| Spirituality |
Spirituality, which is not the same as religion, has been defined in many ways:
In the most basic sense, spirituality is based on the idea that something greater than
us exists outside our five human senses. Spirituality is our personal relationship with
the Divine. It can either be a part of a particular religion, or it can be a self directed
and personal inner path.
Spirituality is a search for meaning, purpose and truth in life--it is our longing to find
our identity and place in the universe.
When we look at these awe-inspiring pictures of the universe taken by the Hubbell
Telescope, there can be little doubt that it and we are creations of a higher power;
that regardless of what name we give it, a Divine Intelligence exists that is a far
greater power than any single religion or philosophy, and is beyond anything our
human minds can grasp.
- A belief in a higher power
- An interconnectedness of all things
- The life force energy that flows through each of us and binds us all together
- A set of guiding principles
- The values by which a person lives
In the most basic sense, spirituality is based on the idea that something greater than
us exists outside our five human senses. Spirituality is our personal relationship with
the Divine. It can either be a part of a particular religion, or it can be a self directed
and personal inner path.
Spirituality is a search for meaning, purpose and truth in life--it is our longing to find
our identity and place in the universe.
When we look at these awe-inspiring pictures of the universe taken by the Hubbell
Telescope, there can be little doubt that it and we are creations of a higher power;
that regardless of what name we give it, a Divine Intelligence exists that is a far
greater power than any single religion or philosophy, and is beyond anything our
human minds can grasp.
New Articles_______________________________
When you examine the lives of the most
influential people who have ever walked
among us, you discover one thread that
winds through them all. They have been
aligned first with their spiritual nature and
only then with their physical selves.
~ Albert Einstein
influential people who have ever walked
among us, you discover one thread that
winds through them all. They have been
aligned first with their spiritual nature and
only then with their physical selves.
~ Albert Einstein
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Spirituality When You Reach Forty
By
Ali Bierman
As someone in your forties (or beyond) do you find yourself resuming the spiritual quest you started in your early
twenties? Your original questions were all about life: what does it mean and why am I here? Remember? Or maybe
you grew up in a home with a deep religious or spiritual faith that gave you all the answers so you never felt a need
to, or maybe never dared, to question anything beyond the visible realm.
Hmm. That is the same thing people wonder about in their forties. Well it is and it isn't. This time you bring a whole
different perspective to it. In your forties you tend to see the oneness of things rather than the "me" aspect of
existence.
How do you take up your journey now that nobody is telling you what is right and what is truth?For me, when I
was a teenager I became very deeply involved in existentialism. Hey, it was the 1960s and the works of
Kierkegaard, Sartre and Camus were all the rage during the hippie-flower child era. Interestingly the upshot of my
exploration got me so confused (challenging my dearly held beliefs) that I bounced back and forth between
believing only in my religion and completely nixing my religion.
Know what I mean? Did you ever or, more likely, do you find yourself in a similar place? Do you find, suddenly, that
some things you were taught no longer fit or just do not make any sense at all?
In my forties I developed a clear sense that religion and spirituality were not at all the same thing. I found that
many people I knew were deeply spiritual with no religious attachments and that many people I knew to be devout
followers of some religions had no clue what spirituality meant to them.
How did I move into a place of peace around something as key to life as spiritual beliefs and peace? I paid attention
to how I felt when I attended religious services. Ah, now that is novel idea! Rather than blindly following the service,
saying the prayers I was directed to say, doing the religious dances unique to that congregation, I really started
asking myself what all those words meant to me.
And then it happened. The religious leader, in his sermon, told everyone that you couldn't pray just any way. He
said there is a right way to pray and nothing else counted. Whoa! What! This highly respected person who sat in
on prayer breakfasts at the White House in Washington, D. C. thought he had the religious spiritual thing all locked
up and you had to do what he said for your prayers to count?
That remark ended my conflicted feelings about attending any religious service. What sparked your journey into
your personal meaning of spirituality? Have you found it yet?
By
Ali Bierman
As someone in your forties (or beyond) do you find yourself resuming the spiritual quest you started in your early
twenties? Your original questions were all about life: what does it mean and why am I here? Remember? Or maybe
you grew up in a home with a deep religious or spiritual faith that gave you all the answers so you never felt a need
to, or maybe never dared, to question anything beyond the visible realm.
Hmm. That is the same thing people wonder about in their forties. Well it is and it isn't. This time you bring a whole
different perspective to it. In your forties you tend to see the oneness of things rather than the "me" aspect of
existence.
How do you take up your journey now that nobody is telling you what is right and what is truth?For me, when I
was a teenager I became very deeply involved in existentialism. Hey, it was the 1960s and the works of
Kierkegaard, Sartre and Camus were all the rage during the hippie-flower child era. Interestingly the upshot of my
exploration got me so confused (challenging my dearly held beliefs) that I bounced back and forth between
believing only in my religion and completely nixing my religion.
Know what I mean? Did you ever or, more likely, do you find yourself in a similar place? Do you find, suddenly, that
some things you were taught no longer fit or just do not make any sense at all?
In my forties I developed a clear sense that religion and spirituality were not at all the same thing. I found that
many people I knew were deeply spiritual with no religious attachments and that many people I knew to be devout
followers of some religions had no clue what spirituality meant to them.
How did I move into a place of peace around something as key to life as spiritual beliefs and peace? I paid attention
to how I felt when I attended religious services. Ah, now that is novel idea! Rather than blindly following the service,
saying the prayers I was directed to say, doing the religious dances unique to that congregation, I really started
asking myself what all those words meant to me.
And then it happened. The religious leader, in his sermon, told everyone that you couldn't pray just any way. He
said there is a right way to pray and nothing else counted. Whoa! What! This highly respected person who sat in
on prayer breakfasts at the White House in Washington, D. C. thought he had the religious spiritual thing all locked
up and you had to do what he said for your prayers to count?
That remark ended my conflicted feelings about attending any religious service. What sparked your journey into
your personal meaning of spirituality? Have you found it yet?