Showing posts with label spiritual. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spiritual. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 5, 2014

Spiritual vs religious: Is there a difference?



Religious people from left, Jew, Catholic nun and Muslim

 Carol Forsloff - Many people may not identify themselves as a member of a specific religious community but see themselves as spiritual.  Is there a difference; and if so, what is the difference between being religious and having spirituality.

Anne Rice is said to have raised that question several years ago.  She wonders about how Christian values are now removed from the actual teachings of Christ.  Others have worried about the same thing, including many devout Christians.

People, however, who see themselves as spiritual as opposed to religious maintain it is possible to have a deep faith in God yet not be connected to a specific faith group.  Others who may not believe in a divine being still consider themselves spiritual with beliefs that focus on the inner workings of the person and the ability to relate to one another as connected beings.

So what is this movement that identifies spirituality as distinct from being religious?

In 2010 Rice  introduced the topic of being religious vs being spiritual by telling folks she was 'quitting Christianity' because as a Catholic she was unable to accept her church's views on homosexuality, feminism, politics and birth control.  Rice spelled out her position on social media.  She told people in writing her position on her Facebook page"In the name of
Christ, I quit Christianity and being Christian." 

So the question people are asking is whether you can leave religion and still keep Christ in your life and whether an individual can be spiritual without being religious.


The question is likely to be answered differently according to the region of the country and the denomination.  In Oregon where little more than 30% of the population claims to be Christian, one might expect spirituality and religion to be separated in how people view the subject.


The Bible belt South reflects a different view.  This is a region of the United States where most people believe in going to church every Sunday and that religion means an organized gathering and a specific form of worship.

Natchitoches, Louisiana is a reflection of that fundamentalism since with few exceptions (a tiny mosque meeting place and a few Buddhists and others at the local University), most of the townspeople attend one of the mainstream churches, which in this part of the country takes the more fundamental view, even within their own denominations.

One would find, for example, that in Portland, Oregon the ordinary political and social viewpoints and application of religious principles would be uniquely different than those within similarly-named groups such as in a town like Natchitoches, Louisiana.

Mainstream Presbyterians, for example, have accepted gay ministers; but the view of a local Bible belt group in the same denomination in Natchitoches would likely not.

In fact the groups, despite being in the same congregational divisions,argue among themselves on certain social issues that include gay rights,abortion and other hot button topics.

"I'm not religious,"people explain in some parts of the country, to separate themselves from viewpoints they believe counter those of Christ's teachings.  "But I am spiritual," they declare, because having a belief of some sort is identified with having some ethical stance.

How new social movements will continue to impact religious groups by region will,according to experts, continue to play out not just in the political but in the religious arena as well.

Max Carter, professor and theologian, describes what he believes will happen with Rice following her pronouncement, "And if she is anything like the many students with whom I work and learn - who would describe themselves as deeply spiritual but not religious in the conventional sense - then she is in good company."  But at the same time he worries about what else might happen in the rebellion against the Christian establishment.

" Let's just hope they don't join together, form a "Church," and develop a dogma that, itself, will one day run counter to the fresh springs of the Spirit of Christ."

Already, however, there are formal atheist organizations that have their own rituals and people who consider themselves spiritual, despite the lack of a belief in God. They even have their own television channel and a dogma of sorts that reflects their beliefs as well.  And in Portland, Oregon, in a State that boasts the lowest percentage of religious people in the country, a billboard offers an invitation, in the same fashion churches often do, to join your local atheist group as part of a movement as well.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

The Spiritual Benefits of Aging

[caption id="attachment_10210" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Walk in the gardens - Forsloff photo"][/caption]

Carol Forsloff - The trees were bright with autumn colors, but never were they more beautiful than during a visit with an elderly woman in a care facility in Oregon where once again came those special reminders of the spiritual benefits of aging.

How can one benefit from aging when faced with memory lapses, physical ailments, losing friends and relatives and suffering through long periods of being alone or locked inside a building without the freedom to leave without permission?  How can others benefit from spending time with those who live without the sharp tongue of youth and the vigor of innovation?  Indeed the spiritual benefits of aging far exceed the value of youth if we look beyond the material issues that ordinarily dominate our world.

Laura honors life with grace and joy despite confinement inside the walls of a care facility housing those with memory deficiencies that require ongoing care.    She, like others for whom the details of the day before are rearranged or forgotten altogether, lives in that place of  the Now that a modern writer tells us can give anyone an insight into spiritual treasures we otherwise may not find.

“Look at those colors,” Laura exclaimed.   “ Nothing is more wonderful than these.  And the fruit trees!  All we have to do is walk around and pick up what has fallen to the ground.   Isn’t this everything we need?”

With that she moved along the pathway into the gardens outside her residence,  finding the pears and apples that had fallen from the trees.  Her pleasure came in those simple things folks often talk about but seldom take the time to really savor as a 94-year-old woman can who looks at life with eyes that come from wisdom more than knowledge, from love of spiritual benefits more than love of material things.

She apologizes for her memory but explains it all like this.  “My memory these days is like the old-style juke box where you never know what recording will come down and what song will play next.”  And she laughs with pleasure as incidents recalled from her stack of memories triggers joy in the moment that she turns and shares with us.

Like many of advancing age, Laura’s life was full of children, travel, many things that sometimes merge and mingle and sometimes stray a bit.   As details leave in moments, other bits return; but Laura’s outlines of her life remain for all to savor for the wisdom that she brings.

She hesitates a moment, then walking carefully and slowly along the grassy slope that fronts the building where she lives, she speaks again of life and love and looking up she smiles and says “I Love you,” in the ways she once could not.  She shares  the meaningful ideas, those instant joys that children bring as well from sifting instantly those things of lasting value from things that will not last.  For with time and memories that have gone, the best of her is now.   Her soul that came as an infant with its innocence and charm retains that simple essence that reflects the good in us.  And that good is given as the gift to all who listen to the Lauras of the world, the ones who find in this wisdom of the elderly  the spiritual benefits of life.

"We are not human beings having a spiritual experience.  We are spiritual beings having a human experience." - Teilhard de Chardin  

“Wisdom is with aged men, With long life is understanding.” Job 12:12 (NASB), the Bible

“Be content and let thy mind go like the river you see before thine eyes, which is always flowing onward, forever to the ocean and yet is untouched by anything.” Eckankar Stranger by the River, p. 23

“By good deeds, pure lives, humility and meekness be a lesson for others,” Abdul-Baha, Tablets of Abdul-Baha, v1, p. 22, Baha'i Faith