John Chuchman concludes this present series today with the observation: "In collaboration with Concerned Catholics of Montana and the American Catholic Council this piece mirrors my own personal Spiritual journey". From the feedback we've been getting at Catholica it would seem many others have similar feelings.

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

Part VI: Additional Thoughts on Developing One's Spirituality

Everyone's spirituality is unique.
It develops and changes over time.
It is a reflection of one's whole being
and is shaped by multiple factors
such as our personality, temperament, age, culture,
and especially our life experiences.
Because spirituality is and must be unique,
no one can select or design spirituality for another person.

One's spirituality reflects one's image of God.
The bible presents us with many and sometimes contradictory images of God.
This is especially true of the Hebrew Scriptures.
For example, some passages present God as distant, angry, judgmental,
and even war-like.

By contrast, Jesus speaks of God as Abba,
the equivalent of a child calling out to Daddy.
We choose to view God as loving, compassionate, merciful, and forgiving.

We must be attentive to and conscious of the language
we use when describing our experiences and images of God.
For example, when a teacher of religion imagines God in exclusively male terms
it is difficult not to devalue women in the process.
When we think of God, as male
it is easy to overlook the fact that all talk about God
is necessarily metaphorical.

When we speak of God in exclusively male terms
we wrongly suppose that men are more God- like than women.

Whenever we attempt to speak about God
we need to remind ourselves that we are not describing God;
at best we are using images and thoughts that grasp at insights.
With these images and thoughts we build a mental model of what God is like.
We need to be wary of supposing that
our mental model is actually what God is.

A healthy spirituality is characterized by such qualities as
self-acceptance and self-esteem,
acceptance of others,
love,
friendship,
hospitality,
forgiveness,
generosity,
gratitude,
willingness to learn and to change,
tolerance of differences in others,
patience,
courage,
joy and playfulness,
faith and hope,
perseverance,
a sense of freedom,
prayer and meditation,
balance and variety.

Our spirituality should always recognize and respect
the value of our interconnectedness,
and interdependence of all people, all living creatures, and all of creation.

When Jesus said, 'before Abraham was, I am,'
he was not proclaiming a special and exclusive Divinity,
but a heartfelt recognition that in a very deep and real sense,
we all share one life, one destiny.

While it is important to our spirituality
to find time to renew our consciousness of the Divine within
with prayer, contemplation, meditation and education,
it is equally important to understand that all that we do in our daily life
is co-creation with the Divine
and living life with all of its creativity and chaos is essential to our spirituality.

The faithful for the most part spend their lives in a family or work environment
that leaves them struggling to find time or space for formal prayer.

It becomes important in these environs
to consciously make every task, every responsibility, every act of service to others,
a partnered prayer with the Divine that dwells within.

We need to find ways in our daily life
to be mindful of God's constant presence and co-creation with us.
After completing a difficult task at work or a complex homework problem,
or a difficult cleaning or fix-it task around the house,
we need to stop and think about our interconnectedness to everything
and of the Holy indwelling within each of us
and take a moment to express our gratitude.

It is helpful to generate reminders in our busy daily life
that help us find dedicated time to develop our spirituality.
Placing a note on our mirror in the bathroom,
setting the alarm on our android phone or tablet
and making the time and taking the time to nourish our spirituality every day
is a way of enhancing our personal spirituality.

In many respects, the development of our spirituality is a life long journey
and in many ways, this inner journey of the soul is a one on one with the Divine.

However, a genuine and lasting spirituality is difficult to develop
outside of a supportive community composed of individuals
who will both challenge us and offer guidance.

Religions around the world demonstrate
that spiritual life requires constant attention.
For good reason we go to church, temple, or mosque regularly
and at appointed times:
it's easy for consciousness to become lodged in the material world
and forget the spiritual.

We humans are fundamentally social and communal creatures.
Thus, our spiritual journey and formation
requires ongoing communication and interactions with others
and active participation in a religious or spiritual community.

When in active communication with others
who are also on a spiritual journey
we can more easily remain conscious of our own ideals and values
and we are less likely to give up when our own spiritual journey
becomes difficult or confusing.
Perhaps we might form or join a prayer group,
a Christian book group
or a small Christian base community.

