The full title of my blog is “Sunflower Seeds: Celebrating Everyday Spirituality.” Today I’d like to explore that word spirituality. In my book, Traits of a Healthy Spirituality, I say this about my use of that word. Spirituality is our essential outlook on life, the way we perceive reality. Spirituality also includes our responses to that reality, that is, our actions and behaviors that flow from that perception. For example, if I believe God is a real person who is involved in my life and in the world, then one response of mine would be prayer. If I view others as sons and daughters of God, then my actions would include my love and concern for them.
But there are other ways of viewing and describing the word spirituality. Here are 15 more statements that I invite you to ponder. I suggest you read them prayerfully, noticing some of the similarities and differences.
1) The spiritual life is merely ordinary life lived with God as its center. Jean Maalouf
2) There’s a part of every living thing that wants to become itself: the tadpole into the frog, the chrysalis into the butterfly, a damaged human being into a whole one. That is spirituality. Ellen Bass
3) Spirituality is the style of a person’s response to Christ before the challenge of everyday life, in a historical and cultural environment. Katherine Marie Dyckman and L. Patrick Carroll
4) A Christian spirituality poses the question: Whose am I? Michael Downey
5) Spirituality is how I cope with life. Gerard Broccolo
6) For a spiritual life is simply a life in which all that we do comes from the center, where we are anchored in God: a life soaked through and through by a sense of God’s reality and claim, and self-given to the great movement of God’s will. Evelyn Underhill
7) Spirituality is meeting God in all that is life. Pat Livingston
8) Spirituality means waking up. Most people, even though they don’t know it, are asleep. They never understand the loveliness and beauty of this thing that we call human existence. Anthony DeMello, SJ
9) Christian spiritualiy is our conscious attending to God’s loving outreach and presence in our life. Thomas Groome
10) The spiritual life is a life-long wrestling match with God. Joan Chittister, OSB
11) Most of the peoplle who have what I want–which is to say, purpose, heart, balance, gratitude, joy–are people with a deep sense of spirituality…. They follow a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle. They are part of something beautiful. Anne Lamott
12) We seek help for what we cannot face alone; in seeking help, we accept and admit our own powerlessness. And in that acceptance and admission, in the acknowledgement that we are not in control, spirituality is born. Ernest Kurtz
13) Too often spirituality is profoundly misunderstood, becoming just another commodity, a source of pleasure or power…a kind of Cosmic Linus Blanket. Veronica Brady
14) Spirituality is what we do with the fire inside of us. Ronald Rolheiser
15) The essence of Christian spirituality is this: be Jesus for others; and find Jesus in others. Sister Melannie Svoboda, SND
For reflection:
Are there any quotations above that you especially liked. Why?
Did any of the pictures catch your attention?
Is there a difference between spirituality and religion? If so, what do you think the difference is?
How would YOU answer the question: What is meant by spirituality or by Christian spirituality?
P.S. This week I’m facilitating a retreat for the Sisters of St. Joseph and their associates in Clarence, PA. I ask you for the support of your prayers for all of us! Thank you!
Ernest Kurtz says (in #13) that “when we seek help for what we cannot face alone… spirituality is born.” This song, “Lord, I Need You” by Matt Maher expresses beautifully our need for God, for Jesus. Over the years, I have prayed this song many, many times…
I look forward to reading you comments below–about the reflection, the questions, the photos, or the video!
23 Responses
Good morning, Sr. Melannie…
Good morning, all…
I think I nodded my head in agreement to everyone of these statements about spirituality. Evelyn Underhill’s words, “A life soaked through and through with a sense of God’s reality and claim” ; Anthony DeMello’s call to “wake up” and “understand the loveliness and beauty of this thing we call existence” ; how Anne Lamott sees spirituality in people who follow “a brighter light than the glimmer of their own candle” (check out her appearance on Father James Martin’s podcast!) ; yes, I agree with Joab Chittister: “the spiritual life is a life-long wrestling match with God; and, Melannie, your quote sums it all up simply and succinctly: “Be Jesus for other; and find Jesus in others.”
Sister Mellannie,
This song is beautiful my mom died in October and I have been missing her something awful I sure do need God right now.
Catherine, My sympathy to you on the death of your dear Mom. I came across this recently, by Jameson Arasi: “So, on the hard days, you must remind yourself: you wouldn’t trade the love to escape the grief. You wouldn’t erase the happiness to avoid the pain. And you will endure a lifetime of missing, for the privilege of having loved.” Special prayers for you… Melannie
Thank you so much for this Sister. My husband passed away on December 10, 2024 and I miss him every single day.
Mary Jo, My sympathy to you on the death of your husband in 2024. Here’s another quote by Winnie the Pooh about goodbyes… “How lucky I am to have something (or someone) that makes saying goodbye so hard.” Special prayers for you… Melannie
Hi, Religion is rites and doctrine, Spirituality is imitating Jesus in our life. I read somewhere that the measure of our obedience to God is not how much we love Jesus, but rather how much we love Judas. God Bless
Alfred
Dear Sister Melanie,
For me, spirituality is learning the language of my heart, because that is where I encounter the love of God.
Thank you for your beautiful reflections. They are always a blessing to me!
