| "Spirituality is the language of the next milenium. Ignorance was the language of the last two milenia." Carlos Santana.
The musician and composer Carlos Santana aims his music at spirituality, which, in his words, "goes beyond religion and politics" to what is natural for every man and woman.
The natural outcome of spirituality is ecstasy. Ecstasy comes from two Latin words: ex (out of) and sta-re (to stand). Ecstasy is "standing out of" ourselves in the thrilling presence of a Reality beyond the confines of our narrowly defined universe.
Spirituality is the movement of the human spirit towards authentic freedom and union. If we lived in a world devoid of sin, then spirituality would come naturally to all people who have the human capacity to feel spiritual hunger. Spirituality and its outcome Ecstasy are the work of liberation. When we relieve oppression and establish justice, we help every man, woman and child achieve equal opportunity to their natural birthright.
There has been a variety of spiritual paths that transcend any given religion. Some are more readily adaptable than others to the modern world or individual circumstance. Some are more dramatic (i.e., obviously countercultural) whereas others are not as obvious (but still are countercultural). What is unique about liberation spirituality is its necessarily revolutionary character. Liberation spirituality explicitly denounces forces in society that oppress the human spirit and deliberately embraces the countercultural necessity of the human quest.
Religious tradition witnesses a spirituality where "the world" is clearly denied in order to gain a more direct access to the spiritual, either individually (i.e., the hermit) or communally (monastically). Liberation spirituality, however, neither is an enemy of the world nor seeks an alternate reality "not of this world." Rather, liberation spirituality is passionately committed to the world. Liberation spirituality does not look beyond people or the human condition to a "higher plane" of being. Rather, it embraces what Freire refers to as "the ontological and historical vocation to be more fully human."
History witnesses spiritual heroes who have embraced the indwelling of God in creation. There is the spirituality of Martin de Porres, which celebrates the menial; of John Muir, which contemplates nature; of Ghandi, which reveres public service; of Martin Luther King, Jr., a spirituality of witnessing. The theologian Tielhard de Chardin, considering "the sanctification of human endeavor" in his work The Divine Milieu, writes " there is a sense in which Christ is at the tip of my pen, my spade, my brush, my needle...of my heart and of my thought..."
"Accommodation spirituality" opposes revolutionary spirituality. What accommodation spirituality conforms to is oppression. It is the spirituality of acceptance of one's lot in life and focus on a future, otherworldly life that will compensate for all one endures in this life. Those people who stand to gain from the oppression of the human spirit find that accommodation spirituality quite meets their needs for control and advantage. The church, throughout the centuries, concerned more about power than liberation, fostered and recommended an accommodation spirituality. Interestingly enough, many saints that emerged were spiritual rebels! Francis of Assissi ,and a whole list of martyrs, including Thomas Beckett and Joan of Arc, are just of few examples. And in recent years there are the saints canonized in peoples' hearts but not yet officially recognized, like John XXIII, Bishop Oscar Romero, and Cesar Chavez.
Liberation spirituality is a spirituality of service, action and solidarity. The liberation process involves stages of denunciation, discovery, and, finally, communion and commitment. What is denounced is the world of oppression of the human spirit – hence, its liberating character. What is discovered is the spiritual self direction inherent in the nature of men and women. Finally liberation spirituality is communion and commitment.
The etymological roots of the words communion and community imply action and not static being. Community (co-munire) means "building together." The commitment, then, is for a reality realizable with faith, hope and love.
Recent years have seen several martyrs who dedicated themselves to a spirituality of liberation. Ignacio Martín-Baro, who co-founded liberation psychology and was one of El Salvador’s murdered Jesuits, described spirituality for him with the words, "The concern of the social scientist should not be to explain the world but to transform it." Bishop Oscar Romero, killed while presiding at the Eucharistic liturgy, summarized liberation spirituality in his statement "I find my glory in the midst of my people".
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