We need to renew our awareness of God's presence within us
by sharing and eating bread and drinking wine
whether it happens during the Eucharistic celebration
or at our daily dinner table.

We need to remind ourselves frequently that the Spirit alive within us
is also in all of creation.
We are opening ourselves to this realization and appreciation and recognition
that God is no more and no less within everyone and everything
than within ourselves.

Spirituality recognizes and respects the value, interconnectedness,
and interdependence of all people, all living creatures, and all of creation.
Taking time to immerse ourselves in nature in some way
provides us with this reminder.

We need to be open to the many methodologies
that may encourage spiritual growth and fit with our lifestyle.
Contemplation and Meditation are significant
in developing a sound and healthy spirituality.
These sometimes scary words, contemplation and meditation
that we typically attribute to the life of monks and mystics
in essence are simply a wordless, trusting, opening of self
to the Divine presence.

Along with contemplation and meditation
the study of other spiritual disciplines and religions
is also of great benefit in developing our personal spirituality.

As Christians, we see Jesus as our model and mentor,
fully human with the same temptations, worries, and crisis that we face in our lives.
Let the stories and examples from scripture
guide us in caring for our friends,
those we might even consider enemies,
the environment, the world, and the universe.

When in doubt, ask what would Jesus do.

In those same stories we learn that
Jesus' life references more than once
his absolute need to separate from his followers
to find time for contemplation and prayer
so that he could be nourished by a One-on-One communion
with the Spirit.

This was as necessary to him as breathing
so that he could go forth and continue his life giving ministry.
Renewing ourselves in this manner
is equally beneficial in developing our own personal spirituality.

A reading of the gospels makes it quite clear
that Jesus was not especially concerned with religious beliefs or doctrine.
He was, in fact, often critical of those religious beliefs
that had the effect of excluding people from the community
and of doctrines that crushed peoples' spirit.

He was primarily concerned with how people treated each other
and especially with how those who are poor and devalued
are treated by those having wealth and power.

As Christians,
the life and teachings of Jesus show us a better way of living;
a way that can save us from the life destroying forces
of violence, selfishness, greed, envy, and dishonesty.

He modeled for us a life imbued with the Spirit centered on love of neighbor.
Thus, we strive to be loving, compassionate, caring, forgiving,
and honest in all of our relationships.

In addition to Jesus as model and mentor,
it is always wise to look around us for models.
There are many saints and prophets
within our midst that can guide us by their Jesus like words and actions
and assist in our development of our own personal spirituality.

As we develop our spirituality
we will find ourselves more in tune with social and economic justice
for all people
and we begin to care for and provide service to others.
This is a deeply rooted and significant measure of our spirituality.

As faithful people,
with a fully engaged spirituality,
we have a right to full, conscious and active participation
in our Church's liturgical life.

As Catholic Christians we know that liturgy,
especially the Eucharist, is the source and summit of our spirituality.
Denial of this right leads to a denial of our deepest sense of our spiritual selves.

History has proven and continues to prove
that denial of the faithful to fully engage in all aspects of the life of the church
be it liturgical, administrative, organizational or financial,
leads to a church that has little life in it
to engage with any story of the universe.

Developing an attitude of gratefulness for all that is,
fosters healthy spiritual growth.
Through all that comes along in life,
we must remember that evolution has brought us to stand on two feet
so that we are easily able to extend our hands upwards
in gratitude for all of life.

Perhaps we can discover our spirituality
within every moment of each day,
smelling the spirit as we wake to morning air,
tasting the spirit as we break our fast,
feeling the power of the spirit as we live out our passions,
touching the spirit as we hug a friend or say hello to a stranger,
renewing our spirit as we sit at night looking up to the immense universe,
strengthening our spirit by sharing our gifts at every opportunity.
And assuredly celebrating the spirit
each time we gather with one or more.

These are just a few thoughts towards developing a personal spirituality.
As we continue to evolve,
our spirituality itself is subject to that same evolutionary development.

Each of us moves along the path of faith filled spirituality on our own
and develops at our own pace.
I hope you will find something within this document
that will resonate with you and
will help you in your search of your own personal spirituality.

In collaboration with
Concerned Catholics of Montana
and American Catholic Council
this piece
mirrors
my own personal Spiritual journey

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]