Richard J. Severson

Jesuit theologian Karl Rahner argued that only dogmas grounded in the mystery of God’s presence merit legitimacy.  He called this method of testing the worthiness of Church teachings reductio ad mysterium.  I wonder if there is a broader application of Rahner’s reductio argument.  What would be an equivalent kind of experience to the mystery of God’s presence that could satisfy the average person on the street who might consider himself/herself a spiritual person, but not a practitioner of Christianity or any other religion?

My guess is that the feeling of a broken heart is a bedrock spiritual experience that every person can understand.  I think it merits being called a “spiritual” experience (not strictly a psychological or biological experience) because a broken heart challenges us to rise above our circumstances, to think in a way that is symbolic, that makes peace with the paradox of life and loss.  By embracing the broken heart, we rise above our pain and the inexplicable/belittling circumstances that we encounter in life. 

To be broken hearted is a spiritual experience, a doorway to love, the metaphor par excellence of spiritual life.  It is the lifeblood of the soul to fortify itself with the invention of symbols and metaphors that grant us safe passage through difficult times.