The Excitement of the Spiritual Life: Fresh, Vibrant, Practical Guide to Living the Faith with Joy and Humor

Copyright © 2014 Larry Baumann.

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-2598-4 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2599-1 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-2597-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014902704

WestBow Press rev. date: 02/11/2014

CONTENTS

Introduction

1.   Friendship with Jesus

2.   The Infinite Interior Life

3.   Difficulty Relating To God

4.   Expectant Faith

5.   Theology of Imperfection

6.   Faith Rebel!

7.   Beautiful Simplicity

8.   Happy Attitudes

9.   Sex in God’s Creation

10.   Glimpses of Joy

11.   Mystery Traveler

12.   Holy Eucharist

13.   New Evangelization

14.   Story Telling & Dreams

15.   Religion Unfettered

16.   Evolutionary Christogenesis

Conclusion

Appendix - Holy Humor Sunday Suggestions

INTRODUCTION

We’d rather not think of ourselves being in a lifeboat with need of rescue from a moral dilemma. The hurricane-force waves of evil keep swelling up and spreading over the planet earth. To reverse the direction of this evil tide, the wind of God’s power comes with a surge of goodness. There is excitement for those who see it and who have Jesus in the boat hold of their heart. We can become like a fully rigged ship with sails unfurled in the sea of God’s Spirit.

The straight-jacketed rituals of worship, the people in the pew bored and impatient to get underway, the tendency of religious institutions to perpetuate themselves rather than inspire, the closure of dialogue on gender issues, and the lack of personal relationship with Jesus have haunted me throughout my priesthood. We have often erred by seeking to motivate people mainly with forms of guilt or fear, rather than of love and joy. I know that there is no perfect parish, or pastor, or layperson. Any church institution over one hundred years old becomes institutional.

In the present generation there is a new awakening that I sense in the individualized hunger and thirst for deeper spiritual life and values. Conscious awareness and reflection of life in the soul is sought, partially it appears in reaction to the chaos, darkness, cynicism, politics of sabotage, and the graft and greed of the times—all by products of man’s having forgotten God. Many people are unaffiliated with any church, yet are vibrant in prayer. Many young people are searching for meaning and hope in life. For some people religion is merely limited to avoidance of sin. A generation of non-evangelized people needs a stimulus to get going on what God has destined. My desire is that inert souls will be attracted to the excitement and joy found here.

How does one get connected and find excitement in the spiritual life? Step one given here is the developing of friendship with Jesus—something that is possible at any age. The difficulty of getting connected is dealt with in this book. There is a chapter on the interior life with its joy and fulfillment; another chapter on becoming a faith rebel; with following chapters on the theology of imperfection, happy attitudes, expectant faith, myth and mystery, the good and bad results of the sexual revolution, and more.

When the fires of spirituality burn low, there is need to rouse passion of faith and see the excitement that is the fruit of authentic spiritual life. The divine force has never been absent from nature’s scene, nor from human relational ways. I am always thirsting to deepen in God’s love and gifts, and to share them. I want you to be an enthusiast in soul and in sharing the faith. This book is a spiritual salesman’s notebook. Illustrations of spiritual growth are from my own life.

A jumpstart in the faith would be a boon to many for whom religion is not exciting; also, for those who have tried pleasure and have not found joy, tried the physical and not found the spiritual, tried religion and not found the Spirit, or thought that God is imagined, and not been awakened to spiritual reality.

This book is not intended for those content with spiritual humdrum or surface living. It is a broadside to those who use religion for cheap jokes, to those in authority who do acts of stupid repression, and to media members who seek the negative for the sake of ratings. Atheists and deists both can find here the true religion which does not appear in their writings.

Elusive as the spiritual life is, I do not intend to delve into heavy theology to worsen our plight, but to address the sincere searcher for God, whether a church regular or not.

From the dawn of creation the journey to God’s love has unfolded. In our human evolutionary destiny we have moved gradually toward the higher realm of the Spirit—from nature worship of animism, through multiple gods of polytheism, to belief in afterlife of the pharaohs, then monotheism of the Jewish people, finally to Jesus. After two thousand years of Christianity the Bible is still a number one best seller. Christogenesis, a later chapter of this book, details further the exciting spiritual evolution. May this book inspire you and lead to a tsunami of God’s Spirit flooding our times.

