Ordinary
Spirituality
“…I
search for spirit in the tangled emotions, the impossible relationships, and
the endless failures that come along in most lives. This is the opposite of
spirituality as escape; it is an appreciation for the spirituality to be found
in the depths of experience, in the never-ending efforts to make sense of life,
and in the ordeals that can be seen as spiritual initiations rather than
failures to achieve a self.”
Thomas
Moore (The Soul’s Religion, p.xvii; Perennial, Harper Collins, 2002)
Too
often we think of spirituality as being housed in religious establishments—whether
it’s a church, temple, ashram, or meditation center. We think of spirituality as
retreat from the world—for an hour or a week. Coming together to read scripture,
sing, and pray in community is an important tool in living a spiritual life—but
it’s only one ingredient. If one’s spirituality doesn’t extend into everyday
occurrences, it becomes an intellectual exercise. It doesn’t help you to live in
harmony or deepen your connection to the sacred.
When we
review our whole life, with the understanding that there’s a pattern of
spiritual development, we begin to comprehend it’s true nature. We can examine each
event—even the painful ones—and know that spirit was moving in them all along. Over
the course of a lifetime, year after year, we are arranged and rearranged by
spirit for maximum exposure to life’s lessons. The goal is to push us forward in maturity. When we miss the lesson, when we get distracted by other things,
spirit deals us a more dramatic card. She knows all the ways to focus our
attention, believe me, and will not hesitate to use them.
People come
and go, relationships come and go, jobs come and go, roles come and go, and
through it all, we either learn the lessons or repeat the same ones over and
over. If you doubt this, look for patterns in your own relationships with
friends, family, and lovers. Is there anything that seems to happen repeatedly?
If you take a closer look, you may see the underlying challenge—learning to
trust, learning to listen to your own wisdom, learning how to speak yourself clearly,
learning how to set boundaries, and how to respect other people’s boundaries. These
relational challenges are not merely distractions, they’re opportunities to
grow emotionally and spiritually. In dealing with them in healthy ways, we grow
in our sense of self, our sense of security. They are life, not aberrations.
We are meant to go into them, not run away from them, and not numb them out.
Barbara
Brown Taylor wrote a book titled An Altar in the World, which describes
her own process of coming to understand that spirituality is not a Sabbath practice
only. It is practiced every day in every circumstance, or it’s simply a
superficial song and dance. Once you come to understand that everything that
happens in your life is guided by your soul, the whole world opens up, and your life
comes alive with significance. Your spirit calls to you in the
ordinary events of everyday life and when you realize it there is no end to the
awe and amazement you will experience. I guarantee it.
In
the Spirit,
Jane
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