Spiritual Life is Not a Spectator Sport
In our culture, spiritual life does not determine how we see other aspects of life. For us, other parts of our lives shape how we understand spiritual life.
We believe spiritual life is like everything else, with its own designated channel or app. Like sports or the news or weather forecasts, we think we can tune in whenever we are interested.
We assume spiritual life happens at times and in places people get together to worship. Spiritual life takes place in specific locations and on a particular schedule. Some people structure spiritual life into their lives and others structure it out.
Spiritual life can feel a lot like sports. People have their team loyalties. They gather together whenever their is a game to watch and cheer for their team. We all want to think we are on the winning side, that our team will prevail in the end.
It is easy to pay attention only when we think something is happening.
Some of us do not really understand the game but go along sometimes for the tailgating. Like sports, there are a few fans who get out of control and take things too far. We are not fanatics. It is just a good time to watch.
Some people have been fans of their teams since they were born. Others have changed teams or discovered new sports as they have moved around.
We may never have played, but we enjoy watching.
Spiritual life, though, is not a spectator sport. We are not sitting in the stands watching, eating junk food while others exert themselves. It is not as if we have bought a ticket to sit and watch at all.
Spiritual life is living in us.
Spiritual Life is Not a Competition
We enjoy sports because of how competition feels. Competition is powerful. The athletes who are competing develop their skills and exert themselves to try to win. Competition is so powerful we have found ways in our culture to feel it without exerting ourselves.
When we wear a team’s shirt or hat we give ourselves the vicarious feelings of competition. Even just watching a game draws us in so we can feel the power of competition.
Some would say our society is addicted to how competition feels. I live in a country which needs to see itself as on the prevailing side of every competition. We believe competition is how we arrive at justice and how we choose wise leaders.
Anyone who does not see we are defeating our competition cannot be seeing things clearly.
The power of competition seduces us. Anyone who does not see us as the best is criticizing us, regardless of statistics.
It is easy to understand, surrounded as we are by competition, how we experience spiritual life.
We have a passion for measuring ourselves and the expectation we will defeat the competition. It becomes important to us to believe we have found the right answers. Anyone who does not agree with us must be our competition, and must be defeated.
Over time we become more and more invested in our own answers. We invest our time and effort into defending what we think, not exploring and discovering.
Our understanding of spiritual life becomes more and more based in competition. Our passion is more and more about competing and less and less about spiritual life.
We Are Not Spectators
The fact is we are not spectators. Spiritual life is not an event which happens at scheduled times in particular places. We are not watching other people live spiritual life.
Spiritual life is not a game in which we are watching someone else compete.
We may not have put much thought into spiritual life, just watched it being played. It may be we doubt we have the equipment or skills we need to play ourselves. Other people seem to be so much better at spiritual life than we are. We may feel awkward or inadequate, not very good at spiritual life.
It would embarrass us to think anyone else might watch us play.
Spiritual life does not exist for our entertainment or to determine who is the winner. We are not competitors straining to show the world how fast or how powerful we are.
Spiritual life is not about celebrating in the end zone.
It is a mistake to assume spiritual life is about being better than anyone else. Spiritual life lives in us, not in a special building at a set time.
We are not spectators in the stands, nor on the sidelines. Spiritual life fills our everyday lives, showing us possibilities beyond our dreams and expectations.
Spiritual Life is Not a Game
We are not going through the motions of spiritual life, following someone else’s rules.
Spiritual life is not a game we are trying to learn or to win. We are not sitting in the stands waiting for someone else to play.
It is easy to assume we merely need to learn the steps, to do what we are supposed to do. Spiritual life is more than that.
Our lives are about going beyond the ordinary, the expected. We believe we take comfort in doing what is familiar, but spiritual life is much more than that.
Spiritual life fills us with inspiration to become who we can be. Our eyes are opened, and raised, and we can begin to see. We are not watching someone play a game, and are not playing ourselves. Spiritual life is more essential than that.
We open our eyes and realize we are not seated in a stadium, but living in spiritual life. It is not about watching someone else, but about us living in new life.
Spiritual life is not a sport we watch. We are participants, learning and growing and applying new lessons each day.
How is spiritual life living in you today?
Where will you go beyond the ordinary, the expected this week?
[Image by acaben]
Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is StrategicMonk@gmail.com.
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