The gospel is GOOD NEWS.

1

FRIENDSHIP WITH JESUS

If God is our Father, then we are his family.

Jesus chose to become our divine brother.

The Holy Spirit will lead us to a genuine personal experience of the living God.

Jesus found his greatest following among the common folk. His apostles were ordinary guys.

We’ve had it backwards. I was taught to go looking for God.

Enjoyment of friendship may seem like wasted time. Praying may seem like wasting time with a friend who is God. Everything good that we do is worship of a God who smiles on us and takes delight in the good. Do you know how to show love to yourself and feel God’s love for you?

We will never be fully satisfied with our prayer life; it will always be part of a relationship with God that is imperfect and incomplete. Spiritual things do not attract us like material things; but they satisfy and fulfill us deeply and eternally. Living in God’s life means living in two realms simultaneously—the visible world and the unseen eternal reality.

What to you are the ten best qualities of friendship?

God is present at our invitation, but a friendship with Jesus requires deliberate actions such as those listed here and detailed later.

1   Anxiousness to share this precious relationship with Jesus

2   Some kind of spiritual reading; and especially, the Bible

3   Quiet time listening to the Lord each day

4   Support from church, spiritual direction, confession, group sessions, etc.

5   Healthy personal social life

Most people pattern their concept of God after the relationship with their parental father. That relationship with a human father figure gets transferred to God the Father. A personal relationship with the Lord developed in my middle age, and simultaneously with the relationship with my deceased dad. When my dad was alive there was little warmth, affection, banter, or personal talk. Nor were those items part of his German ethnic upbringing. This same conditioning carried into adulthood for both of us. For me, something changed after years of twelve-step work. One change is that when driving the car now I can imagine my dad in the passenger side and joke with him. "You never drove this fast did you? You brought me up to be the reckless one. It is your doing! And I know how to show I care about him: Dad, in raising nine of us children you must have felt an overwhelming burden. How did you do it? After you left this earth did you skip purgatory for having raised us? You deserved that!" The developing relationship with my dad unlocked the way to a spiritual relationship to the Lord.

As friendship is the key to enjoying life deeply; so also, spiritual friendship, for spiritual life. The ongoing process of friendship or marriage together is exciting as long as the caring continues. It does not happen automatically, but requires intentional initiative. The same is true in our faith relationship with the Lord Jesus. The apostles came to know Jesus gradually. He was their Word of God and spiritual director. He often found them blockheaded, complaining, argumentative and hesitant. There is hope for us!

Jesus lived in conversation with the Father. He said: The Father and I are one. Sometimes his conversation is recorded in scripture: Father I know that you always hear me…. Their dynamic relationship is the model of what we yearn to have. The parables of Jesus are about relationship. To live in the presence of God is a normal flow of grace(gift) open to all. We need not understand it intellectually, or cannot; we just experience it as an eternal miracle. Talking to God isn’t like talking between two people. God speaks in the inner self, the heart, the spirit. How do I go about it? My personal experience is an illustration.

Heart to Heart

Lord, I just want to be in your presence. A song that I learned at age eight for first communion:

"Jesus, Jesus come to me. All my longing is for thee.

Of all friends the best thou art. Make of me thy counterpart."

Jesus, I am your friend. Please let me walk with you today, listen to you, learn from you as your apostles did. I want to obey you, and receive of your loving care. Direct me by your Holy Spirit.

Jesus came to earth to search us out. He seeks my friendship as He does that of all. He says: I care about you. I take delight in your efforts to care for others. Tell me what you did today. Usually before I go to sleep at night, or during the night if I cannot sleep, I proudly list the activities of the day and thank the Lord for the privilege of doing them. In the morning at wake-up I say thank you for the new day. Lord, I want to give myself to you and walk the road with you. Please send the Holy Spirit to take over my life. You have won my heart. I want my life to be about you, not me. I trust that whatever happens, it will bring the good that you have destined.

I wonder sometimes what this friendship will be like a million years from now.