Dear Marion,

As I review our most recent exchange, - and I apologize for my inability
to refrain from doing so, - I conclude that the salient psychological
issue is not whether "spirituality" is inward or outward, but whether
it is individual or social, private or public. And on this score, I
find persistent and pervasive contradiction in our cultural-religious
traditions.

Arguably if man is made in God's image, then monotheism is the most
persuasive of arguments for unique and individual personality as the
controlling characteristic of human nature. On the other hand, the 
primacy of language in human affairs, its origin in society and its
conclusive expression in law, are strong evidence that spirituality
is social. Why can't it be both, individual and social. Why should
it have to be one or the other?

Arguably the emphasis on individuality may be construed as function
and consequence of a progressively increasing density of population,
which we all experience as the need to escape from the city into the
country. Crowds become oppressive, and the "Romantic" spirit in each
of us longs for solitude....

Jochen