Roving Recluse 2

I am finding Peter Anson's spiritual biography (see my other entry about this book here) to be very interesting and eye-opening. My initial fascination with the book is slowly turning into revulsion. Why? Because his spiritual journey seemed to consist mainly in experiencing strange new liturgies, and experiencing other esoteric services that various Churches (Anglican, Roman, Orthodox) have to offer, and flitting about from one religious community to another. I don't think he has mentioned the Holy Name once in the entire book so far! In contrast to other spiritual biographies (e.g. Augustine, Merton, Lewis, etc.) he talks nothing of prayer, or of his inner spiritual life. So far his spiritual journey appears to be one big massive ego trip, the only religious part about it his strange fetish with unusual liturgies and church buildings.

He reminds me of people who drift through the Christian world and transfer from denomination to denomination, and church to church, with lightening fast speed... ever looking for that ultimate spiritual high... that "ultimate" solemn high mass. I have met a few people like that in my day, as they often pass through continuing Anglicanism for a time. Many such folk end up scaling the heights of esoteric religious experience so much that they eventually leave the Christian religion altogether. This is so depressing because they leave much spiritual wreckage in their lives and the lives of others.

The reason these esoteric liturgy junkies usually end up failing at their original task of finding deeper communion and fellowship with God the Holy Trinity is that somewhere along the line a subtle shift took place in their thinking. Their quest for the divine and truth - their quest for Jesus - becomes something that is all about "them", and are more interested in the gold on the Temple than in the Temple itself. Beauty, mystery, and solemnity in worship is a good thing, and it honors God, but it can very easily be made into an idol, and distract us from the very thing that would give us everlasting life.