Spiritual Inquiry
Conversion and Gratitude in/to Love: Bernard of Clairvaux’ Community-building Spirituality View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Jean-Pierre Fortin
Bernard of Clairvaux (1090-1153 CE) stands as one of the foremost representatives of medieval monasticism and mysticism. The famed abbot of Clairvaux’ charismatic personality and leadership significantly contributed to the extraordinary growth of the emerging Cistercian order. Desiring to retrieve the spirit of the Rule of Benedict, Bernard promoted a way of life grounded in complete dedication to contemplation, accomplished by means of self-discipline. The proposed presentation will argue that for Bernard the hallmark of spiritual life and progress lies in the persistent ability to perceive and acknowledge the active presence of the divine in one’s life and world. Incorporating the dual-movement of self-examination and gratitude toward God, the monastic life as conceived by Bernard of Clairvaux invites to lifelong ongoing conversion. Spiritual growth takes the form of a journey from grace to grace, where the human community is led to experience and offer a free response to transformational love. Personal involvement with the God revealed in Jesus Christ radically alters the shape and meaning of human existence, progressively turned into an unceasing song of praise. The lifelong chanting, meditation and savoring of the Psalms, which form the core of the Liturgy of Hours, itself central to monastic life, contribute to building a human community united in prayer before God. Personal intimacy with God nurtured in community empowers for public witness and service. Such a spirituality of communion in humble contemplation speaks to 21st century Westerners desiring to share with others their longing for authentic living and the transcendent.
Catholic Currents in the Antipoetry of Nicanor Parra: Navigating Belief in Chilean Society View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Joseph Wagner
This paper explores how Nicanor Parra’s antipoetry can help us negotiate the role of religion in Chile (and by extension in other secular democracies with deep religious roots). The aim of this study is to illustrate how Parra’s antipoetry offers a relationship to the divine that prompts productive dialogue in a pluralistic society. As Chile is currently a beacon of hope for those seeking a better life in South America, it is worth reviewing the role of religion in a country that is facing serious protests from angry citizens, violent attacks from indigenous Mapuche, an enormous influx of immigrants, and an ever-more-difficult drought—all of which provide an important context for the recent election of President Boric, with his ties to a communist party, that further calls into question religion’s place in Chilean policy and politics. The disciplinary framework for this study includes literature, rhetoric, and philosophy. The methods used in this study include literary critique, textual analysis, and the application of rhetorical and philosophical principles. Close re-reading and theoretical review make up the knowledge activities of this interpretive study. The result of this study shows that Nicanor Parra’s unique and influential antipoetry provides a road map for a shared, fruitful approach to religious belief, in part via the notion of “antistrophos,” and in part via Ludwig Wittgenstein’s view of the mystical. In conclusion, such an approach could be put to good use to confront social and political strife in any secular, pluralistic society.
Spiritual Capital and Class Privilege in Women's Spirituality : The Case of Feminist-Spiritualist Menstrual Movement the Red Tent View Digital Media
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session Polona Sitar
Menstrual blood is still regarded as taboo in many places all over the world. An important form of breaking the menstrual taboo is the Red Tent movement, established in 2007 in the USA within the women’s spirituality movement. Studies on women's spiritual movements in the West show how new spiritual movements such as Goddess spirituality, neo-paganism, and New Age offer empowerment to women that is otherwise lacking in more traditional and institutionalized religious traditions, promote equality, and affirm the values associated with practices of healing, and female solidarity. Although contemporary spiritualities present themselves as non-hierarchical and gender equal, spirituality and wellbeing in women’s circles is pre-dominantly practiced by white middle-class women and a lack of diversity may perpetuate social dynamics structured by systematic inequities. By concerning potential exclusion and privilege, particularly regarding social class, the purpose of this paper is to question whether the Red Tent movement reproduces the existing power structure where hegemonic norms and institutionalized forms of power are entrenched and reproduced. It derives from the assumption that by continuously exploring their spiritual life women from the Red Tent were also increasing their “spiritual capital”. In their pursuit of spiritual growth deriving from an exceedingly wide range of practices we can witness spiritual omnivorosity, because they combine multiple religious and spiritual traditions. The research is methodologically based on ethnographic fieldwork by participating in Red Tent gatherings in Slovenia, semi-structured in-depth interviews with participants and hosts and in-depth content analysis of interactions manifesting through digital communications (websites, Facebook etc.).
