Milton Magazine - Milton Academy

Second, the chapel program is about personaland spiritual exploration. Studentsor adults in the community can share withtheir peers a reflection of their own, basedon an idea, their spiritual experiences, oran observation about some reading. Aschaplain, I would like the chapel programat Milton to mirror the work that is accomplishedin the classroom—an engaged,critical, personal questioning of what weread, study and experience. Spiritualityis the process of figuring out what giveseach individual a sense of meaning andpurpose. This practice is not limited to thefollowing of one religion, but rather mayextend to all parts of our lives.Third, the chapel program is about community.Sunday evening is the only timethat the boarding community gathers asone group (or two groups, as the case maybe). Chapel gives us a chance to share aspace that is focused on reflection andtogetherness. While each individual mayget something different out of the experience,there is meaning and power insimply dedicating a separate time to communityand being in each other’s presencefor the sake of exploring what gives us, asindividuals and a community, meaning inour lives.Suzanne DeBuhrInterfaith ChaplainFour ExcerptsChapel talks by Suzanne DeBuhr,2007–2008On the search forpersonal spirituality,the role of inquiryI directed my energies to questioning inan attempt to find answers. Since I was incollege, it seemed natural to accomplishthis through academic study—throughreading philosophy, reading holy texts,studying Buddhism and learning the historyof Christian theology. I wanted tofigure out the truth—truth with a capital“T.” In a way, academic study became myspiritual path. I believed that through acommitment to learning in the pursuit ofmy questions, I would eventually discoverthe answer. Although every class I tookand every book I read certainly helped toincrease my knowledge base, overall, theyfrequently upset my purpose. Not only wasI no closer to the answers, I felt farther andfarther away instead, being consumed bymore and more questions. Every questionseemed to lead to another question.Now what, you may ask, makes questioninga spiritual endeavor? I think it is acombination of the intent of the questionsand the motivation for inquiry.Questioning is spiritual when it involvesthe elements of wonder and mystery, whenthe questions seek to discover somethingthat is beyond the objective world. Weask spiritual questions when the answersare not evident through observation orexperimentation. In addition, I think wemust ask yet another question: Why am Iseeking these particular questions relatingto wonder and mystery? For me, the motivationis personal. I want to discover whatgives me meaning and purpose. I want tobe aware of how I perceive the world andhow best I can be effective within it.On the search forpersonal spirituality,the role of experienceDarkness is a common theme in spiritualwritings, as well as among the spiritualpaths of various religions. Indeed, religionsoften offer a solution to the sufferingthat seems innate to human nature. As aspiritual metaphor, darkness is associatedwith negative feelings; it can mean evil,danger or suffering. It is often correlatedwith the unknown. Darkness seems tomake us feel closed in, while light opensus up. Darkness makes it difficult to knowwhere we are going, but light allows usto clearly see the path we are following.Paradoxically, we often need the darkmoments to decipher what our pathsneed to be. Suffering tends to force us tofigure out how to endure difficult timesand, in the process, discover what givesus strength and provides meaning in themost uncertain moments.Milton Magazine 11