Skip to main content

Opportunistic Spirituality

I use the word, spirituality, with frequency.  I am also aware that this word is tossed around in many different ways.  In fact, I do think that many of us use the word without being very clear what it means.  Sometimes, I think some folks want to use the word to say something like, “I’m religious, but not really into religion.”  Usually that means they are not part of an institutional form of religion.  For many, that simply means they gave up going to church or to the temple.

When I use the word, spirituality, I am wanting to point to the “lived experience” aspect of religion.  Spirituality always begins with experience in my understanding.  For example, it is one thing to say, “I believe in God.”  It is quite another to say, “here is how I experience the God in Whom I believe.”  That is spirituality.

It is for that reason I consider dealing with spirituality to be more difficult than dealing with religion.  Religion---at least, in the Christian sense---typically begins with doctrine or belief.  If one were to ask the common person on the street to define religion, I think most would begin by talking about what they believe.

Doctrine and belief are mental.  They are rational ways to explain something about our universe.  It is not unusual to have to “make up our minds” about what we are going to believe.  And we can change what we believe.  However, if I change what I believe about God, for instance, that does not necessarily mean God changes.  God is still God; but if I have changed my belief, that means I have changed the way I view God---changed the way I talk about God.

Spirituality, on the other hand, tells folks how I encounter and experience that God.  There are countless ways for me to be intentional in my hope to encounter and experience God.  Prayer and meditation would be two of the classic ways.  If I pray regularly, then probably my chances of experiencing God are enhanced.  The same goes for meditation.  By meditating regularly, I open myself and make myself available for God to be present in my experience.

Intentionality is very good and I am all for it.  In fact, that is the most predictable way to become spiritual and to enhance one’s spirituality.  But there is another way to become spiritual.  The alternative way is to be aware of the unintended opportunities that come our way.  In effect, we become opportunistic (instead of intentional).

If we become aware, we will realize opportunities come our way with some frequency.  Nature is one sure bet to offer us opportunities to experience the Holy One.  One only has to pay attention to the beauty of the autumn season.  Who do you think painted the natural landscape?

Here I want to point out especially the role other people play as spiritual opportunities.  That reason that so many of us do not consider other people as opportunities to experience the Divinity is we simply do not expect that to be possible.  But think about it.  All the major religious traditions talk about God being active in the world.  What is to say part of the Divine activity does not frequently happen through other people with whom we come in contact?

Be opportunistic.  Change the way you think God might be available to you this day in the lives and actions of others.  Who says the other person’s smile is not a glimpse of humor?  Who is to say the tender word is not a spiritual caress?

And why choose to be that Divine vehicle yourself?  Incarnate the Spirit and become an opportunity for some friend to encounter and experience God this day. 

Participate in opportunistic spirituality.  Why wait? 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I-Thou Relationships

Those of us who have read theology or, perhaps, those who are people of faith and are old enough might well recognize this title as a reminder of the late Jewish philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber.   I remember reading Buber’s book, I and Thou , when I was in college in the 1960s.   It was already a famous book by then.   I am not sure I fully understood it, but that would not be the last time I read it.   It has been a while since I looked at the book.             Buber came up in a conversation with a friend who asked if I had seen the recent article by David Brooks?   I had not seen it, but when I was told about it, I knew I would quickly locate and read that piece.   I very much like what Brooks decides to write about and what he contributes to societal conversation.   I wish more people read him and took him seriously.           ...
13 comments
Read more

Spiritual Commitment

I was reading along in a very nice little book and hit these lines about commitment.   The author, Mitch Albom, uses the voice of one of the main characters of his nonfiction book about faith to reflect on commitment.   The voice belongs to Albom’s old rabbi of the Jewish synagogue where he went until his college days.   The old rabbi, Albert Lewis, says “the word ‘commitment’ has lost its meaning.”    The rabbi continues in a way that surely would have many people saying, “Amen!”   About commitment he says, “I’m old enough when it used to be a positive.   A committed person was someone to be admired.   He was loyal and steady.   Now a commitment is something you avoid.   You don’t want to tie yourself down.”   I also think I am old enough to know that commitment was usually a positive word.   I can think of a range of situations in which commitment would have been seen to be positive.   For example, growing up was f...
20 comments
Read more

Inward Journey and Outward Pilgrimage

There are so many different ways to think about the spiritual life.   And of course, in our country there are so many different variations of religious experiences.   There are liberals and conservatives.   There are fundamentalists and Pentecostals.   Besides the dizzying variety of Christian traditions, there are many different non-Christian traditions.   There are the major traditions, such as Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, and so on.   There are the slightly more obscure traditions, such as Sikhism, Jainism, etc.   And then there are more fringe groups and, even, pseudo-religions.   There are defining doctrines and religious practices.   Some of these are specific to a particular tradition or a few traditions, such as the koan , which is used in Zen Buddhism for example.   Other defining doctrines or practices are common across the religious board.   Something like meditation would be a good example.   Christians meditate;...
10 comments
Read more