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Is it hard to be a spiritual writer in a world that is becoming more and more hostile to Christianity? The only true answer is yes. For a long time we have been spoiled. We have had the blessing of living in a country that not only guaranteed religious freedom, but encouraged church attendance and family values. That is not the country we live in today. Being born in the fifties, I was born into an economic upturn. We moved from cramped corners in the city to grow in the sprawling suburbs. Most families attended the Christian church of their choice. Others attended thriving synagogues. Catholic schools were affordable and available and most Catholic children attended at least the eight years of Grammar school to learn their faith and be grounded in their heritage.

The sixties and seventies changed all that. I was a teenager during the Cultural Revolution and the ensuing turmoil of those years. Many of the changes were good like civil rights for all Americans. However, part of the Cultural Revolution was an introduction to sin and evil. American society, often through violent anti-war movements and changes in educational focus, seemed at times to be imploding on itself. As if the cultural changes weren’t hard enough for the World War II generation to understand, Vatican II for better or worse was changing the comfort of the one institution that was a steady anchor for many. It was mass confusion and we are still reeling from the fallout of the moral explosion that happened. The changes were happening so fast and our former ways were melting before our eyes. Most of us had little time to comprehend what was happening and how to fight the evil changes, while discerning the good changes. Yes! It was about time we had racial equality. No! It was wrong to remove the right to life for the unborn child.  Yes! Women deserved equal pay for equal work. No! Birth control was not about liberating women but allowing men to abuse women and be irresponsible for the consequences. The changes were an earthquake – shaking the very foundation of faith beneath us.

Suddenly, Catholics found themselves living in a very ‘politically correct’ and liberal society. The new society hates and tries to silence anyone who has a different world viewpoint. The martyrdom of thousands of Christians in Africa or the Middle East barely gets mentioned on the news, replaced by reports of discrimination of Gays and transvestites.  Colleges that used to be places of free speech and hotbeds of controversy, now only tolerate the secular and atheistic arrogance of the new America. The media seems to belittle those of faith and portrays the religious who think differently as uneducated throwbacks who are not to be tolerated.  We have become marginalized. And I don’t think it is going to get better soon. Next week I will be writing a review of the novel Death Panels by Michelle Buckman. It portrays a grim future for the new America.

Truly we need to look at our own personal and institutional sin that has left us vulnerable to attack.  The fundamentalist movement has almost decimated the Protestant churches. It misinterprets much of Christ’s teachings. It portrays God as a harsh punishing God who places anyone and everyone who deviates from their Bible teachings as someone who (no matter how good or kind) is going straight to hell. It offers instant forgiveness of sin without reparation. It condemns Catholics, Jews, Muslims and everyone different from themselves as people who need to be ‘saved.’ It even believes that God would put those who never heard of Jesus, but live according to the tenets of their own cultural faith as slated to eternal damnation. Is this a Christ that you recognize? I personally don’t know what would be worse – being in a room filled with supercilious atheists, or a room full of arrogant Christian fundamentalists. People like the Westborough Baptists give the media fodder for bashing us all.

We Catholics have our own problems. The rash and exposure of pedophile priests although relatively small in number has given us a black eye. The cover-up of the problem has created a storm of misinformation, deserved guilt and shame for the true faith. Remembering what Jesus taught about those who would harm children, I still struggle to pray for those who perpetrated and hid this institutional sin. And while I have numerous suspicions about who may have infiltrated the church to destroy it, like many who have left the church, I struggle most with the cover-up. Whatever the truth, we have handed the enemy a weapon that has hurt the faithful and discouraged many. By sin, we have weakened our position. I pray that Pope Francis lifts us by his spiritually and clear-cut Gospel message.

However, we as spiritual writers find that we are no longer in the mainstream. We are rejected by publishers, the media and the literary world. We are often told that if we want to ‘sell’ we should be stealth. We should hide who we are. We are marginalized, no longer living in a welcoming country.  We find ourselves in the desert, as if we should be ashamed of Jesus. We are tempted by all three of the same temptations that Jesus faced in his forty days in the desert – riches, power and fame. And while we have been blessed to live in a world of self-publishing and a rebirth of Catholic literature and publishing, we remain relegated to the fringes of our society.

It occurred to me that the twelve steps of A.A. have often been adapted to strengthen and support those who need spiritual balance to overcome problems. There are twelve-step programs to help anyone who wants to cleanse their soul, find God’s will and remain faithful to principles that lift them from a life of despair, addiction and temptation. In the next few months, I will share the way that living and working the twelve steps can booster us as spiritual writers in a pagan world. Come take the journey with me as we follow and work “The Twelve Steps of Spiritual Writing.”

Karen Kelly Boyce lives on a farm in N.J. with her retired husband. She is a mother and grandmother. She is the author of “The Sisters of the Last Straw” series published by Tan Books. You can see her work and learn more about her on her website: www,kkboyce.com

6 Replies to “The Twelve Steps of being a Spiritual Writer – Introduction”

  1. Karen, I’m thrilled that you are writing an article on this — and not just one post but a series! I await the next installment! Thanks so much!

  2. Thank you Karen. Born in 1947, I also lived through the changes you mentioned – indeed, participated in them. I don’t think any of us imagined the sad fall out. I am often reminded of the film “The Wonderful Life” where the hero imagines a future “Pottersville” where greed and immorality run rampant, people are increasingly isolated and hardened. Sometimes it seems as though Pottersville has arrived.
    Yet there are, as you note, signs of hope and redemption (as there always are) – new sensitivity to questions about the death penalty, the growing core of young people who oppose abortion, a new openness to different types of people, greater inclusion for the disabled, the hope many Catholics & non-Catholics find in Pope Francis. Here in the South, the increasingly positive relationship among Evangelicals, Catholics, and Jews makes for vibrant faith communities with growing parishes and the opening of new Catholic schools.
    I look forward to reading about the twelve steps!!! Blessings.

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