| Urban dwellers can be fierce - embracing life with full | | | | encourage questioning. Do you feel you could grow |
| vigor. Here you must seek out spiritual moments, | | | | spiritually? You may feel more comfortable in a place |
| finding them in big and small places. In our big cities | | | | that provides a structure or a practice outlining ways |
| bright lights take the place of a starry night sky. The | | | | to live. Or that may feel too restrictive. Attend a |
| movement under our feet is the movement of a | | | | few places until you find a fit that is best for you. |
| subway train and not the plates of the earth. The | | | | Trust your feelings. If you feel nurtured then maybe |
| lure of the urban environment occupies the daily | | | | that is the place for you. |
| existence of city dwellers. We have diversity in food, | | | | Is there an urban spirituality? |
| entertainment and an assortment of bars and clubs | | | | Urban contemplatives acknowledge the presence of |
| to keep our nights full. But do we consider our | | | | the sacred in all they meet. By their very presence |
| spiritual lives when deciding where to eat? | | | | they witness to the value, the untold respect, and |
| A city like New York does not lack for spiritual | | | | reverence due each human person no matter how |
| opportunities. The city is packed with religious | | | | marginalized, destitute, or abandoned they are. |
| institutions from the largest gothic Episcopal Cathedral | | | | Edward J. Farrell - City Lights, Sojourners Magazine |
| just on the edge of Harlem to alternative places of | | | | January-February 2000. |
| worships housed in storefronts to the outer | | | | The urban life is different then a rural one. Our |
| boroughs. If you know what you want it is relatively | | | | troubles may be similar but in the urban setting they |
| easy to find something that will suit your needs. | | | | can be exaggerated. We encounter the homeless on |
| What if you aren't sure? | | | | our streets not just one or two, but many. We can |
| Every time you don't follow your inner guidance, you | | | | be drawn in by the power of the city - giving in to |
| feel a loss of energy, loss of power, a sense of | | | | its overt consumerism. Or we can use the gifts of |
| spiritual deadness. Shakti Gawain | | | | the city to build housing that is available for the poor |
| We may have grown up in an organized religion. The | | | | among us. |
| experience may have been negative or positive. Life's | | | | The Reverend Lyndon F. Harris was the priest in |
| distractions and dissatisfaction with the organization | | | | charge of the relief ministries at Ground Zero offered |
| may have sent you searching for salvation in other | | | | through Saint Paul's Chapel after the terrorist attacks |
| places. A good restaurant can be so much more | | | | of September 11, 2001. Harris was the founder of the |
| interesting then a church, synagogue or a mosque. | | | | Sacred City Project. Lyndon Harris says we are a |
| Living in difficult times, raising a family or just the | | | | communal people. The very nature of the urban |
| need for some deeper meaning created a yearning | | | | setting makes this a necessity. And he thinks we are |
| for the familiarity of your religious roots. What may | | | | hardwired to be spiritual. The city itself is a living |
| have seemed overwhelming when you were a child | | | | sacred text becoming a thriving laboratory for |
| can now seem perfect. The experience of adulthood | | | | alternative worship that emerges against the |
| allows you to make better choices about your moral | | | | backdrop of its vibrant and diverse urban setting. |
| and spiritual life. You can go back to what you know | | | | Harris goes on to say that so many of the important |
| or explore new opportunities. Your choices are | | | | events had their beginnings in the wilderness and |
| diverse. | | | | culminated in the cities. "God loves the city and the |
| There are many forms of Christianity, Judaism and | | | | people of the city." The city is big enough to |
| Buddhism that can be investigated. You can visit | | | | encompass all religions and forms of spiritualities. |
| spiritualist churches or learn the teachings of the | | | | Our spirituality is as diverse as the city where we live. |
| Koran. Or you can delve into the lives of the | | | | But our needs and desire for meaning in our lives is |
| Goddesses. | | | | universal. How you live out your spiritual life is a |
| Some Suggestions: Don't be afraid to attend | | | | personal choice. You can choose to practice quietly or |
| different places of worship. | | | | join others in community, follow a traditional religion |
| How do you feel when you are there? What are the | | | | or create your own unique spirituality. Either way - |
| people like? Do their values match your life values? | | | | choose wisely - your spirituality is not just a 9-5 |
| Do they dictate a strict mode of behavior or | | | | experience it is life encompassing. |