Peace be with you,
Vicki
We need Our Lord daily all the days
of our lives this song is so good
Thank you we need to let go & let
Our Lord direct our lives. Be grateful
for every new day.
Thank you
Blessings
Kathy
Dear Melannie,
Hope you’re doing well!
Thank you for your insight Spiritually. I plan to copy the quotes to reflect on especially during my annual retreat in October.
May God guide you as led the Sisters of St. Joseph and their associates in Clarence, PA. in their journey.
May God open their minds and hearts as you walk with them during this special time of retreat.
Blessings,
Jane, CSA
Richfield, OH
This is my favorite one: Spirituality is what we do with the fire inside of us. Ronald Rolheiser It captures for me our inner workings of fire in the belly looking for God.
Good morning, Melannie! I like many of these statements on spirituality, but the description you have in the first paragraph of this blog resonated with me: “Spirituality is our essential outlook on life, the way we perceive reality. Spirituality also includes our responses to that reality, that is, our actions and behaviors that flow from that perception.”
Thank you for inviting us to reflect on this topic. I also liked the photo of the two women sitting at the beach and the music video at the end. As usual, this blog was a pleasant way to begin the day. Blessings on your upcoming retreat with the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Good morning, Melannie! I like many of these statements on spirituality, but the description you have in the first paragraph of this blog resonated with me: “Spirituality is our essential outlook on life, the way we perceive reality. Spirituality also includes our responses to that reality, that is, our actions and behaviors that flow from that perception.”
Thank you for inviting us to reflect on this topic. I also liked the photo of the two women sitting at the beach and the music video at the end. As usual, this blog was a pleasant way to begin the day. Blessings on your upcoming retreat with the Sisters of St. Joseph.
Good afternoon Melannie and all. Interesting and helpful reflections on spirituality. I loved them all and your thoughts too. I especially like #6 by Evelyn Underwood, #where we’re anchored in God…a self-given to the great movement of God’s will”
And in particular your reflection Melannie “be Jesus for others”.
I too was particularly drawn to the pic of the two women on the beach. They seem to be drawn together in contemplation and thankfulness.
I will keep you and your St. Joseph community retreat participants in prayer this week. May you have a blessed journey together.
Good day to all,
Religion is orthodoxy and spirituality is orthopraxy……religion teaches you how and spirtuality gives you the channel through which you are able to live it to the fullest.
As others have stated, all of the quotes had something valuable in them which pretty much sums up spirituality for me. I would much prefer to be called spiritual rather than religious….religion is “doing” and spirituality is “being”.
Thank you once again for your blog, Sr. Melannie!
I’m a bit jealous of all those people who will be in retreat with you this week….take good care and God bless you all,
Mary
Amen! Good thoughts. It’s good to know God loves us infinitely. This belief helps me try to live flexibly and trustingly. As a favorite priest says several times at Mass, “The Lord is with you.”
Jesus in, Jesus out.
Melannie this was a most interesting writing. There are so many different ideas of what spirituality is. My thought is so what you said Melannie. We are called to be Jesus and to see Jesus in others. That just says it very simply. Thank you.
Blessings on the retreat you are giving this week.
#2 because spirituality is our transformation to what it is to be fully human, in essence.
#13 because I see it so prevalent in me that spirituality is for my own pleasure or control over others (I.e. self – Righteousness).
The photo of the two women by sea caught my attention because of the quote it is beneath.
Spirituality is the essence of religion. Religion is what we see and the taste of it is based on the spirituality involved.
Spirituality is what makes life bearable. It is unexplainable other than it is what moves people to religion which is the practice/obsession of a perceived good. Christian spirituality is the practice and obsession of Jesus Christ and the Eucharist along with Mary and the Saints. Other religions, not commonly understood as religions, but they have a commonness about them which is their spirituality and the practice of watching which are sports, television shows, bars, anything really that becomes a devotional routine is a religion caused by a spirituality which is that which satisfies some emotion in the person and attracts them back.
We are not human beings having a spiritual experience; we are spiritual beings having a human experience.
Teilhard de Chardin
The song about needing God raised cherished memories in my life of how God helped me in the worst of times in my life of 88 yrs. Thus far.
My cancer, cancer in 2 of my 4 children in the prime of their lives, The suicide of a
24 yr. old grandson and death of my beloved husband of 64 years in less than a year later!
Our Lord was there each and every time, oh how he saved me.
Love and blessings for this moment of sweet reflection and comfort.
Marilyn
Arthur. Living with Jesus and Mary in all things is can aspire to. I lost my Frances almost two years ago and am deeply grateful for the sentiments expressed to Catherine on the loss of her Mother. Thank you Melanie.
Dear Sr. Melannie,
Many people say they are spiritual these days but don’t need to go to Church to worship God and hear HIS WORD. I really liked the following 3….”Christian Spirituality is our conscious attending to God’s loving presence” and “What we do with the fire of HIS love inside us” and your statement summed those up best. Thank you also for the statements on grief, they hit home too. God be with you as you give the teachings to the lucky attendees for the Sisters of St. Joseph Retreat.
I think that all of the answers about spirituality are good and Sister; you summed them all up with your answer. I think that the spirituality in each of us will spell out what we leave behind as our personal legacy; which will contain our trip through life with God and our Savior as the most important part of our legacy!