Many have attempted to do this and we have numerous definitions which I will share with you on this blog here. I was asked at the start of my sabbatical ‘what is the question you want to answer in your studies?’ I found myself unable to come up with a question, except the one that keeps coming back to me again and again: what is spirituality and how can each of us access it for ourselves?…. Now that’s a question worth exploring.
I have found answers in so many different ways – some general definitions, some broad brush statements we can mostly relate to, and some very personal and individual. So I find myself having to suggest that perhaps we cannot define something so vast and yet so intensely personal and different to each and every one of us.
Instead of trying to ‘answer a question’ I didn’t want to do anyway, I will be sharing my reflections on what I’ve found spirituality is for me and how it might be more readily accessible to us, in various ways (including those of faith but not exclusively so). Let us remember that whilst around 3% of the UK population attend church, over 70% (and perhaps more) have said in various census/surveys that they see themselves as spiritual. I find myself privileged to have got a faith that enriches my quest for spirituality and deepens my understanding of soulfulness. But this is not so for all, and even some of us with faith may still wish to explore their spirituality and how we can deepen our understanding of it for ourselves.
I hope you find these pages thought provoking, challenging perhaps and – most of all – refreshing. For the most important aspect of these reflections is to discover ways we can each journey towards re-discovering our spirituality (our soul-full-ness) for ourselves.
Here is something to ponder: meaning, purpose, connectedness, sense of the sacred – these are common words and phrases included in various definitions of spirituality I have come across. And yet I wonder if our spirituality is simply ‘that which enables us to feel truly alive’….. And, whilst that does not do justice in any way to what spirituality is, it does give us space in which to explore that enables us to feel truly alive and therefore that which connects us, helps us find meaning and purpose and perhaps could expose us to the divine around and with us. You may haves your own thoughts to share on this, your own words perhaps that resonate with you when asked about spirituality.
Furthermore, how do we access/grasp/develop/deepen/celebrate our spirituality? Enjoy pondering! ………
Reflections coming soon! God Bless x
Quest for Spirituality 