Something I heard on the radio last week laid heavily on my mind and brought me around to some comtemplations I've visited many times in recent years...so, the more I thought I about it, the more I realized that it was time to get my opinion out there and add it to the cacophanous debate. On my drive to work each morning, I listen either to whatever is on WEKU or to the Kidd Craddick in the Morning show. Last Tuesday or Wednesday, I had decided that I was in the mood for mindless banter, so I tuned in for the Craddick show. I didn't get the happy ravings I expected. They were discussing what it meant when people said that they were "spiritual" versus when others said that they were "religious." Being one of those people who, in my adult life, have always consider myself (and my beliefs) as "spritual, but not religious," I immediately became intrigued to hear what someone else had to say on the point.
Their discussion, which soon fell to the expected level of mindlessness, centered on how regularly someone went to church. The statement was made that "you can even wash your hands religiously" to support one person's argument that the word
religious meant that "you did something a lot." Simply, they saw
religous and
spiritual as two ends of the continuum for how often someone went to church -
religous meaning someone went regularly and often and
spiritual meaning someone went rarely. Because I do not agree at all with this interpretation, I chose to give my own simple insights.
When I first consider
religious and
spritual, I look at the basic difference between public organized religion and personal individual spirituality. I catalog people as
religious when they belong to an organized religion (i.e., Baptist, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim) and hold those common beliefs as their sole guiding force. It doesn't matter how often they go - whether only on special holidays or the most holy of occassions or to every service and multiple times each week. If they consistently turn to the teachings of one organized religion to make decisions in spite of everything else to which they are exposed in life, they are
religious in my book.
On the other hand, when I categorize someone as
spiritual, I recognize that their foundation beliefs come from many different places - some from diverse (or singular) organized religion and others from life experiences. As a spiritual person, I draw my own personal beliefs from my Christian and Appalachian upbringing; my young indoctrination into the Southern Baptist Church; collegiate readings from Thoreau, Whitman, Ginsberg, Kerouac, Rossetti, and so many others; post-collegiate explorations of Hindu, Buddhist, Sufi, and Kabbalah teachings; and more recent studies in alternative medicine, yoga, and meditation. My many paths along this life's journey have shown me that what I once considered very divergent steps have more in common than I ever expected when you boil things down to the core tenets. Not one of religious exposures limits nor defines my spirituality. All of them contribute to who I am and what I believe today.
Secondly, I must counter those voices who suggest that people who call themselves
spiritual do not go to church and need "saving." In the past year, I may not have gone to more church services than that first year after I became a member at Petrey Memorial Baptist Church, but I honestly can say that I have gotten much more personal value from attending the variety of services. Yes, I have stayed within Christian services this year - Baptist, Presbyterian, Catholic, Methodist, and non-denominational. But, as always, I supplement my life with a varied reading list. I take time each day to expand my mind with directed readings. Learning comes challenge your existing values. Read or listen to a view point with which you feel you disagree and, then, see what remains after you have considered many options. You may modify your stance or you may become even more strongly grounded in your initial thoughts. Either way, you can make an educated decision.
Definitely, I have become a more spiritual person this year, and as such, a much better person. Please do not take that statement as a value judgement on whether it is better to be
spiritual or
religious, it's just a statement of what works for me. In fact, I think it comes down to a personal choice and I do believe that being religous works for some whereas being spiritual works for others. I have
religous friends and I have
spiritual friends. They have all contributed to my own personal growth and I value their friendships no matter their convictions. I leave you with my attempt at advice: through which ever route you can find the comfort, wisdom, strength, and reassurance you need in this life, I urge you to follow that path.
