The word Spirituality entered my vocabulary only in the last
two
years and although I began my other paper
in
mid 2001, it wasn't until January 2002 that I was able to complete it.
Now that it is finished, I am struck by the rather clinical or academic
sound of the definition I gave and in any case that paper is more about
Science than about Spirituality.
When I first became interested in the word Spirituality, I asked my Franciscan Spiritual Adviser about it and was rather disappointed by the reply. She, a self confessed workaholic and a curate in a South London parish, said that she found it in her work of ministering to people. This jarred with my preconception of a quiet chapel and candles and such. But I was wrong and if we take a much simpler definition of Spirituality as: All means of meeting with the Divine and in addition remember our Lord's words:
It makes perfect sense. And it explains why I have described those (wayward?) friends to whom I, in my modest way, minister as being, in some strange way, angelic, despite the problems they have caused me (and society).
So what other ways are there of meeting with the Divine?: In the Catechism we have:
Q. What is required of us for the welfare of our own souls?A. A careful avoiding of all sin, Prov. 11:19; and a diligent use of all the means of grace, 1 Pet. 2:2.
The 1 Peter Passage refers only to the word and evangelical christians would understand that as meaning the Bible only. However: Wesley believed that Divine Grace is made available and effective in human lives through a variety of means or channels. God is of course free to work in many ways, but the Church has been given the special responsibility and privilege of being the Body of Christ which carries out God’s purpose of redeeming the world. So Wesley recognised the Church itself as a means of grace: a grace-filled and grace-sharing community of faithful people. Most Protestant communions share the understanding that the proclamation of the Word through preaching, teaching, and the life of the Church is a primary means of God’s grace. Attendance at Mass is considered the primary means of grace by the non-protestant churches.
Wesley viewed the sacraments as special means of grace and affirmed the Anglican teaching that a sacrament is an outward and visible sign of an inward invisible grace . Combining words, actions, and symbols, sacraments both express and convey God’s grace and love. Baptism and Holy Communion are sacraments that were instituted or commanded by Christ in the Gospels. Roman Catholics recognise others like Confession and even Marriage. Protestants while not regarding these as sacraments, certainly regard them as means of grace.
But is Spirituality just receiving Grace? No, that is just part of it. An encounter with the Divine, whether thought of as with God, with Jesus, with the Holy Spirit or even with an angel, must require more of us than passive reception. The young Virgin Mary encountering the angel, who told her she was to become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, gave a very positive response:
And Mary said, Behold the handmaid of
the Lord; be it unto me according to thy word.
Do we say, when we hear a reading or a sermon or a prayer: Behold I am a servant of the Lord, let it be so to me.? Even less perhaps do we really offer to become a living sacrifice when we attend communion.? So looking again at the definition I gave in my other paper:
Spirituality: Using a combination of Theology and Experience to reflect on our personal and corporate relationship to God. This relationship is expressed and nourished in: thought, prayer and worship on our part. It is developed and refreshed by the joy obtained whenever we recognise a Blessing, great or small, on God's part.
I
would now say that we need to go further than expressed
and nourished, developed and refreshed,
even
though they are important. Spirituality should undergird our life and
to
do so requires positive action on our part. Some are able to do that in
Church Leadership roles and encounter the Divine as they plan and
execute
their activities. Others, confined to the pews, may only encounter the
Divine in a corporate sense, but Spirituality is principally
private
and to achieve that requires more than a daily following of
prescribed Bible readings and interceding for those in sickness or
distress
known to us, commendable as those activities are.
We need to have a private spiritual life, not just reading a prescribed chapter of the Bible but trying to develop an understanding and love for all of it, by our own research. We need to engage not only in Intercession but in Adoration. A dear friend once told me that as she put out a crib scene by way of Christmas decoration she felt the need to kneel before it. I have recently replaced the home made simple wooden cross in, what I am pleased to call, my chapel with a model of the one from which St Francis heard the Saviour's voice. The effect on my perception has been dramatic and I am drawn there frequently, rather than leaving prayers until bedtime. Others encounter the Divine in Nature and (nearer God's heart) in the garden. In all these there will be times when God approaches us unannounced. More often it is for us to seek Him.
So in conclusion and without undermining what I said in the paper comparing it with science: Spirituality is a positive personal activity, not a chance or passive encounter with the Divine but an encounter regularly and frequently sought after. And, returning to where I began, seeking to find the spark of the Divine in everyone we have to deal with, especially those who the world might perceive as These Least.