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: Celebrating Spiritual Life

Practices From the Inside Out: Celebrating Spiritual Life

Last updated on: September 23, 2017 at 9:30 pm by Greg Richardson

Practices From the Inside Out: Celebrating Spiritual Life 2017-09-23T21:30:04-08:00 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.

1813744832_303f2c1174_z

Celebrating Spiritual Life

We love to celebrate, commemorate, and recognize. Almost anything is a cause for our celebration.

At the same time, our culture has converted celebrating into a financial activity.

Holidays which entered our culture as spiritual events have been converted into commercial seasons. We have developed sectors of our economy which are almost entirely dependent on holiday spending.

Our culture does an excellent job of generating revenue from holidays with spiritual roots.

I saw the first Christmas decorations for sale in stores months ago.

Some stores make a conscious decision not to put up Christmas displays until after Thanksgiving. A few businesses still remain closed all day on Thanksgiving Day.

In many stores, Easter sales displays will go up almost immediately after Christmas.

Many of us feel weighed down by the obligations and activities we have created around holidays. Is it really celebrating when there are so many things we are told to do?

We no longer really think about celebrating spiritual life.

Some of us think spiritual life is about following rules. Other people see spiritual life as being about what we think, not what we do. We may assume spiritual life focuses on expectations or responsibilities.

What does all that have to do with celebrating?

When do we have time or energy for really celebrating spiritual life?

Is spiritual life something we want to celebrate in our lives?

How would we actually celebrate spiritual life in meaningful ways?

Many of us allow other people to decide what, and when, we will celebrate. We have grown accustomed to not thinking about why some things are more important to us than others.

What Do We Celebrate?

Celebrating is acknowledging a significant or happy event with a gathering or activity. We celebrate birthdays and anniversaries, graduations and achieving important milestones.

Some of us tend not to appreciate being told what to celebrate. I have a limited tolerance for mandatory revelry and prefer to choose my own celebrations. Traditions do not really carry much weight with me. I prefer to make my own choices to celebrate in my own way.

For example, one year I celebrated my birthday by choosing friends to take out to dinner. We had a great time, an excellent meal, and meaningful conversation. There was no party, no balloons, and no cake. I enjoyed myself immensely.

Many of the occasions when we are expected to celebrate can feel artificial and forced. We often create more real revelry by celebrating something unsanctioned.

Each of us chooses to celebrate when we want. There is something deeper than we might generally be aware of which sparks our inner celebration.

For many of us, celebration and spiritual life is a challenging combination. Our experience may teach us there is a wall of separation between spiritual life and feeling good. We are used to understanding spiritual life as a struggle or a journey, not a celebration.

I see spiritual life in a different light.

We apparently think we need an external reason, like words on a calendar, to celebrate. For me, spiritual life gives me cause for revelry almost every day. Celebrating spiritual life is not dependent on what we are told to do.

While spiritual life can be challenging, it is also a source of deep joy. We can celebrate the love and possibilities of spiritual life even though it is not easy.

We can practice the spiritual discipline of finding something to celebrate every day.

How Do We Celebrate Spiritual Life?

We do not need to buy or rent elaborate equipment or decorations to celebrate spiritual life. Celebrating spiritual life is not necessarily a matter of complex ceremonies or practices.

It is possible to celebrate spiritual life quietly, even privately within ourselves.

We develop a spiritual practice of finding something to celebrate each day and it is enough to remember. Our celebration can be writing down each day’s cause to remind ourselves. As our list grows we look back and see all the reasons we have to celebrate spiritual life.

We may also want to share our celebrations with a few other people. Like my birthday dinner, we can choose the people with whom we celebrate carefully. Several of us might decide to celebrate together.

There is room for great creativity in celebrating spiritual life. Some of us may decide to celebrate on our own or with a select group of a few people. We may give ourselves the treat of a visit to the woods or the mountains or the beach.

It is possible to celebrate by ourselves even when surrounded by other people. There are people who celebrate spiritual life while they participate in a religious congregation.

We may decide to infuse the words of a religious service with our celebration.

Some people might feel they are not really paying attention to the service itself. It is difficult for me to see the downside of using a service in a celebration of spiritual life.

Celebrating Every Day

We choose to celebrate something each day. Our days are full of significant moments we acknowledge in our actions.

Some days we choose to celebrate the joys of our lives and other days we celebrate the sorrow. We give our attention to the significant events which fill our lives, celebrating and remembering.

Each of our moments contains the spiritual life which surrounds and saturates us. Some of us choose to acknowledge spiritual life, celebrating it by being open to it. Other people decide to turn away, celebrating something else.

We acknowledge the significance of spiritual life as we pay attention to it and remember. Our celebration includes our reflection which allows us to recognize spiritual life in us.

We can find something new to celebrate every day. Each day is filled with new gifts to us which we open in our celebration.

Who will you invite to share your celebration of spiritual life?

How can we be celebrating spiritual life this week?

What will you decide to celebrate today?

[Image by bfick]

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

September 21, 2017

Leading Like a Monk: Understanding Strength and Weakness

Next Post

September 26, 2017 Listening to Sacred Stillness: What We Hear When We Listen

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

What New Covenant promise is found in Jeremiah?

Select your answer to see how you score.

God will raise a new king in Israel God will flood the earth God will write His law on their hearts God will destroy Egypt