A couple of morning readings remind me of the difference between spirituality and religion: "God's All-Embracing Love," a collection of excerpts from letters by Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt; and this post by Ernie, titled "A confident man is a dead human being."
When I think of the word religion, I'm reminded of what I heard an evangelical musician say many years ago: "I'm not talking about religion. You can be religious about brushing your teeth." Dictionaries, like this one, define religion as a set of attitudes, beliefs, and practices. Spirituality is a bit harder to define, though the Blumhardt selection gets close to it. Anthony De Mello described spirituality as "waking up," but then required a whole book to elaborate on that idea.
During my recent quest to find Truth from the Bible using logic and reason alone, I now realize it is impossible without the holy spirit. Have I just awaken? Unfortunately, as a neophite I don't understand how to acquire this great gift. Would de Mello's book be a good guide?
Posted by: Steve | March 07, 2005 at 09:42 PM
These are good questions but difficult to answer, especially through a blog post -- it'd be like trying to give legal advice through a blog, which is a bad idea.
I do think that spirituality is more a process than a state you arrive at. DeMello describes it as waking up, not as being awake. Someone asked him if he was enlightened, and he answered, "How should I know?" (That's in the book somewhere.) It's a journey, not a destination.
I don't know how you acquire any gift other than praying for it. DeMello's book may help, or it may not. He has another book called "Sadhana," which contains spiritual exercises that may help with learning how to pray.
Posted by: Ray | March 08, 2005 at 06:35 AM