking that these methods would get me closer to God, or at least understand God a bit better. They did no such thing. Only God can bring one closer to God. Just because a person feels good or appears to be philosophical or "spiritual" doesn't necessarily mean that he/she has a closer relationship with God than I do.

Here's what happened. In the library of my own church was a little book I decided to pick up and read. The book is called Spirituality of the Cross:The Way of the First Evangelicals by Gene Edward Veith. I was hesitant to read it at first because I associated Veith with a political element of the LCMS that I often disagree with from a tactical standpoint. But then I thought perhaps there may be some valuable insights in this little book. Much to my surprise Veith revealed that he had many of the same searchings and longings as I had and that he was quite the dabbler himself. He also had forays into mysticism and esotericism until he discovered a spirituality that has the audacity to claim that God did everything for us and drudgery isn't necessary. That spirituality is called Lutheranism.

I decided that it was time for me to go home, back to where the territory was familiar but in a sense untapped. I needed to explore the confession that I had embraced all of my life a bit deeper. And that is where I am today. I regret that all of this happened while I was a called and ordained minister in the LCMS. You would have thought that my seminary training in Fort Wayne would have taken care of any longings that I had. But I am indebted to Veith for his short, but simple, little primer on the way of the first Evangelicals.