Are You Spiritual?

This is a question I get asked a lot.

It’s always a difficult one for me to answer, because it largely depends on what you mean by spiritual?

I’m very careful with how I approach my spiritual life, I don’t talk about it often, nor do I pretend that I have all the answers.

I also never deny it when asked, nor am I afraid to articulate my thoughts for as far as my limited capacity and understanding would allow it.

I’m always trying to enrich both my experience and my understanding.

I subscribe to the belief that spirituality is not something you preach or merely just talk about; but it’s something that is lived.

It should be manifested in all I do, in my interactions with people, my relationships, my work – it’s the axis in which my whole life should revolve.

So in that sense, the answer to that question should be visible to you by how I try and live my life and not by anything I tell you.

My life is by no means perfect; I’m certainly not perfect. But I embrace my brokenness, as it is a large part of what makes me human.

I do believe, that I, along with all of humanity and indeed the whole world, are all created – so in that sense, we are part of the one creation.

I believe in human biology, but also that we transcend it.

I also believe in an un-created God, whose character is beyond my comprehension.

Trying to define God would place limits on something that by very definition is limitless.

In saying that, I do believe that God is knowable and is visible in all things to those who choose to look in the right places.

I view my spiritual life as a homecoming of sorts, a journey.

It’s a journey towards trying to embody the whole of my humanity and the ultimate journey towards a union (or re-union) with God.

I believe that it is only with this union that true healing can occur.

Not a healing of the body, but a healing of the spirit (or the soul).

The Greeks actually have a word for this process: ‘Theosis’.

So spirituality is not merely an intellectual matter, but more so a matter of the heart.

It's unlikely I will write about this particular question again any time soon, but I did feel compelled to address it, as it comes up often. I will leave you with one reflection if you do find yourself on a similar path.

If you do believe in God and you find yourself praying to God, then you really do have a responsibility to know (and get very clear) on which God you are actually praying to.

Is it a God that you’ve conveniently created in your own image, a God that's been thrust upon you; or is it the God that created you?

#spirituality