But here's my beef. Saying you're spiritual is like saying you're sexual. It can be a good or bad thing. It doesn't really say anything about you.
I'm a spiritual person, but I think that spirit has to have specificity. Even if you and I don't agree on what specific spirit we've decided to get on board with, shouldn't we have some idea which one each of us has chosen?
I'm a sexual person, but only when it comes to Rachel. Expressing my sexuality with her is all kinds of good. Expressing it in some vague and general fashion isn't "open" or "freeing", even if I am "exploring". The less specific I am in my sexuality, the less pleasure it brings me.
Same with spirituality. If you believe in spirits that exist beyond humanity, then why would you leave yourself "open" to whomever and whatever shows up?
Whatever baggage the term religion holds, its definition is simply a set of specific beliefs.
So, let's say I'm spiritual and religious. And happy to be. I think one makes the other better.
4 comments:
i have a sense of what you getting at, but...
religion is so often used as a binding in our culture. when people use spirituality, they often seem to grasp for a statement of being centered on a sense of the divine, and with others
your sexual frame is helpful for me - being sexual is, in my eyes, never intrinsically bad. how we engage in that sexuality can be inconsistent with our nature.
religion s often shames our sexuality - spirituality can sometimes add depth & meaning to our sexual beings
this statement really grabbed me:
If you believe in spirits that exist beyond humanity, then why would you leave yourself "open" to whomever and whatever shows up?
for me, believing in God is the very thing that opens up my sense of what shows up, who shows up
Wonderfully said. And great analogy. Clicked for me.
Bob
I think you're right on that religion ought not be defined as making us closed off. I too believe that belief in God ought to open me up to possibilities I would not have considered. I'm simply saying that belief in God ought also limit me in ways necessary to relationship. In the same way that my relationship with Rachel makes me more open to new relationships and possibilities, it also restricts me (in good ways) when it comes to certain loyalties and behaviors.
i read your blog religiously and get a spiritual experience. so yeah, i'm both, too.
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