Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Strategic Monk

Home
Contemplative
Practices From the Inside Out: Does Spiritual Life Really Matter?

Practices From the Inside Out: Does Spiritual Life Really Matter?

Last updated on: June 20, 2017 at 4:56 pm by Greg Richardson

Practices From the Inside Out: Does Spiritual Life Really Matter? 2017-06-20T16:56:46-08:00 Greg Richardson

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

7931804706_898f72633f_z

Does Spiritual Life Really Matter?

I know people who have never really thought much about spiritual life.

We have created a culture in which spiritual life is something to be belittled or ridiculed. Our lives are focused on work or family or friends. Spiritual life is something which makes us feel embarrassed or afraid. We spend our money on vampires and zombies and werewolves, not on real spiritual life.

People who seem to know about real spiritual life are not interested in our questions. They appear to have found answers which satisfy them and spend their time defending those answers. The professionals seem to have more time to convince us than to help us.

It feels like spiritual life only matters if it helps us win the argument.

The questions which really matter to us appear to have little to do with spiritual life. We care about relationships and how we look, what we can afford to buy and how we feel. Spiritual life seems too fuzzy and far away to really matter to us.

Even people interested in spiritual life have a hard time understanding it. The path toward spiritual life is challenging, as if it were hiding from us.

Spiritual life seems to take a lot of time and effort. We need more immediate gratification.

Spiritual life does not feel like it really matters to us. So many other things are larger parts of our everyday lives. We are just not that into spiritual life.

It is easy for us to get discouraged and tired, to stop trying.

The Reality of Spiritual Life

We want to find someone who can make spiritual life easier for us. A checklist or an outline would be good, or spiritual life by the numbers. We would like directions or a diagram we could follow, like with Ikea or Legos.

It would be great if we could find a way to master spiritual life in a month or a year.

The reality of spiritual life is we relate to Sacred truths in our own unique, personal ways. There are no shortcuts or quick answers. We can learn from the experience of other people, but we each learn for ourselves.

There is no easy way for spiritual life to grow in us, to become spiritual masters. Studying spiritual life in school only shows us how much more we need to learn. We cannot learn what we need to know and move on to study something else.

Spiritual life is not an academic exercise. Spiritual life grows in us as we practice ways to become more open to it.

We cannot try to protect ourselves and expect to gain strength in spiritual life. Spiritual life is about spending time and building trust with Sacred truth. Our relationship to Sacred truth changes us, guiding us into deeper truth. We become more willing to share the truth we know with the people around us. Spiritual life allows us to be honest with ourselves, to recognize and appreciate who we are. Our spiritual practices show us how to be true to ourselves, to know ourselves more intimately.

Spiritual life is not warm and cuddly, not fuzzy and far away. It is closer than we are to ourselves and guides us even closer.

Spiritual life is about what really matters.

Deciding What Really Matters to Us

Many of us are not particularly good at deciding what really matters to us. Even when we know what matters most to us, we get scared and anxious about it. We tend not to want to commit ourselves when the stakes are high.

One essential aspect of spiritual life is it does not force itself on us. Spiritual life is patient, waiting for us to decide. The problem, if we put off deciding what matters, is we will miss out on the benefits.

If we stay loose and noncommittal we may miss our chance. When we get stuck in our anxiety and fear, we risk staying stuck and not spending our lives on what matters.

It is easy for us to get distracted until it is too late. We put off deciding what really matters to us and we give away our opportunities to try it.

We are right to think there is a lot at stake. It is important for us to recognize we risk just as much by not deciding as we do by deciding.

How do we decide what really matters to us?

Part of deciding what matters to us is thinking about it, analyzing our options. Another aspect of deciding is reflecting. It can help a lot to pay unfocused attention, not concentrating intently. We allow the possibilities to present themselves. It is also helpful to gain experience. Trying things, even for a short period of time, can give us significant insights.

We also need to remember what matters to us can change over time.

Learning How Much Spiritual Life Really Matters

Deciding whether spiritual life really matters can include thinking, reflecting, and experience. It might help to talk with someone who seems to understand spiritual life. You might want to find a person who is not trying to sell you a particular set of answers.

Spending time learning about spiritual life and reflecting about it could help. There are plenty of websites and books you could explore.

You might want to choose a spiritual practice to try for a set period of time. It might be praying every day for a month, for example.

The key is not to put pressure on yourself. Try some things out and, possibly, move on to trying something else. It is not a test or a challenge. You are just checking it out to see if it works well for you.

We explore spiritual life to give ourselves opportunities to change how we respond to it. There is no reason for spiritual life to be a source of fear or anxiety for us.

Does spiritual life really matter to you?

[Image by CarbonNYC [in SF!]]

Greg Richardson is a spiritual life mentor and leadership coach in Southern California. He is a recovering attorney and university professor, and a lay Oblate with New Camaldoli Hermitage near Big Sur, California. Greg’s website is StrategicMonk.com, and his email address is [email protected].

Blog

Spiritual Practices

Previous Post

June 10, 2017

Practices From the Inside Out: Landscaping Our Spiritual Lives

Next Post

June 15, 2017 Leading Like a Monk: How Do Monks Communicate?

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Blog Book Reviews Everything Else Guest Posts Leadership Monastic Strategies Neighborhood Pilgrimages Sacred Stillness Spiritual Direction Spiritual Practices Work

Select a Month May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 November 2023 October 2023 September 2023 August 2023 July 2023 June 2023 May 2023 April 2023 March 2023 February 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 May 2022 April 2022 March 2022 February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Though Israel played the harlot, I will betroth you to me forever in righteousness and justice, in love and what?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Truth Compassion Holiness Faithfulness