Ditching Spiritual Etiquette?
Often our contemporary spiritual etiquette is framed by sterile devotion. The spirituality we know, and frequently reject, is nice. Offering safe and sometimes formulaic prayers, we find our devotion ends not by gaining an audience with the Almighty, but in our giving up. We offer prayer, act morally, pay our dues, and it seems, walk away empty. Feeling the bankruptcy of our own prayers, we cash in our chips ... convinced faith doesn’t work. But for generations, the Psalms (and their stories) have invited people to a messy, muddled journey of faith that is far more engaging than our self-imposed pious standards allow, a journey that promises to be as unsettling as it is comforting.