Jerusalem, Cameroon, Egypt, France, and Italy. These are some of the many places pastor and award winning Spirituality professor, Dr. Neff has travelled to throughout his life.
“I see travel as a spiritual act and study as a spiritual act, I am always reading and preparing for my next trip” said Dr. Neff.
Oklahoma native, Dr. David Neff, has had the privilege to venture out into the wonders and beauties of our continents. His travel experiences are a pilgrimage for him. He does not consider himself a tourist- instead, he is a student throughout the duration of his travels.
Unfortunately, Dr. Neff has had to cancel two trips due to the COVID-19 pandemic. He intended on going to Moscow and St. Petersburg, but this hasn’t discouraged him from future travels.
He hopes to visit Spain one day. He would love to visit the shrines and churches of Teresa de Avila and John of the Cross. He said, “I really want to travel to Spain and learn about the growth and development of medieval monasticism. I’m a scholar. I love studying about that stuff, I wish I spoke Spanish though.”
Dr. Neff has expressed his various travel experiences onto his fellow Spirituality students and encourages them to travel if they ever have the opportunity to. “I share those stories as much as I can with my students and our Spirituality class just keeps broadening the horizons of theologies, religions, and spiritual practices, it energizes me” stated Dr. Neff.
He is also aware that travel is not easily accessible for everyone. He said, “travel is essential to developing one’s view of the world and of oneself, however travel is privileged too, not everyone has the money and time to take trips.”
Dr. Neff felt a calling to travel while finishing his undergraduate degree. He stayed put in Oklahoma for many years until he was granted the opportunity to travel to Jerusalem.
Little did he know this first “big” trip to Jerusalem would become a life changing experience.
Dr. Neff stated, “I believe people have many awakening experiences or rebirth experiences and I was truly born again, just by experiencing another world and another culture and I’ve had a few born again experiences since then, but I love to have my eyes opened, and my heart opened and my knowledge broadened, so that was the very first time that I went away, so I keep doing it again every year.”
His experience in Jerusalem enlightened him in several ways.
“I love Jerusalem so much. It is my happy place, I love walking through ancient wall citadels and seeing the market places, having a cup of hot tea or mint tea or a glass of pomegranate juice. I love the diversity of all three worlds and religions that’s represented in Jerusalem.”
The diversity Dr. Neff longs for through his travels and curriculum has been a central aspect in the modifications he has implemented in his Spirituality courses.
“Responding to the diversity at St. Xavier, I have expanded the class in the last few years to include more topics and discussion about Islam and Islamic spirituality, that has been a great joy for me” stated Dr. Neff.
It has been a great joy for him and for me as well as a current student of his. Having a course that educates students on different religions, theologies, and gives us a space to question our own faith, has been essential to my own personal spiritual growth as a college student today.
Dr. Neff stated, “Students hunger for spiritual experiences. Students want to explore the transcendent meaning within everyday life.” I couldn’t agree with him more.
I was inspired and intrigued by Dr. Neff’s travel experiences and spiritual wisdom in our Spirituality class this semester.
I realized travel is much more than just a trip, it goes beyond that. You are in a whole new world with new people. You immerse yourself in different cultures and customs, travelling is essentially a spiritual act.
Dr. Neff’s words, wisdom, and life-giving spirituality has impacted my spiritual journey and I will forever be grateful for this Spirituality course and Dr. Neff. It was an honor getting to know him this semester, it was the highlight of my first year at SXU.
If you want to capture the essence of Dr. Neff, below is a link to our conversation.
https://soundcloud.com/user-648201110-2552436/conversation-withdr-neff