"I'm not religious, but I am spiritual.

How often have you heard someone say something similar? Or perhaps
even said it yourself. In our secular culture, being "religious" is often seen
as being narrow-minded, judgmental and a bit of a nutcase. It may also
mean being overly concerned with rules, regulations and laws. At the very
least, a religious person belongs to an organized religion and consistently
attends services.

In contrast, being "spiritual" has come to mean someone who has a

relationship with God, even if "god" is simply defined as a higher power or
the forces of nature. Generally, a "spiritual" person doesn't go to church or
adhere to organized faith practices, but lives according to an
individualized moral code.

This sort of clear-cut distinction between being religious and being

spiritual is a relatively modern construct. Such a dichotomy would have
been completely mystifying to most of our ancestors. In the Catholic
sense, religion may be thought of as the structured belief system of our
faith -- its theology, organized practices and doctrines on an almost
corporate level. Spirituality is the way those beliefs are lived personally,
daily and privately.
 "Spirituality" = derived from Hebrew ruach,
which had a range of meanings:
- spirit
- breath
- wind
- that which gives life and animation to
something

Spirituality:
- that which animates a person's life of faith
- that which moves a person's faith to greater
depths and perfection
1. a set of beliefs, found in the Creeds and
doctrines of the Church
2. a set of values, based on:
- hope and promise of redemption
- love of others
- denial of self
3. a way of life
- The real, human life in which our beliefs
and values are embodied and expressed
- Christianity Spirituality is part of our way
of life as Christians
 ...spiritual maturity or spiritual fulfillment
necessarily involves the whole person –
body, mind and soul, place, relationships –
in connection with the whole of creation
throughout the era of time. ...spirituality
encompasses the whole person in the
totality of existence in the world, not some
fragment or scrap or incident of a person
- William Stringfellow,
in Politics of Spirituality, p. 22
 Spirituality
has to do with our experiencing
of God and with the transformation of our
consciousness and our lives as outcomes of
that experience
- Richard O'Brien, Catholicism, p. 1058
 Factorsimportant in shaping Spirituality:
- theology (beliefs and values; dogma and
ethics)
- personal issues
- denominational issues (religious affiliation)
- the world, culture, and history

 History
defines the "horizons" of a Christian
and the available resources for Spirituality