Did stepping into the world of “Noah” make you consider your own take on religion?
I already had the sense that I was someone who was more spiritual than specifically religious. … I’m really interested in those things that are more far-reaching than culture, nationality, race, religion.
Ah yes. That old ‘spiritual not religious’ claim. I ought to add that I know some good people in this category. Yet generally speaking I think it is an evasion covering a vacuum. I have compiled ten questions about this. If readers would like to suggest alternatives or modifications I would be grateful.
You are ‘spiritual’ rather than ‘religious’. Ten questions:
1. What values are encouraged, or developed, within your life, through your spirituality?
2. Has being spiritual ever led you to refrain from acting in a particular way?
3. Conversely, has being spiritual ever led you to undertake a commitment that you would not otherwise have made?
4. How does your spirituality influence your view of your fellow human beings?
5. In times of difficulty, where do you find strength?
6. Do you have a spirit of gratitude in your life, and if so, how do you express it?
7. Is your spiritual life something that draws you into fellowship with others and if so, how?
8. On those occasions – which all of us experience – when there is a need to turn your life around, or at least make a fresh start, how does your spirituality help you to do this?
9. How do you tackle bitterness or resentment?
10. What sources do you find nourishing to your spiritual life?
As one friend said so pithily: “Spiritual but not religious means you are too lazy to get out of bed and go to church.”
The politically correct response everyone knows now to give.
There is a difference between “spirituality” and Christian spirituality. You can worship a rock and be spiritual.
No. 4: Yes–that’s what I work very hard to convey to my students, whether they want to hear it or not. And we use my little reader SPIRITUAL COUNSEL IN THE ANGLICAN TRADITION (2011), which addresses that very point in the intro.
#1. I like your questions. I have a few additional suggestions:
*Does being spiritual rather than religious help you answer this question: “Why is there something rather than nothing?”
*Does being spiritual rather than religious ever involve being thankful for one’s life or one’s circumstances, and if so, thankful to whom or to what?
*Do you agree that your life has a purpose, and, if so, how did that purpose originate?
*Do you believe there are any values or virtues (love for fellow human beings, for example) that are universally good?
*Does being spiritual rather than religious mean you believe that there is a benevolent force at work in the universe, but you reject the religious proposal that names that force, “God?”
Thank you Rick. I like your reformulation of my spirit of gratitude question, which I will adopt, and your question about universal values.
Emma’s listening to the cosmic hum.