labels

Labels.

Damn labels!

Don't misunderstand me.  I love organization!  I'm good at it!  Labels make my life work.

We use labels to help us tell what's inside a container, or who it belongs to, or which category it fits in.  This works when we are talking about extra clothes for daycare or the unidentified frozen vegetable awaiting it's future in a bread or dessert - even my blog posts are labeled (ahem!).  But, do labels really work where people are concerned?  I think NOT!

If you've read my blog, you know that I am seeking a spiritual place and a spiritual peace that my traditional, Lutheran church is no longer providing.  I've been exploring Buddhism.  Not to convert; rather, because I am attracted to yoga and meditation as spiritual sustenance (not exercise).  I'm attracted to the connectedness found in nature and the introspective exploration in search of the divine.  I've been attending a Unitarian Universalist church because I am attracted to the open and inclusive way of being.  I love that the UU church espouses an understanding that we are all right, we are all going to heaven, and we all have our own responsibility to discover our spiritual path (a little simply stated to be honest).

This journey began because I find myself to be surrounded by labels - good Christian, bad Christian, non-Christian, Catholic (stated as though it doesn't belong within the Christian label).  Saved. Non-denominational.  Liturgical.  Non-liturgical.  Theological.  Each label assigned with it's perceived degree of worth.

http://www.humanism.org.uk/bus-campaign

The journey continues as I struggle with how to label myself spiritually.  I've heard the term eclectic.  I like that term.  I wonder if I'll find a community of eclectics searching for the same spiritual depth as I.  I wonder if we can worship together.

In the midst of the cloud cover created by these labels, I discover a tiny, thriving blossom of peace in a student today - student leader I've come to know well the last three plus years.  He spoke today of a spiritually-wise Solomon who posited that these labels mean nothing (worldly possessions are meaningless; only what God gives us matters).  

Then another blossom of hope - a student leader who writes the diversity column in the student newspaper.  He reminded me that labels are hurtful weapons used by many to survive and excel in this game we call Life.  He challenged students to discover themselves underneath the labels and express themselves for who they are - diverse and divine.

Then I think, this future generation "gets it" much better than mine, or the generation before me, or the generation before that.  I take a deep breath, breathing in the peace and hope that they gifted me.  And I breathe out those damn labels!