Today we publish Part 2 of an extended series that John Chuchman has developed through the inspiration of a group of lay Catholics in Montana. The theme of the series is very positive: a search for a lay spirituality that can speak to the challenges of life today. The initiative grew out of the American Catholic Council held in Detroit in June last year. There is much to reflect on in this series. Readers may like to take it gently, a section at a time as we explore it here on Catholica. For the impatient, John has already published the full text on his blog [LINK]. Alternatively you can read the full text of the original Montana working paper on the American Catholic Council website at [LINK]. In an email during the week John challenged the use of the term "Lay" but I had taken that directly from the American Catholic Council website linked above. The headline I have used is the same one as the ACC website has used. John wrote "don't title it 'Lay' Spirituality; that is not accurate and it is demeaning." Perhaps a good topic for discussion might be whether or not such a creature as "Lay Spirituality" exists?

Series Navigation: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V

Part II: Religion and Spirituality

For many, spirituality is connected to or strongly shaped by their religion.
It can be said that religion is living from the outside in
and spirituality is living from the inside out.

A religion consists of a set of beliefs, doctrines, traditions, stories, rituals,
and practices that support and sustain spiritual growth.
It provides a language and a conceptual framework
for describing and understanding the spiritual life.

Religions are passed from one generation to another
by some form of leadership and institutional structure .
The elements of a religion typically include public prayer and worship
by the community of believers,
rituals that mark transitions in the life cycle or along the spiritual journey,
a moral and ethical code,
and a reverence for certain sacred writings and sacred places.

As compared to a religion,
which is public and institutional in nature,
spirituality is more a quality of the inner self or soul,
that deepest recess of our being
where we are conscious of who we really are,
what is right and wrong,
and what gives us meaning and purpose.

Both religion and spirituality involve a sense of the sacred
and the recognition that some creative power, life force, or deity
transcends the visible and material world.
Religion is a relational/communal practice of a set of beliefs
while spirituality is the one on one connection to a higher power
and our values, beliefs and behaviors are all an integrated expression
of our individually chosen spiritual practice.

For Christians,
spirituality is shaped by the ideas, ideals, words, and images
absorbed from the life and teachings of Jesus, from scripture and liturgy,
from relationships within a faith community, and from church teachings.

We are drawn to spirituality and/or religion because, deep within,
we have a sense that we are somehow adrift, incomplete, and lack wholeness.

We seek an anchor or a foundation
as we encounter and cope with life's challenges.
Both religion and spirituality provide a sense of meaning,
direction, hope, relatedness and a moral compass.
A religion or spirituality can help people live creatively and peacefully
with troublesome realities
such as troubled relationships, mortality, pain, grief, despair
and outrage at the injustice and cruelty of life.

Love, John Chuchman

If you are impatient you can read the full text of this series on John Chuchman's blog.
You might also like to read the original documents from which these reflections are extracted
on the American Catholic Council website HERE.

Series Navigation: Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V

IMAGE CREDIT:
The background used to support John Chuchman's reflection has been sourced from stock.xchng one of the sources for free images on the net provided by people who voluntarily upload their work for others to share. Daniel Cubillas who is located in Spain provided today's image. A gallery of Daniel's freely available images can be found at: www.sxc.hu/gallery/dcubillas. The image used in the headline is sourced from the ex-christian net website: new.exchristian.net/2011/02/loving-father.html

John Chuchman

[Index of Commentaries by John Chuchman]