The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning PDF
Preview The Spirituality of Imperfection: Storytelling and the Search for Meaning
think this book comes closer to the real 'I meaning ofspirituality than anything I've looked at in the last twentyyears." —John Bradshaw THE f^ SPIRITUALITY STORYTELLING AND THE JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS C%NEST /3TjRTZ AuthoroiNot-—God AND ^ ^. ^etcham Catherine PRAISE FOR THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION "A brilliant anthology of wisdom stories from all the great traditions centered around a most compelling and discerning issue." — M. Scott Peck "Filled with the fruits ofcompassionate wisdom, this book is a heartfelt understanding of our humanity that awakens and heals." — Jack Kornfield, author of Stories ofthe Spirit, Stories ofthe Heart and A Path with Heart "The stories you tell may save someone's life. . . . The Spiri- tuality ofImperfection is aimed at . . . anyone interested in an age-old tradition of spiritual literature that asks the hard questions of the human condition." — Asheville Citizen-Times Digitized by the Internet Archive 2012 in http://archive.org/details/spiritualityofimOOkurt The Spirituality Imperfection STORYTELLING AND THE JOURNEY TO WHOLENESS Ernest Kurtz and Katherine Ketcham BANTAM BOOKS New York Toronto London Sydney Auckland To all who have, over the years, told us stories but . . . most ofall to Ricnard Quinn, Robert MacNamara, Mar- vin Becker, Loren Baritz, Frank Freidel, Oscar Handlin, and William R. Hutchison, who taught us that history is the greatest story. THE SPIRITUALITY OF IMPERFECTION A Bantam Book PUBLISHING HISTORY Bantam hardcover edition published May 1992 Bantam tradepaperback edition/January 1994 Forpermissions, please seepage294. All rights reserved. Copyright © 1992 by Ernest Kurtz, Ph.D., and Katherine Ketcham. Book design by Kathryn Parise. Library ofCongress Catalog Card Number: 91-41088 Nopart ofthis book mav be reproduced or transmitted in anyform or by any means, electronic or mechanical includingphotocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from thepublisher. For information address: Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-37132-0 Published simultaneously in the UnitedStates and Canada Bantam Books arepublished by Bantam Books, a division ofBantam Doubleday Dell Publishing Group, Inc. Its trademark, consisting ofthe words "Bantam Books" and theportrayal ofa rooster, is Registered in U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and in other countries. Marca Rcgistrada. Bantam Books, 1540 Broadway, New York, New York 10036. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BVG 9 8 7 CONTENTS A Note to the Reader vii An Introduction The Story of Spirituality 1 Part One TH E ROOTS OF WISP M 11 1 The Fragrance ofa Rose 15 2 Beyond the Ordinary 30 3 The Reality of Limitation 42 4 A Sense of Balance 56 5 Experiencing the Spiritual 68 6 Shared Vision, Shared Hope 82 Part Two THE DISCOVERIES OF A LC OHOLICS ANONYM U S 99 7 Spirituality Is Essential ... but Different 105 8 Not Magic, but Miracle 118 CONTENTS 9 An Open-Ended Spirituality 130 10 A Pervasive Spirituality 144 Part Three EXPER IENCING SPIRITUALITY 157 11 Release 163 12 Gratitude 175 13 Humility 185 14 Tolerance 197 15 Forgiveness 213 16 Being-at-Home 227 Notes 245 Index 285 VI NOTE TO THE READER A — This book retells over one hundred stories. These stories the stories — that tell spirituality's story came to us first by hearing. Some stories we first heard in school, or in church; some were told by a loved grandparent or a favorite aunt or uncle; and others, as we grew older, were shared by friends or acquaintances. In the process ofresearching — those stories exploring sources, examining different versions, look- — ing for ways ofmaking them more available to our readers we came across a few "new" anecdotes, but the majority ofthe tales we re-tell have their first source in memories . . . memories of hearing that awaken yet other memories of living. Some readers, with different memories, will recall different render- ings of some of these stories; there are many favorite tellings of any tale. But, in truth, there are no new stories. Stories become "new" to us when something in our own experience makes us ready to hear them. Story-listening requires a childlike wisdom that combines inno- cence and experience, and no one can be both innocent and experi- enced in the presence of every story. And so not every reader will "get" every story, at least not "right away." Story, like the spirituality that it conveys, cannot be commanded or forced; it must float loosely within its vehicle, the better to lodge in each hearer's individual spirit. One spiritual teacher cautions: "If you respect your listeners enough to tell the story, respect them enough to let them draw their own conclusions." And another master began one ofhis books with a story that consoles anyone who must confront the impossibility of "explaining" story: vn A NOTE TO THE READER A disciple once complained, "You tell us stories, but you never reveal their meaning to us." Said the master, "Howwould you like it ifsomeone offered you fruit and chewed it up before giving it to you?" No one can find your meaning for you. Not even the master/ *The noteson sourcesand related comments generallyappear in the backofthe book, begin- ningonpage245.Thefirstquotation hereisfromWilliamR.White,SpeakinginStories(Minne- apolis: Augsburg, 1982), p. 20; the final story in the Introduction is adapted from Anthony de Mello, The Songofthe Bird(New York: Doubleday-Image, 1982), p. 1. Vlll
The list of books you might like
