Spirituality: harder to define, but may include one or more of the following:
- personal beliefs and practices
- the transcendent dimension of life and existence; the "other," the sacred
- one's ultimate values
- a sense of wholeness
- a sense of meaning and purpose
- whatever gives hope or brings peace
- faith/ trust in something beyond oneself
- a sense of belonging or connection with something beyond oneself
- blessing, goodness, how we treat ourselves and others
- reverence and respect for life, one's own and that of others
- an inner life
A person's religion may shape his/her spirituality and help give a form and expression, along with support and strength, to it, but religion can never be a substitute for spirituality. In the Book of Deuteronomy, Moses tells the Israelites, The Lord your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendents, so that you may love him with all your heart and all your soul, and live (Deut. 30:6).
The ritual and rule of circumcision was supposed to be the starting place, the "graphic example" of what it meant to "circumcise one's heart to the Lord." If some Jews took the ceremony to be both the beginning and the end of their religious experience, then circumcision had no meaning other than inclusion in the community. The same is true of baptism for Christians; if being baptized fulfilled the law and that took care of religious obligation, then baptism did not really achieve its purpose.
Moses also told the people: Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach.....No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so that you may obey it (30:11).
If the word is "in our mouth and in our heart," then regardless of religious beliefs or forms of expressions, those whose hearts have been circumcised will be drawn together by the Holy Spirit. Paul said, For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility....His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace, and in this one body to reconcile both of them to God through the cross, by which he put to death their hostility ...for through him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit (Eph. 2: 14-18).
As children, we seem to know how to express our spiritual natures through song and art, through dance and hugs. As we develop our more rational (and inhibited) nature, however, we tend to bury expressions of our spiritual nature. Church or religion is the one window where we can find ways to express our deepest selves, with the support of a community---and the one place where God Himself can express His deepest love and wisdom and guidance for us.
Of course, there is always nature, but few people really stop and reflect on what nature is telling us about God's nature and love---those who do are those whose hearts have been circumcised. In the Book of Romans, however, we find that since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities---his eternal power and divine nature---have been clearly seen...so that men are without excuse...for they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to Him....
We seem to require a time, a place, and a way to stop and "glorify God and give thanks to Him." Religion/ church is a training ground for our souls, as school is for our minds---in order to form our spirits and strenthen and develop our relationship with God.
Of course, there are always corruptions and people who get in the way of the pure exchange of Spirit to spirit, but that does not mean that religion itself is bad. We will always need some way, some "ritual," if you will, to express our spirituality.
Even a sharing group has rituals, has some authority and some rules. Without these, there is no safety in expressing ourselves and really no way to do it.
The Jews followed halakah, the Way, prescribed patterns for reverencing God and developing a living relationship with Him, just as today Christians and Muslims do. When Jesus came, he said, I am the Way.
Our spirituality develops and unfolds fully in relationship with and in response to a Divine Presence, a Person, who has joined Himself to us in an indissoluble union ("flesh of my flesh, bone of my bone); a Person who will never leave us or abandon us, a Person who will bring us into union with others who share our deepest values; a Person who creates in His own body the "church," the place where we can both be blessed by others and be a blessing to them. In Greek, the word ecclesia, which we translate as "church," means those who are called out---
it has more to do with our spiritual life than our religious life, crossing all man-made boundaries and divisions. Blessed are they who have ears to hear the call of the Holy Spirit deep within themselves!
Amen to that!
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