"What is spirituality?" a friend in my parish asked me recently. Struggling to respond with a succinct answer, I said something like, "Gosh, that's a broad topic, but basically spirituality is a set of practices that help you become more in touch with God in your life. We should find some time to talk about it some more... one of these days." She agreed, and I thought, "Whew! I guess I dodged that question for the moment."
Since then, I've wondered what a better definition of spirituality might be, and my mental antennae perk up whenever I run across a description I think might be helpful to her (or me, or others who express an interest). Imagine, then, my delight when the readings this week for my Spirituality class included some good information to help me answer the question better in the future. Our text for this week's discussion is Ethics and Spiritual Care by Karen Lebacqz and Joseph D. Driskill (Nashville: Abingdon Press, 2000). The following excerpts express ideas that will help me create a clearer definition for myself and then articulate a better response in the future:
"[Michael] Downey's understanding of Christian spirituality places it within the wider frame of 'the human quest for personal integration in the light of levels of reality not immediately apparent.' For the Christian this quest for integration is focused not on self-absorption or isolation, but on relationship with God, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit" (29).
"True Christian spirituality does require what Bonhoeffer once called 'life together' in order to ensure accountability to text, tradition, and community. True Christian spirituality will involve community, and it will involve accountability structures" (32-33).
"The theological assumption that underlies Christian spirituality is that God is at work in our lives. Within such a framework, however, we may tend -- as our culture is clearly inclined to do -- to look only for God's activity in the arena of personal life. A corrective to this highly individualistic approach is found in a scheme Jack Mostyn calls the 'grid.' The 'grid' is composed of four elements: (1) the intrapersonal, (2) the interpersonal, (3) the structural, and (4) the environmental aspects of life. ... Using the grid requires that attention to the inner life of search be placed in the context of concerns about social, historical, environmental, structural, institutional, and interpersonal issues" (33).
In a nutshell, then, my personal description of spirituality (currently!) looks something like this: For the Christian, spirituality is a search for wholeness (what we -- and Jesus! -- might call "fullness of life") and our relationship to God, Jesus Christ, and the Spirit. In reflecting on my spirituality, I will seek an awareness of where and how God (and/or the Holy Spirit) is at work in my life, related to both my individual self and myself in community with others. I also will want to keep in mind the structures and institutions that affect my life, including economic,social, and environmental issues that impact the larger society and may serve to oppress some and privilege others. I will also ask my community, most likely my faith community, to hold me accountable to spiritual practices I want to incorporate in my life. Believing the Spirit permeates and enlivens all of life, that is, all of Creation, I seek to recognize myself as part of a wide, diverse, mysterious, and sacred universe -- stretching both backward and forward into eternity -- and to open myself to God's transformative action in my life.
That's a lot, and I'm not sure I can fit it into a three-minute "elevator speech." But I hope I'm on the right track... as I continue to seek.
There is no one or easy defintion for spirituality. The course is like doing a quilt or weaving a piece of multicolored fabric. We approached spirituality through many means--some spoken and some not. It is, as you pointed out, a search for wholenss in our relation with God, with ourselves and others.
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