Rafe Kelley | Training Our Bodies to Pursue the Highest Good
Dec 5, 2023
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Rafe Kelley, founder of Evolve Move Play, discusses the transformative benefits of physical fitness and embodied spiritual disciplines. Topics include counterculture upbringing, wrestling with pictures of Christ, modern gnosticism, physical participation in Christianity, navigating sexual ethics, original sin, finding shared pursuit, paganism, reflecting on Jordan Peterson, and becoming Christ-like.
Embodied spiritual practices, such as physical fitness and natural movement, can lead to transformative personal growth and character development.
Embodied spiritual formation emphasizes the importance of procedural, perspectival, and participatory knowledge gained through physical practices.
Myths and narratives play a crucial role in embodied spiritual formation, helping individuals understand their place in the world and orient themselves towards a shared moral good.
To create transformative experiences within traditional religious settings, it is crucial to incorporate practices that nurture virtues and integrate spiritual and philosophical elements.
Deep dives
The Power of Embodied Spiritual Formation
Embodied spiritual formation, such as physical fitness, natural movement, and mixed martial arts, can have transformative benefits. These practices allow individuals to connect their physical bodies with their character and moral development. By engaging in physical activities like rough and tumble play, individuals can experience personal growth and positive character transformation. This approach emphasizes the importance of the procedural, perspectival, and participatory knowledge gained through physical practices rather than solely relying on propositional knowledge. Cultivating a sense of meaning, love, and bonding through embodied practices can contribute to personal growth and the betterment of individuals and communities.
Moving Beyond Propositional Knowledge
Proponents of embodied spiritual formation recognize that simply accepting propositions and beliefs does not result in character transformation. Instead, experiences and physical practices play a significant role. By engaging in embodied practices, individuals can develop procedural knowledge, which enables them to act in alignment with their values. These practices also cultivate perspectival knowledge, allowing individuals to see the world from a different perspective and experience personal transformation. Through participatory knowledge, individuals develop a sense of self and become part of a community that shares similar values and aspirations. Embodied spiritual practices can help individuals connect their physical bodies, emotions, and spirits for personal growth and moral development.
The Role of Myth and Narrative
Myths and narratives play a crucial role in embodied spiritual formation. While different traditions have diverse narratives, the underlying value of following an intended way is often consistent across religious and spiritual practices. Myths provide narrative containers for eternal truths and are vehicles for transmitting wisdom and guidance through storytelling. These narratives help individuals understand their place in the world and orient themselves towards a shared moral good. It is important to acknowledge that not all spiritual traditions teach the same truth, but seeking the truth and living in accordance with ethical principles is key for personal growth and spiritual development.
Addressing the Tension of Human Nature
Embodied spiritual practices often involve physical touch and require creating an environment that fosters healing and safety. This acknowledges the tension and challenges posed by human nature, such as sexual promiscuity. It is crucial to establish boundaries and ethical guidelines to prevent abuse and uphold respectful relationships among participants. By nurturing trust, respect, and sexual responsibility, individuals can engage in transformative practices that promote personal growth, enhance communities, and help individuals develop virtues like commitment, integrity, and compassion.
The Transformative Power of Parkour
Parkour, as a physical practice, embodies virtues such as courage, resilience, and determination. For many young men, it offers a transformative experience, allowing them to become the best versions of themselves. However, as they grow older, they may find that parkour alone is not enough to fully transform their character and cultivate the virtues they seek. This often leads them on a spiritual quest, where they explore various philosophies and practices, including Christianity. The story of Christianity, with its emphasis on love, connects deeply with individuals who yearn for a higher purpose and a more comprehensive set of virtues. However, traditional Christian practices may not always provide the transformative power that people are seeking. As a result, individuals often turn to other physical practices, such as martial arts or nature connection, as complementary means to cultivate virtues and develop a more holistic character. The blending of philosophical practices, physical movement, and spiritual exploration offers a path towards falling more deeply in love with the world and becoming the human beings individuals aspire to be.
The Need for Cross-Domain Applicability
Many individuals, particularly men, struggle to find the same transformative experiences within traditional church settings that they find in other domains of life, such as athletics or martial arts. While some practices within Christianity may be deeply transformative, others lack cross-domain applicability, limiting their impact on character development. The challenge lies in finding practices that can translate across different areas of life and foster the virtues necessary for personal growth. The opponent processing and skill development that occur in sports can shape an individual's character in a way that allows them to navigate other domains with resilience, adaptability, and perseverance. To create transformative experiences within traditional religious settings, it is crucial to incorporate practices that nurture these virtues while integrating the spiritual and philosophical elements that resonate with individuals seeking a more holistic approach.
Balancing Rigorous Epistemology and Story Inhabitation
Embarking on a spiritual quest often involves a balance between rigorous scientific epistemology and the need to inhabit a story that provides meaning and transformation. While deep research into topics like play, connection to the natural world, philosophy, and Christianity can contribute to personal growth and connection to reality, it can be challenging to reconcile scientific rigor with story-based practices. The transformative power of stories, including religious narratives, lies in their ability to help individuals fall more deeply in love with the world and cultivate virtues that lead to personal transformation. Balancing scientific epistemology and story inhabitation requires a harmonious integration of philosophical practices, physical movement, and spiritual exploration. By embracing practices that promote love for the world and the ongoing pursuit of virtue, individuals can experience personal growth and navigate the tensions between scientific reasoning and story-based meaning-making.
Rafe Kelley, founder of Evolve Move Play, discusses the transformative benefits of physical fitness and embodied spiritual disciplines. He shares about his unique upbringing in the counterculture and how it has shaped his current interest in ancient Christian ideas and the intersection of myth and science. Rafe's work explores the value of physical discipline in character transformation.
He's been featured on Paul VanderKlay, John Vervaeke, Jordan B. Peterson, Jonathan Pageau, and many other podcasts.
Find out more about Rafe Kelley at:
https://www.evolvemoveplay.com/rafe-kelley/
Become a patron on Patreon and get bonus Q&A Episodes, resources, opportunities for live discussions on Zoom, and access to our community Discord server:
www.patreon.com/deeptalkstheologypodcast
Timestamps:
00:00 - Intro
02:27 - Rafe's unique upbringing
17:01 - Wrestling with our pictures of Christ
21:40 - Modern Gnosticism & the Proper Valuing of our Bodies
33:52 - Physical Participation in Pentecostal & Charismatic Christianity
39:20 - Navigating Sexual Ethics in Counterculture & Religious Communities
44:37 - Original Sin, Religious Myth, and our Evolutionary "Hardware"
54:26 - Finding a Shared Pursuit in a Religiously Pluralistic Society
59:44 - Christianity, Group Selection, and Empire
01:12:31 - Pagan Resurgence plays on the Sex & Violence Hardware
01:21:58 - Rafe Kelley reflects on @JordanBPeterson ARC project
01:29:30 - Sin is Pursuing a Mistaken Good
01:35:29 - Becoming Christ-like without Orthodox Beliefs?
01:46:50 - Young Men Yearn for Courageous Practices
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