September 6, 2012

 

Uncovering My Spirituality

I was sitting on my deck, which overlooks a wooded area behind my apartment.  It is a peaceful place and very private and it is where I do my best thinking, writing, and God connecting.  The leaves rustling in the trees and the birds singing help to drown out the noise from the highway not too far away and the hum of air conditioners just below me.  It requires focusing on the God things rather than the man-made noise but I’ve gotten fairly good at it.

One day I was typing away on my writing project when I came to a part where I needed to define spirituality.  No problem.  I’ve been talking about it with clients, hearing about it at church, and debating it with friends for years.  This was the first time, though, that I really had to try and succinctly put it into words.  I realized this required a lot of thought and that, perhaps, I didn’t really know what I believed I knew about it. 

My writing came to a screeching halt as I pondered this for a week.  I really wanted to come up with my own definition based on my experiences and those of the people with whom I have had the privilege to connect over the years.  It took awhile but I finally arrived at my current belief about spirituality.  Are you ready?  Drum roll please!  I believe spirituality is the marriage of our core being with our Creator and his bigger story for creation and my participation on it.  First of all, please forgive the gender specific reference to God.  I did it for ease but fully realize God is not exclusively a male and encompasses all traits, which we tend to identify as either male or female.  My daughter Meredith, who is much more expressive than I, describes spirituality as an alluring, wild adventure in a bigger story than self that results in astonishment!  I love that girl and I love her description as well.  Please know that in no way do I believe either one is THE definition of spirituality or even that it will stay static.  Spirituality is living, breathing and subject to change.  My definition just reflects my belief now…but it is a very strong belief that I think brings consistency from both religious and mental health points of view.

Let me break it down. 

Core being:  This is our true heart, soul, and spirit.  Coming from a Judeo-Christian background, I believe we are all created in the image of God.  That means in our DNA we have his blueprint and it is consistent across the board.  We find in the incarnation of Jesus that God is all about certain things, namely love for others and self, grace, forgiveness, reconciliation, peace, and bringing God’s kingdom to earth.  In fact, if you look at most of the major world religions you will find much consistency in these values.  If people across all cultures and religions can come up with fairly similar lists, that’s a pretty big clue that something significant is going on here.  If religions stopped there and just identified those truths, we would be in a much better place.  Where religion goes wrong is that it places rules and regulations on their interpretation of those truths and those are the things that cause wars.  But, that’s another topic.  The other things that get in the way, of course, are the pain and experiences of life, what we fill our heads with that is contrary to those God values, and the lies we believe about ourselves that have their origins from many different sources (our interpretation of what we have been told by parents, teachers, religious leaders, etc). 

A core part of spirituality, then, is getting healthy in our beliefs about self and God so that original blueprint is the place from which we live our lives, rather than from the distorted truths that come from lies we believe about others and ourselves.  If our goal is to align with God’s in a way that brings heaven to earth, we will reach out to others in love, show them grace and forgiveness, reconcile as much as is safe, and help each other out.  It is when we are out of harmony with this original blueprint that we experience pain in our lives.

 I am aware that it takes only one person or group to refuse to mend a broken relationship but when we substitute love for revenge or hate in response, we bring disharmony to our spirit.  When we cut people off because they’re too “needy” or don’t reach out in love to those different than ourselves, we bring disharmony.  When we insult, denigrate, or act unlovingly toward another human being, whether we personally know them or not, or any part of God’s creation, we bring disharmony to our souls.  Greed, instead of generosity, is also just an empty well.

My challenge for all of us is to uncover the layers of hurt and pain that lead us to live lives that produce attitudes contrary to our original spiritual DNA and to find the passions and gifts God has granted each of us and participate in the bigger story.  It is important to live in our passions and gifts and not someone else’s or what someone else thinks they should be.  We may find temporary happiness in circumstances and events, but true joy comes from living in spiritual harmony with God’s plan for his creation.  You’ll be astonished as you journey through the process of finding God’s footprint in your being and living from that place!