A SPIRITUALITY FOR LIFE

Many people have an innate desire for authentic spiritual knowledge and awareness – the kind of spiritual love, wisdom, and practices that anchor the soul with faith and hope.

A spirituality for life that will serve you well for the rest of your life needs to:

§  Nurture your faith in the one living transcendent Creator God whom you will know is present to you in even the smallest details of your life. This will give you an assurance that somehow everything is all right, all the time.

§  Have a community as the locus of your spiritual journey. While you may initially be drawn to pursue your spiritual calling alone, eventually it must lead to a shared faith and love among people bound to one another in community. Even our own families are an initial and enduring community in which we learn to respond to the divine live. Later, it is in all our communities and associations, religious or otherwise, that we learn to respond to the love of God and to the whole family of God.

§ Ultimately lead you, in the Christian tradition, to an encounter with the person of Jesus, who is the image of the invisible God, that is the exact representation of his being (Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3). This will give you a confidence that even when you’re totally alone, you know that you’re never really alone.

§  Be inclusive in understanding and accepting the traditions of other world religions and faiths, recognizing that God has revealed himself “at many times and in various ways” (Hebrews 1:1, NIV). Also Jesus himself stated that “the wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit” (John 3:8, NIV). Furthermore, Jesus said at one time: “I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16, NIV).

§   Address critical aspects of spirituality such as death, enlightenment, faith, forgiveness, freedom, grace, hope, love, rebirth, transformation, and suffering.

§  Provide you with workable practices that will sustain your spirituality over your lifetime such as prayer, meditation, mindfulness, repentance, scriptural reading, and service.

With the above underpinnings in place, you will begin to experience:

§  A growing state of peacefulness and contentment.

§  Honesty and self-acceptance, without needing to hide who you really are – and greater responsibility for the circumstances of your life as you realize that much around you is a reflection of your inner being.

§  An understanding that even though you may have a difficult outer circumstance, you can sense that it may only be a reflection of some deep lesson your soul is struggling to learn.

§  An increased appreciation for every moment of life, whether enjoyable or challenging, as well as an underlying exhilaration of being alive, amidst both joys and sorrows.

§  Days filled with joyful service and also inspirational inner growth.

§  A growing sense of oneness with all things.

Sources: Sharon Janis (aka Kumuda), Spirituality for Dummies, 2d ed. (Indianapolis, IN: Wiley Publishing, Inc., 2008); David Ranson, Living in the Holy Spirit (Sydney: 2008).

Photo credit: Intellimon Ltd.

The following link further explores the theme of a spirituality for life:

The Lord's Prayer: A Framework for a Spirituality for Life