Spirituality is not certainty, but calm in the face of uncertainty?

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Two nice points/posts from Psychotria Nervosa via Atrios which I will lazily turn into one of my own...

Ron Suskind, NYT Magazine 10-17-04:

‘‘Where people often get lost is on this very point,’’ said [Jim Wallis, pastor and one-time Bush friend] after a moment of thought. ‘‘Real faith, you see, leads us to deeper reflection and not — not ever — to the thing we as humans so very much want.’’

And what is that?

‘‘Easy certainty.’’

NYT:

What Derrida Really Meant.

...To his critics, Mr. Derrida appeared to be a pernicious nihilist who threatened the very foundation of Western society and culture. By insisting that truth and absolute value cannot be known with certainty, his detractors argue, he undercut the very possibility of moral judgment. To follow Mr. Derrida, they maintain, is to start down the slippery slope of skepticism and relativism that inevitably leaves us powerless to act responsibly.

This is an important criticism that requires a careful response. Like Kant, Kierkegaard and Nietzsche, Mr. Derrida does argue that transparent truth and absolute values elude our grasp. This does not mean, however, that we must forsake the cognitive categories and moral principles without which we cannot live: equality and justice, generosity and friendship. Rather, it is necessary to recognize the unavoidable limitations and inherent contradictions in the ideas and norms that guide our actions, and do so in a way that keeps them open to constant questioning and continual revision. There can be no ethical action without critical reflection.

During the last decade of his life, Mr. Derrida became preoccupied with religion and it is in this area that his contribution might well be most significant for our time. He understood that religion is impossible without uncertainty. Whether conceived of as Yahweh, as the father of Jesus Christ, or as Allah, God can never be fully known or adequately represented by imperfect human beings.

And yet, we live in an age when major conflicts are shaped by people who claim to know, for certain, that God is on their side. Mr. Derrida reminded us that religion does not always give clear meaning, purpose and certainty by providing secure foundations. To the contrary, the great religious traditions are profoundly disturbing because they all call certainty and security into question. Belief not tempered by doubt poses a mortal danger.

As the process of globalization draws us ever closer in networks of communication and exchange, there is an understandable longing for simplicity, clarity and certainty. This desire is responsible, in large measure, for the rise of cultural conservatism and religious fundamentalism - in this country and around the world. True believers of every stripe - Muslim, Jewish and Christian - cling to beliefs that, Mr. Derrida warns, threaten to tear apart our world.

Fortunately, he also taught us that the alternative to blind belief is not simply unbelief but a different kind of belief - one that embraces uncertainty and enables us to respect others whom we do not understand. In a complex world, wisdom is knowing what we don't know so that we can keep the future open.[Empahasis mine.]

I've always been a fan of the Shaker aphorism, "Hands to work, hearts to God." My understanding of it is that work, the craft of it, is an attempt to affirm a spiritual ideal. The beauty and simplicity of a Shaker chair, lovingly crafted and finished, is a lab experiment of sorts--proof of a theorem--that beauty is not only possible from a heavenly being, but also from the hands of man. Proof of our own better angels, if you will. The challenge comes in listening to them.