Author and religion scholar Diana Butler Bass will be the featured speaker during the "Insights: A Series of Lectures and Talks" program Thursday at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Little Rock.
Bass will discuss her latest book, Grounded: Finding God in the World -- A Spiritual Revolution, in which she confronts the question "Where is God?" It's a question asked by children and adults alike, especially after a traumatic event or a loss. Is God in some lofty realm set apart from His people or is He "with us." And, if He is "with us," where are people finding God today?
"This is a really important question," Bass said.
In Grounded, Bass makes the case that people are finding God in and through nature and also through the lives of their neighbors. She believes that despite polls proclaiming the decline of religion and the rise of the "nones" -- those who claim no religious affiliation -- there is a spiritual awakening underway.
"There is still a very strong, resilient number of Americans who believe in God and significant numbers who say they have spiritual experiences that provide them with meaning and wonder," Bass said. "People still believe in God and they appear to have more deep and personal connections."
Bass said she finds one statistic especially interesting -- the percentage of Americans who say they have had a spiritual or mystical experience. In the original 1962 poll by Gallup 22 percent said they'd had such an experience. In a 2009 poll by the Pew Research Center asking the same question that number had climbed to 49 percent.
"I was born in 1959 and in my lifetime the number of people who say they have had a spiritual or mystical experience has doubled," Bass said. "What that means to me is it's indicative of a deep cultural change in which spiritual experience is widely spread and deeply felt."
Bass said this shows that there is a "shifting conception of God" and that people are searching for a more personal relationship with Him.
"That's where people are. They feel like God is personal," she said.
One way that people are finding God is through nature, as Bass does. She acknowledges that some Christians are uncomfortable with the "finding God in nature" language.
"But I think that's wonderful language," Bass said. God, she said, isn't confined within the walls of a church.
God can be found in the soil of the garden, by exploring a crystal-clear stream or while pondering the stars. God can also be found in family, friends and neighbors, and in the "global commons," she said.
In addition to writing, Bass is a speaker and a scholar specializing in religion and culture in the United States. She has a doctorate in religious studies from Duke University in Durham, N.C. She has taught religion classes on church history, Christian thought, religion and politics and more at colleges and universities across the country. She has written nine books, including Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening and A People's History of Christianity: The Other Side of the Story. She has also written for numerous publications.
The Insights program will begin with a reception for sponsors and patrons at 5:30 p.m. Bass will speak at 6:30 and a public reception will follow. Tickets are $25 for general seating or $100 for patron tickets (which include an invitation to the sponsors and patrons reception and reserved seating). Tickets are available online at insightsbutlerbass.eventbrite.com.
Trinity Episcopal Cathedral is at 310 W. 17th St. Information is available online at trinitylittleorck.org or by calling (501) 372-0294.
Religion on 02/13/2016