The notion of a
spirituality of subtraction comes from Meister Eckhart (c.1260-1327), the
medieval Dominican mystic. He said the spiritual life has much more to do with
subtraction than it does with addition. Yet I think most Christians today are
involved in great part in a spirituality of addition.
The capitalist
worldview is the only one most of us have ever known. We see reality,
experiences, events, other people, and things—in fact, everything—as objects for
our personal consumption. Even religion, Scripture, sacraments, worship
services, and meritorious deeds become ways to advance ourselves—not necessarily
ways to love God or neighbor.
The nature of
the capitalist mind is that things (and often people!) are there for
me. Finally, even God becomes an object for my consumption. Religion
looks good on my résumé, and anything deemed “spiritual” is a check on my
private worthiness list. Some call it spiritual consumerism. It is not the
Gospel.
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