Reclaiming Spirituality

In this thought-provoking and rambunctious follow-up to "Quantum Theology," English priest and social psychologist Diarmuid O Murchu celebrates the spiritual renaissance of our time as an alternative to religious fanaticism and religious indifference. He sees this phenomenon as part of the evolving spiritual story of humankind stretching back 70,000 years. The spirituality that is appealing to seekers today embodies global, inclusive, co-operative, egalitarian, and feminine values. O'Murchu outlines its linkage of the new cosmology with a respect for the natural world through the spirituality of native peoples. He points out its embrace of pre-patriarchal values of relatedness, passion, feeling, imagination, and justice. Two other accents of this new paradigm are its emphasis upon the erotic power of spirituality and its reappropriation of the shadow in all its diverse dimensions. Only time will tell what new permutations this global spirituality will take. O'Murchu has done a fine job mapping out its contemporary lineaments.