So What?

The American Idol results are in, and once again the wrong person won.

Of course, it doesn't really matter. American Idol and things like it are a huge distraction from real life - but I'm not at all convinced we don't need a distraction now and again. Some spiritual teachers, I call them frustrated purists, suggest that we must engage unfiltered reality all the time - every moment of every day. Most will allow that such a perspective is easier in the monastery that for folks living in the world, and I agree - but I also have serious doubts about whether monastic enclosures, and especially cloistered monastic enclosures, represent living in reality or whether they are little more than another form of distraction. While it is certainly an acceptable choice, I'm not convinced that monastics (whom I have deep respect for, by the way) are qualified to comment on what constitutes fully engaged spirituality. While monastic life brings with it a unique set of difficulties, they aren't the difficulties of family, employment, bill paying, child rearing, and unexpected car breakdowns that aren't in the budget that most of us living in society have to cope with.

I'd like to suggest that distractions such as American Idol and similar programs can actually be a part of a healthy spiritual life, providing we keep them in perspective. Mind you, they don't take the place of intentional spiritual practice, but I have severe reservations about whether a spirituality that is ignorant of contemporary culture (or, what passes for culture) is very functional. A certain amount of mindless entertainment can actually help a person relax and clear the mind for time spent in meditation, spiritual reading, and prayer, even if the guy who wins looks like Alfred E. Newman and George W. Bush's love child. That having been said, six hours of television or more every day (the American average) isn't distraction, it's addiction.

For those of us who are called to live in society - the vast majority of humanity, by the way - it's not realistic to expect we will live the same kind of lives that cloistered folk do. In the same way, it's unrealistic to expect that cloistered folk have the new Lady Gaga album on their Ipod. A healthy spirituality is one that is appropriate to the lives we find ourselves leading. The assertions of some spiritual teachers notwithstanding, it is just as possible to develop a healthy spirituality while living in society - even if we can't afford to go on retreat and watch American Idol. The grist for the spiritual mill is life itself, however it may find us.

Oh, and American Idol? Winning hardly guarantees commercial success, as just about every winner except Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, and Jordan Sparks can attest. On the other hand Chris Daughtry, Jennifer Hudson, Kellie Pickler and others who "lost" are doing just fine, thank you. You see, it's not real. Reality is what happens over the next three years, and you can be perfectly spiritual as you watch and wait with me for James Durbin's first album.