 SPIRITUALITY
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Laughing Matter Who or what is God to you? Claiming that she's “never felt I had a buff spirituality,” author Julia Cameron lives with her “spiritual cellulite.” She says, “maybe a few spiritual lumps and tiny little bulges are normal and we should all just go swimming anyway.” Past readers will embrace the charitable, lighthearted tone of her 14th book, God is No Laughing Matter. Cameron is the wildly popular author of the best-selling The Artist's Way. Her latest volume is arranged in a series of 68 short (two to four pages) essays peppered with such provocative titles as “Buddha Pests,” “Spiritual Vampires,” “New Age Rage,” and “Dope Dealer God,” alongside less witty topics like Grief, Clearing, Visions and Believing. A combination of prose, poetry, exercises and experiments, this text is a blessed relief for those of us who worry we aren't doing spirituality right. Aiming to help readers demystify and reframe their definition of spirituality, she promotes such accessible activities as walking, dancing and writing as authentic spiritual expression. A strong theme throughout the book is the clear message that each of us is already spiritual without having to work to become spiritual. Her message that we need only to remember that God is within and “open an inner door to make contact” is comforting. And, like her advice in “The Artist's Way,” Cameron extols us to embrace those things we love, to uncover our passions as a “way to pursue our spiritual pilgrimage.” One chapter on “Higher Companions” reminds us that Christ was in communion with twelve apostles. She calls these kindred seekers “believing mirrors,” and says that in order to “bear our spiritual fruits, we require believing mirrors.” Indeed, helping each other along the path is a sure way to manifest our own and another's miracles. A sample exercise is to uncover our “booster rockets” is to draw a circle. Inside that circle, draw another smaller circle. Draw an even smaller circle inside that. Write the names of your friends in the circle that is most appropriate to their spiritual value to you. Then, acknowledge their importance in your life by sending them appreciative notes that honor their gifts. I also enjoyed a chapter called “You're Too Smart for all of That God Stuff,” which pokes at the intellectual constructs many of us adopted as we gained education. She admonishes us to “try and meet God” instead of discussing and criticizing. She asks us to consider whether our intellect interferes with our spiritual life, and challenges us to develop spiritual techniques “to get out of our heads and into our hearts.” This chapter really rang true for me and got me to consider the relative worth of spiritual arguments. Her piece called “Teachers” reminds us that spiritual teachers are found not just in ashrams or monasteries but in many walks of life: a hairdresser, a parent, a musician. “A great teacher is one who practices what he or she preaches and may preach very little, if at all.” In “Disappointment,” Cameron illuminates the critical difference between a “spiritual tonic” and “spiritual toxin.” In “God's Will,” the liberating concept that a spiritual awakening is not a somber route, but rather could signal the beginning of rekindled dreams and “the fun is just beginning.” Cameron's God loves to cha-cha. In “Believing,” she says that she holds “an intricate, interconnected, and supportive universe where desires are prayers and prayers are answered if we are willing to see.” A practice of meditation with God - however God looks and feels to you - helps you remember that. “A faith is a faith that works for you,” she reminds us, stamping with approval our own uniqueness. Cameron is often tart and unorthodox, and much of her breezy writing charms. I laughed out loud at this passage called “My Funny Valentine:” My language swerves from bad to worse. I need a God who lets me curse. She even skewers the concept that acceptance is always the right spiritual answer. What if, for example, “a hostile boss is not a chance for us to work on our patience and oversensitivity but a chance to look for a new job?” Sometimes we need not a “spiritual star but a whack on the butt!” She also punctures the premise that spiritual hardship is superior to ease. Wow! The gift of this volume is that it is deceptively simple in conveying its message that we don't have to take spirituality so seriously, especially as her common-sense approach exhorts us to ask “what if” in a most freeing way. She counsels us that instead of longing to make dramatic changes we can humbly work on smaller, seemingly trivial states of mind, thus shifting our attitudes. Which, in the end, may be the best way to invite God into your life. Suzanne
Wright is a freelance commercial writer and marketing communications
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