One can have religion and little spirituality. A lot of religion, and a very shallow spirituality. One can master prayers, dogma, canon law, and the various rituals that accompany organized religion and have a spirituality as thin as a piece of paper. I am not saying that mine was that thin--but when you remove the sacraments, the sacramentals, the rules and the regs, and the playing dress-up: What was I left with?
I was able to do all of those things and self-medicate too.
That's why this blog is about spirituality more than anything--and a spirituality without judgment or presuppositions. No one can define your experience with the deity of your understanding for you. That path, the path of trying to manage another's faith journey, leads to destruction.
This is a journey all of us must make alone--although we can certainly share our experiences and relish the emotional support , kindness and friendship of others.
I had acquired a lot of religion over the past few years but had a shallow spirituality.
I seldom talk about my recovery in a public forum but maybe I should so more often. So I have been in recovery for alcoholism/addiction since 2020. And the spirituality of AA changed my life and ultimately led to my reassessing of a lot of things in life. One of the things I am most grateful for is the renewed spiritual path the twelve steps placed me upon. I had been stagnant for so long.
As many of you know, I was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2014, and requested a leave of absence in April, 2022. I left. Went back to work on a secular career path.
Spiritual awakening.
A lot of folks don’t realize this but my spiritual journey was no longer compatible with the path of a Catholic cleric. This has shocked some people I have spoken to, and frankly, some old acquaintances have not reacted well to this at all. That is ok. They have their paths and I have mine. This blog is about my path. But hopefully it is a help for you to discern your spiritual path. And that’s the point really.
The twelfth step of AA states, “Having had a spiritual awakening as the result of these steps, we tried to carry this message to alcoholics, and to practice these principles in all our affairs.” (Big Book, Chapter Five.)
Comments