God, religion, and the Zen of Emerson

A dose of wisdom from Concord

I am not one to disparage the word “religious.” It’s a word I use a lot and in a positive sense. Frankly, I prefer it to “spiritual,” which strikes me as vague – which, I suspect, may be one reason it’s preferred by so many (it’s so preciously noncommital). “Religion” (religio in Latin), however, is a sturdy word; Joseph Campbell and others have argued that it derives from religare, meaning to “bind again” or “reconnect.” If so, its meaning is similar to yoga, which means “yoking” or “union” (and, of course, we are reminded here of Jesus’ saying, “Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me” – Matthew 11:29). Cicero, on the other hand, associated it with relegere, meaning to “choose carefully” (literally, “re-read” or “go over [it] again”). Whatever its etymology, its meaning involves an engagement of intellect and will, suggestive of commitment and discipline. It’s little wonder that it became associated with monasticism in the Latin west.