Had a meeting with the Moonlady today. The Moonlady being Amy Martin. Amy is the self-described “poobah” behind “EarthRhythms,” the group that puts on Dallas’ large annual “Winter Solsticelebration.” She’s also the editor of “Moonlady News,” an email group that is really one of the best sources for news and info on interesting things happening around Dallas. Her website describes the list by saying “if it’s holistic, eclectic, progressive or spiritual it’s on the Moonlady News listserv…”

She’s also a contributor to “Texas Faith,” a consortium of writers from various religious faiths who chime in on issues of the day at the DMN Religion blog.

Here’s her website.

Me and two members of our “Second Monday Series” team were meeting with Amy because she’s going to be one of our presenters later on this year. She’ll be with us in May, talking about her own personal connection to Taoist spirituality, and how it approaches the idea of “mystery.” But she’ll also note the broad “Spiritual but not religious” movement that is of such growing importance to so many people today.

You can argue about the name –and there could be a better term out there somewhere– but the number of folks who call themselves “spiritual, but not religious” is exploding. Especially among the young. What this means is that they are saying “No thank you” to any organized religion of any kind. It’s not that they are ignorant of “organized religion;” it’s that they have made the more dramatic choice to “Just Say No” to what traditional religions offer.

As I noted, huge and growing numbers of persons, especially among the young, self-describe themselves in this way.

Whether or not people inside “traditional” religions are comfortable with this movement is of little importance. My personal sense is that it’s here to stay, and its existence is something we, on the “inside” of organized religion, need more than a passing understand of. Frankly, it’s probably more important for “us” (those who have a foot inside of a traditional religion) to understand “them” than vice versa.

So, I’m grateful to have been given the chance to get to know Amy a little better these last few years. I’m grateful for her reservoir of spiritual insight, and for the way she brings disparate spiritual seekers together in acts of real connection and community.

Amy Martin is today’s “Daily Gratitude.”

(During this year, my goal is to find something new to be thankful for every single day, and to add that thanksgiving as a blog entry, under the title “My Daily Gratitude.” I started this kick back around Thanksgiving, and it’s already resulted in a favorite new song of mine. The goal of this ongoing spiritual exercise is to see if doing such a thing might inspire even more gratitude within me, and to foster general awareness of life on a deeper level.)