Selfie is Believing: Reflections on Narcissus's Waters - Part 2

 Maybe you’ve heard this one...

I’m not religious, but I am spiritual. Sincere people with little need for ego-promotion voice this banality. Approving nods will greet the speaker who, after a few glugs of wine, feels emboldened to stake a claim in that most serious of public territories. Religious, of course, reeks of adherence to orthodoxy propounded by ancestors, dull repetition of belief claims and Lord hear our prayers on Sunday mornings gathered in churches like penned herds, and the singing of hymns. Add to this sad litany the history of conversion of native peoples on sword point, the lack of fun, and knowing that religion is popular with conservative suburbanites, and religious lacks the means to express the charms of one’s unique self.

Religious is earthly and dogmatic, while spiritual is airy and accepting.

Near as I can figure, attaining spirituality in this incarnation means being really nice to everyone, remaining attentive when an acquaintance is aggrieved about something and holding court on a plastic chair on the screened-in porch during a friend’s party, offering encouragement when another friend (same party) is mildly boasting about his own vaunted spirituality, and giving the old college try reading Buddhist or Hindu scriptures while ethereal ragas undulate from the dank living room into that screened-in porch.

Or perhaps you’re agnostic (which sounds less committed than atheist), merely questioning the existence of God, when really you don’t spend much time questioning anything. But you’ll generally find acceptance in polite company.

Narcissism is the strength of this personal conviction where little commitment is demanded or expected. Emanating from this passion within and for oneself glows a mild contempt for the religiously gathered, although Buddhist monks colorfully assembled get a pass, so smiling and gentle they seem. This contempt hasn’t grown after a sustained, charitable study of founding texts, let alone learned commentaries. Indeed, hearsay and selected snippets pieced together make up the dismissal of the traditionally religious.

And being “spiritual” requires as much self-sacrifice as helping clean up after your friend’s party.