As we come to the end of the day on which we celebrate the gift of the Holy Spirit to the disciples, it is perhaps not inappropriate to explore the connection between the Holy Spirit and the modern understanding of spirituality. Many people nowadays will shy away from the idea that they might be religious, but they are less frightened of the word ‘spiritual’. To be spiritual is to have some kind of depth; it means that you are not wholly preoccupied by your material well being; it implies that you ask yourself questions about who and what you are and how you fit into the greater scheme of things; it means that you are moved by various forms of beauty. If you are a spiritual person then you are also trying to be a good person. Such a view of spirituality may not be associated with any particular religion though it may borrow certain techniques of meditation or contemplation from different religions. Such exercises may be the spiritual equivalent of what is achieved physically by a visit to the gym. Or they may be seen as a means of making a connection with reality, with the deepest source of life.
How then does Christianity relate to such a view of spirituality? When St Paul uses the word ‘spiritual’ he means that which is under the influence of God, that which reveals the activity of God. For him the opposite of what is spiritual is not the material, it is simply what is opposed to God. The body is not of itself unspiritual, the mind is not necessarily spiritual. Both body and mind can be vehicles of the spirit or they can impede and oppose the spirit. ‘The ‘spiritual person’ is not the person who turns away from material reality but rather someone in whom the Spirit of God dwells.’ (P Sheldrake Spirituality and History p 35).
It was only much later in the Middle Ages that the word ‘spiritual’ came to be equated with rationality and intelligence and to loose its material roots. Later still it came to be associated with the study of a particular aspect of Christian life, with prayer and so-called religious experience. And by this time the idea of spirituality had also become separated from religion, so that anyone could be spiritual or have spiritual experiences, apart from any understanding of God or a particular religious institution. Indeed nowadays institutional religion is often seen as being incapable of being spiritual. Spirituality is seen now as a personal journey, communal only to the extent that it does not impede individual self expression.
So what can we say of Christian spirituality? And what perspective does it provide on its secular neighbour? Christian spirituality has been defined as ‘the conscious human response to God that is both personal and ecclesial’ (Sheldrake p 37). And that means life in the Spirit which is the co-eternal partner of the Father and the Son. It is concerned with the intellectual, the affective and the ethical dimensions of our lives, in other words our minds, hearts and wills. It is not a special department of Christian experience. It is not something which only some people are good at. We are all spiritual because we are all in the Spirit through baptism. And our spiritual nature grows as we hear and read and reflect on God’s story in Scripture and it is nourished by our worship together in Holy Communion. In these ways we may find ourselves in relationship with God in all aspects of our lives. And this in turn determines our character – who we are to become as fully human persons – human in our public and social as well as our private and personal lives. So we might say that spirituality can have as much to do with politics as it can with contemplation.
Christian spirituality is manifested therefore as Christian by what it regards as an authentic life. How we regard suffering, how we seek to transcend ourselves by forms of self sacrifice, how we use time for deliberate reflection on God’s presence and the space we leave for silence, how we find God through the traditional symbols of Christian ritual and sacrament, how we include the stranger and those who are despised, how we regard wealth and poverty, and seek to serve Christ in all who suffer – these are some of the hall marks of a Christian spirituality. And some of them are in our texts tonight.
Our psalm speaks of the omnipresence of God, how we are never cut off from the presence of the spirit, and that however dark things may seem to us, darkness and light are both alike to God, the clarity of day can always be found if we rest in the omnipresent spirit.
Ezekiel speaks, as do several of the prophets of the power of God to turn the heart of stone to a heart of flesh. However dead we may be to all feeling, all hope or joy, God’s spirit can breathe new life into us if through a gradual process of self reflection and repentance we can open ourselves up to the warmth of his inspiration.
And Peter’s speech in Acts tells the story of Jesus life and death in such a way that hope is seen to defeat all fears of abandonment and defeat.
So what of secular spirituality? It is perhaps at one with Christianity in its belief that life is spiritual and does not have to be made spiritual. As Hopkins says, ‘These things are here and but the beholder wanting,’ – there is a depth to life, a depth beyond but inclusive of material reality, which is waiting to be discovered. Where Christianity might be critical of secular spirituality is in its tendency to individualism – its inability to embrace the community which has to be organized institutionally for its survival. Secular spirituality can be naïve both about human sinfulness and human progress; it can fail to realise the necessity of law and tradition to help us to live together. And often secular spirituality lacks an authoritative and inspirational basis for understanding the humanity we are called to live.
At its best Christianity holds together the mind and its insights and reason, the heart and its feelings and intuition, and the will and its ability to act rightly and courageously. A spirituality without intellect can be sentimental and purely aesthetic; without emotion, dry and impersonal; without will, selfish and unproductive making no difference to the world. Holding mind heart and will together, Christian spirituality flourishes and is a force for good in the world. It enables us to see visions and dream dreams.