This is how I see spirituality.
Spirituality, simply defined, is consciously pursuing a meaningful life, according to however one might define what makes life meaningful. It has to do with attending to one's inner life, to one's attitude toward and outlook on life. Spirituality is the realm of hopes and dreams, of values and ideals. It has to do with seeking and maintaining balance, externally and internally, and with focusing on the non-material aspects of one's life. It recognizes and values the aesthetic realm of art and music and poetry and sensuality. It has to do with the nurture and care of the human spirit.
Some practices that enhance our spirituality are conscious meditation on great things like music, creating art, walking, enjoying nature, celebrating holidays, observing life milestones, living mindfully, living simply and with focus, living with concern for ethics and social justice, cultivating the artistic and relational aspects of life, keeping the material aspect of life in balance with the nonmaterial, reading and contemplating fiction (including mythology) and poetry and philosophy, giving backrubs and making love.
A spiritual life is a life of quality - it is a life of care for other people, a life of integrity, and a life of receiving as well as giving. It is a life lived consciously, courageously, compassionately and wisely.
For Christians, spirituality is not a state of consciousness that believers enter into in order to feel closer to God. From a biblical perspective, spirituality is the process whereby the Spirit of God enlightens us (gives us eyes to see) by revealing the truth about God, the truth about ourselves, and the truth about the world. Spirituality is not some transcendent
place in never-never land. It is the pursuit of righteousness in the a world with other people like ourselves.
Real worship is not participation in a religious ceremony whereby the worshippers close their eyes to reality and enter into a
transcendent state of consciousness. These truths ought to determine how Christians think about worship. If I participate in a
religious service or discipline--be it prayer, a quiet time, Bible study, or attending church--and I consciously or unconsciously use that discipline to close my eyes to the truth about God, about myself, or about the world, then that discipline is not of God--no matter how "spiritual" it may appear. According to Paul, closing our eyes to the material world and discomfort of our moral and physical limitedness is not spirituality. Striving after moral purity in the midst of our fallenness is.
Don't let the world define reality for you, says Paul. Don't let your culture influence you such that it determines your values and how you look at reality. Rather, be in the process of having your mind renewed. Be in the process of bringing your perspectives of reality.
Believing they could close their eyes to the physical world and their moral limitations and enter into a spiritual consciousness that would give them power to overcome their daily struggles and moral failures was a fantasy for first-century believers. The same is true for us today. The "super-Christian"--one able to rise above his moral and physical limitations--does not exist. There are only garden-variety Christians, muddling along like you and I.
JanG
CAIC Website: http://caic.org.au/zjws.htm
Personal Webpage: http://uq.net.au/~zzjgroen/
