Jims of Wyzdom, July 27, 2018

Honoring a Great Teacher: Looking through some books at home recently, I came on my small collection of books by Huston Smith, author of The World’s Religions. Amazon had also send an email (as they do oh, so frequently) suggesting a new book of Prof. Smith’s essays. It made me wonder if he was still alive. Last I knew he was in a nursing home in Berkeley, CA in his mid-90’s. So I looked him up and found that he had passed away in December, 2016 at age 97. I was sad but not surprised. This great teacher had influenced my thinking at exactly the time I needed some guidance on all things spiritual. We started going to Chautauqua about 30 years ago and for one memorable year, we heard Huston Smith speak at the afternoon interfaith lectures. We had already been introduced to him through a wonderful series hosted by Bill Moyers, “The Wisdom of Faith with Huston Smith.” He explained his explorations of world religious thought by going to most places in the world that generated these faiths. Out of that, and teaching classes at prestigious universities, he wrote The World’s Religions, still the standard text in religious courses and seminaries.

About 25 years ago, when I was doing research for a text on world theater, I realized that in every case, religion had played an essential part in the theater and dramatic literature of peoples around the world. I turned to Smith’s book as sufficient source material to introduce students to the basics of Judaism, Islam, Buddhism, Zen, Christianity, and indigenous peoples of Africa and North America.

Huston Smith started a revolution in my own thinking, inspired by his embrace of many faith traditions to guide himself. He once said that the Upanishads, a singular East Indian text, was, perhaps, the best of all scriptures. By listening to Smith at Chautauqua, we were also introduced to the work of Karen Armstrong, a prolific scholar and author of many books that dig deep into the Abrahamic faith traditions (Jewish, Christian, Muslim). Karen spoke often at Chautauqua…and that, of course, lead to the discovery of retired Episcopal Bishop John Shelby Spong, whose theological views have been written down in nearly 25 books that serve as teachings for progressive thinkers on religion.

I could go on and on about these great thinkers, but I did want to acknowledge Smith’s life and contributions. You can find out more about him via Amazon or from his own web page…just Google him. His own biography is one of the best I’ve ever read.

A man ninety years old was asked to what he attributed his longevity. “I reckon,” he said, with a twinkle in his eye, “ it’s because most nights I went to bed and slept when I should have sat up and worried.” [Writer Dorothea Kent]

To every man is given the key to the gates of heaven; the same key opens the gates of hell. [Physicist Richard P. Feynman]

Age doesn’t matter unless you’re a cheese!

Just Jim