THE SECULAR AND THE SACRED

I was in Bonn, Germany and my soul had been sucked dry. On the one hand I had just experienced a marvelous uplifting and satisfying week. I had trained some 45 psychiatrists, psychologists and counselors in an intensive human relationships workshop. We had focused on parenting philosophies and skills. We did role-plays, guided recalls and reflective listening.

There was confrontation and there was win-win problem solving.

It was all both intellectually stimulating and energy draining. And it was marked by a surprising secularity. While the training was not designed to be religious in nature I was struck by how persistently issues of ultimate value, of God, of religious training of children, or even personal statements of faith seemed to be the one area not to be discussed. The message I got was that modern educated and sophisticated Germans had moved beyond the superstitions of God and faith.

At the end of the training I had to finalize a business contract. The person in charge seemed suspicious of me and on the defensive regarding what he thought were unreasonable demands.

So I was washed out, physically, intellectually, and spiritually.
Nevertheless, the Sunday afternoon was the only time I had left to visit near-by Cologne and its marvelous cathedral. So I got on the train and went. The very architecture of the cathedral is inspiring. Its lofted towers carry one’s spirit heavenward.

Inside, the incredible organ sent forth marvelous Bach fugues. People actually came for worship, standing, filling up the nave. I soon understood why they came. The German preacher was articulate, obviously well educated and a speaker of great power. To this day, 30 years later, I recall his message, “The Possibility, Yet the Verity of Life After Death.” That’s what I needed. There is hope beyond the immediate. There are possibilities beyond the problem. There is life after life. There is a spiritual dimension that exceeds and excels the purely secular.