There are many examples of spiritual hunger in our world today. People are connecting with their own “spirituality” in all aspects of life. From what they read (spiritual books are one of the few growing segments of the market) to how they workout (practices like yoga find their roots in eastern spirituality). This is a result of the fragmenting of the human person. Society has moved away from communities and families of love and mutual dependence to individualistically centered materialism. There is a commoditization of human desires and people feel that they are not whole beings but parsed and prodded at all sides to be productive consumers. I myself have often felt this fragmentation. It’s impossible to walk down the street without being barraged ads carefully calculated to stir up my desires and manipulate me into buying their product or message. Within myself I feel acutely aware of my need for a system or practice that will help me order my desire rightly again. This draws me toward spirituality.
What is spirituality? There are dozens of definitions floating around out there; is it a self-transcendence, a participation in God, an encounter with the divine, a pattern of life in God, the shape of God in our lives, or something else completely different? I personally find the use of the word “spirituality” to be so convoluted in its varieties of usage that it has become almost counter=productive to use it at all. The same can be said of the related terms of “piety” (which many simply hear as “self-righteous”) and “devotion” (which has become associated with simply a static rule of life). Almost any word that is used to help map our experience with God onto our language results in confusion.
The solution to the ambiguity of language is not solved by tightening up definitions, but rather learning to communicate our experiences with God with more then words. This is where the Idea of spiritual disciplines comes into play. The word discipline in itself can be just as confusing as “Piety” or “spirituality,” however it is not in the definition but in the action that the communicative intent is transmitted. One can argue about the existence of God and what true spirituality is Ad infinitum however when people see Mother Theresa caring for the poor on the streets of Calcutta there is power at work far beyond that which words can describe. Theresa and countless others like her over the centuries have shown the world that a disciplined life of obedient action has a power then a life lived in individualistic awareness of God by itself can never accomplish. Spiritual disciplines are a difficult but essential part of a growing life in God
If spiritual disciplines are essential to the spiritual growth one naturally asks, “how do I find healthy spiritual disciplines?” My answer to this question is found in yet another loader term: tradition. Many see tradition of stale conventions that have little relevance to the world today. However tradition is much more then that. Tradition is a time machine that both takes us out of a chrono-centric world view and allows the voices of the past to come into the present, allowing more then the “the small and arrogant oligarchy of those who merely happen to be walking about” (G.K. Chesterton) to have a say in the matter. Tradition is the vehicle by which an individuals life in God is subjected to the wisdom of the Church throughout history.
In todays society many claim to be Spiritual, but not religious. There is also a problem that people can have about being religious but not spiritual. In my own life I feel I am always struggling to live in the tension of the two. I have spiritual disciplines in my life, which are often a source of great life, but sometimes can become things I do for God rather then ways to live with God. My question is always, “how can I live in active dependence on the Holy Spirit,” for it is the Spirit of God that has the power to use our disciplines to heal the world. It is the Spirit who gives life (John 6:63a).
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