Talk will examine small signs of God

If you don't find spiritual messages in belly buttons, bubble gum, contact lenses or cars, it might be time to attend the upcoming Complementary Therapies Conference in Albany.

At the April 12 conference, sponsored by the Center for Complementary Therapies at St. Mary's Hospital in Amsterdam and the hospital auxiliary, Dr. Drew Leder will give a keynote on "Seeking the Sacred in Our Daily Lives." The topic is taken from his new book, "Sparks of the Divine."

Those sparks, said the author and philosophy professor at Loyola College in Maryland, can be found in the most mundane objects people encounter in their daily lives.

'Divine light'

Dr. Leder began considering this idea a few years ago. He noted that in Kabbalah, the mystical branch of Judaism, a story is told that when God created the world, "the divine light He emanated was so intense that it shattered the vessels containing it. The light fragmented into divine sparks which fell to earth."

The author believes this "sacred energy" is still present all around us -- particularly in nature. He pointed out that people often have "little epiphanies" about life while relaxing by a forest or ocean.

"There is something that happens to us when we get into a natural setting," he asserted. "There's a different kind of beauty or temporal rhythm" there.

Nature and God

Dr. Leder recalled that when he worked with inmates in maximum-security prisons, exploring the nature of violence, he would watch their whole demeanor change when they encountered even a small aspect of Mother Nature.

"If there was a single tree in the [prison] yard or they had contact with a pet, you could see how their spirits lifted," he said, adding: "I'm a New York City kid who grew up in the middle of Manhattan. I believe you can find these sparks of the divine in the urban world, too."

But often, Dr. Leder said, people lose track of the fact that sacredness is all around them.

"We live in a culture that's very materialistic in its focus. We've come to see nature as a kind of lifeless resource for our use," he explained. "We're also extremely busy, and the kind of experiences I'm talking about need a pause. We're utilitarian and want to cross things off our list and move from point A to point B."

Small signs

If people begin to look for "sacred sparks," Dr. Leder thinks they'll find them even in small objects -- like the passenger seats of cars, for example.

"There's a difference between being the driver and sliding over to the passenger seat and being taken for a ride," he pointed out.

On our spiritual journey through life, "we like to think we're sitting in the driver's seat, but God takes over the wheel and takes us down a side road. If we let it happen, we'll end up at a better destination."

Easter thoughts

Easter is another time to look for sparks of the divine. Dr. Leder noted that the lighting of candles at the Easter Vigil Mass speaks to being "reilluminated by the Resurrection, the flame in the midst of darkness."

Resurrection, he added, is also a good theme for this time of year, since the coming of spring brings new life in nature.

In "Sparks of the Divine," Dr. Leder teaches readers how to look for the sacred in objects ranging from their own navels to bubble gum. He joked that his upcoming keynote might be the cure for what he calls "Ecstasy Deficiency Disease" (EDD), noting: "Our body and soul suffer when we don't have a sense of the mystical, the ecstatic. Depression, stress, anxiety disorders -- they're symptoms of the way we feel cut off from the wider circles of meaning and beauty."

(The Complementary Therapies Conference will be April 12, 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., at the Holiday Inn Turf, Albany. It will include exhibits on such therapies as healing touch. Fee: $100. Call Sister Rita Jean DuBrey, CSJ, 841-7146.)

(3/24/05)