September 6, 2012
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!
