Deepening our Spirituality... (Newsletter Piece)

You are having a conversation with a friend. Part way through they ask “why do you go to church?”. How do you respond? Does the answer include something about having your soul/spirit fed? Is that part of what the church offers to you?

I sincerely hope so.

Bold Discipleship. Daring Justice. Deep Spirituality. Those are three things the General Council has chosen as guideposts for our life together as a denomination, and have encouraged local congregations to take those guideposts for their own lives together. It is my belief and hope that all three interact and feed each other in a positive feedback loop. Some people are energized more by an encouragement to be bold as they grow in disciples. Some people like the challenge of being daring as they seek a new, more just world. And sometimes what we truly need is to go deep into our spiritual sides (and yes I believe we all have a spiritual side) and sense the presence of the Holy in our lives.

The witness of many saints and Saints over the centuries has been that deep spirituality feeds how we live out our faith. Deep spirituality helps us draw from a well of strength and hope beyond ourselves. It reminds us that there is a bigger picture than the one in front of us. So how do we go deeper into our spiritual selves? How do we tap into the deep well of God’s presence?

There are, of course, a multitude of answers to that question. And what works for me will not necessarily what works for you. So if we are to be a community that encourages deep spirituality how do we do that?

I’ll come back to that question. But first I want to tell you about one of my favourite courses in seminary. In my final year there was a course offered by one of the professors at the Anglican College of Emmanuel and St. Chad called “Spiritual Formation”. As I read the descriptor I realized that it was indeed a course I really should take. I found that I had not had much formal or intentional exposure to practices that would deepen my spirituality as I was growing up. Certainly I had found things that worked for me (often involving being by myself outside by a body of water) but I had never had a chance to really explore spiritual practices. So I took the course. And I was so glad for having done it.

In that course given a chance to try a variety of forms of prayer and reflect on them. We discussed other practices like fasting or creating a “rule of life”. It was there that I was first introduced to walking the labyrinth. In a school setting with a lot of heavy thinking it was a place that gave us the tools to spend time with God, because we need to do that to recharge ourselves and be able to take on the other tasks of life.

Some of what we did in that course touched me deeply. Some of it didn’t. But the important thing was that it helped me learn more clearly what works for me, and gave me other things to try from time to time. I think that is one of the roles the church can play in our lives. Not to tell us what we must do to deepen our walk with God, but to help us explore what works for us, to give us options and experiences that help us sort out what touches our soul. (Which partially answers the question I asked above.)

There are other things we can do as a community to help each other develop a deeper spirituality. We can give each other permission to share what works for us – and what doesn’t – in a place where we won’t be judged. One of the things about spiritual practices or spiritual disciplines is that often they look very ‘unproductive’, some might even accuse us of wasting time. As a community that believes these things to be important we can give each other permission to ‘waste time’ in such ways. We can offer space. We have a labyrinth that people can walk. We have a sanctuary where people can come and sit and think/reflect/pray (or ponder the stained glass windows). There are many ways we, as a community, can help each other feed our spirits.

To be a faith community is to be a place where spiritsare nourished. Some people do that by working on tasks. Some do it by walking the labyrinth or experiencing a sound bath. Some do it in quiet reflection, some do it out loud and talking. Sometimes we do any of the above at different times. There is no one right way to feed our spiritual side. What works best for you?
Gord

PS: As I was writing this I pulled out the folder from my old Spiritual Formation course. Looking over it I wondered if there might be interest in the fall for a group of us to get together and talk about/try on different spiritual practices. Let me know.