Spiritual Life is Everyday Life

Spiritual Life is Everyday Life September 20, 2014

6820463457_e68f587bb5

We believe, deep inside, that spiritual life only happens in certain places, when we act in certain ways. Some of us know that spiritual life means we must wear special clothes, or think special thoughts. It is accompanied by particular music, associated with specific sights, aromas, and tastes.

We may associate spiritual life with sitting in silence or joyful dancing, with hearing a word or reading sacred texts. Our spiritual life may be primarily emotional or analytical, based on deep truths or shared experiences.

We tend to see ourselves as human beings who occasionally experience spiritual life. In actuality, we are spiritual beings who are experiencing human life.

The fact is that spiritual life is beyond our control. We are not able to become more spiritual or less. We try to do things that help us remember, help us be less oblivious. Even when we are distracted, spiritual life fills us and the world around us.

We tell ourselves that some experiences feel more spiritual, meaning they are spooky or that we tingle. In fact, everything everywhere is filled with spiritual life and meaning.

Spiritual life is open to us every day.

My spiritual life is steeped in the Christian tradition. I have been “born again,” baptized, confirmed, received as a lay person into a monastic community. The ways I relate to the Sacred have shaped my appreciation of spiritual life for longer than I can remember. While I am an experienced explorer of spiritual life, I discover new things every day.

Exploring spiritual life can challenge us. There is always something new.

Spiritual life is everywhere, in everything, in everyone. We cannot nail it down.

Spiritual life is alive.

How will you explore spiritual life today?

When are you least distracted from the spiritual life around you? When are you most distracted?

[Image by Gerry Dincher]


Browse Our Archives