Spiritual Life is Not About Our Things

Spiritual Life is Not About Our Things April 16, 2016

California Vacation-Salvation Mountain

Some people appear to believe spiritual life is all about getting things.

We may pray to receive specific objects, as if God were like a celestial Amazon or Netflix. We would love to have a new car or move into a different house, and we pray to obtain it. We begin to see spiritual life as like Santa Claus, giving us good gifts.

We may try to bargain with God to give us more so we have better things to give away. If we had more, we would be committed to using it wisely. We would work hard to discern how to strengthen spiritual life with all our new stuff.

We have created a culture based in the spiritual potency of things, objects, possessions. We live in a society that believes, in very practical ways, that whoever dies with the most toys wins. Many of us act as though it is impossible to be either too thin or too rich. We believe people with more wealth are blessed, while people are cursed when they have less.

We accept the idea that the things we have strengthen spiritual life.

I see spiritual life differently. There are people without a lot of possessions who experience deep, sacred, strong spiritual life. There are people who possess everything they could possibly need or want who feel spiritually empty.

I enjoy my things as much as most people. For the most part, the things I have strengthen spiritual life in me by raising questions. How can these things help us grow into more depth? Do we really need that? Why did we get this in the first place?

Spiritual life is not about acquiring more things, but transforming the ways we relate to what we have.

Do your things strengthen spiritual life, or do they get in the way?

[Image by MythicSeabass]


Browse Our Archives