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What is Spirituality? And How Do I Begin to Live the
Spiritual Life? 

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Have you ever wanted just something, but you couldn't put your finger on it? When our oldest child was a toddler, he used to walk into the kitchen dragging his little blanket behind, place his finger on his lips, look up at the cupboards and say, "I want somethin'!" Of course, what he was talking about was food. But we can use this analogy for the spiritual life. We often walk through life doing various tasks, but feel there really is no purpose or direction. And sometimes we even may go to a church looking for "somethin'" and not find it. But we know that there is a need within us to connect with something beyond our selves. What is that something?

Well, that "somethin'" outside ourselves which will fulfill us within is actually a Someone. That Someone, is God. And that Someone has characteristics and features that have been revealed over the centuries. And that God is a Spirit. And we begin to live a "Spiritual Life" when we recognize that the yearning we are having is a relationship with God. So, "spirituality" is developing a relationship with God.

Have you ever called someone many times on the telephone and never got a returned call? That is that feeling within you. God is calling you, working within you, and asking you to return the call. And the Spiritual Life is incorporating the methods of 'returning the call' of God. This website is dedicated to giving you the tools you need begin the spiritual life.

The fact that you have logged onto this website means that you have already begun to answer the call of God which has been at work in you. And answering that call of God within you will be the only way to satisfy it. Today we will lay the basics for your journey to the spiritual life. And we will then take weeks at a time to begin your walk to a deeper spirituality. It is all waiting for you to take hold of what has already been done for you.

The first step toward a spiritual life is to make a time to answer that call of God.

I know this sounds terribly simple, but what you need to do is decide on a time and keep it.

The next step is to come to terms with the fact that all must crawl before we walk. This will take a long duration of weeks and months, but small bits everyday. And you will need to realize that spirituality is not like taking a bite out of a sandwich, it is more like sipping tea or fine wine. We will start with small steps that eventually build into a different life. There will be peaks and valleys, starts and stops. Be patient with yourself, it will happen.

Now that we have decided to be patient with ourselves and set a time to answer God, we are now ready for our first assignment:

Everyday for the next week, take five minutes at your designated time to just think about how this feeling you are having is God calling out to you. Write down in a little notebook or on a pad of paper you will keep for later, the thoughts that come into your head and heart. It can be absolutely anything you are thinking. It is very helpful to write down those things which get in the way of thinking about this question, too.

Dig Deeper

Turn in your Bible to 1 Kings 19.11-18.

If you don't have a Bible, don't worry about it, but be sure to email me at PastorMark@MySpiritualAdvisor.com.

Now here we have the famous prophet Elijah who has just been used by God to cause a drought, brought a widow's child back from the dead, confronted King Ahab, triumphed over the prophets of the false god Baal, ends a drought and now flees from Queen Jezebel. All that success, and still Elijah, the great prophet, now is on a mountain cowering in fear. And in his fear, he cries out to God for help.

And where does he find God? Beginning in 1 Kings 19.11 we see that God is not in the great wind, nor in the earthquake, but in a very unexpected place. There are several translations of this passage, but the one that is most correct according to the scholars is in the New Revised Standard Version: "and after the fire a sound of sheer silence." God was in the sheer silence. In years past this was translated, "in the still small voice." But it was in the silence that Elijah found God and found strength to face his foes.

The exercise that I have started you on today is one that has been practiced by spiritual seekers and monks for millenia. It is the unlikely place of practicing silence. And practicing silence is the farthest thing from our modern minds. Turn off your cell phones, computers, email, big screen television sets etc. I want you to begin listening for God in silence.

The only way to get beyond the Baals, or false gods, of our world is to just turn them all off. And then listen. Yet, to listen, we need to contemplate something to get into the practice of embracing silence. In the year to come, I will talk about how to "embrace the silence." But, for now, we need to get into the habit of meeting God everyday on our holy mountain. And we need to think about how it is that he loves us and is calling us.

Much like Elijah, you might be facing uncertain times right now, but I want you to hold onto that one time of day where you are spending five minutes with God in the "sheer silence."

Begin Meditating

For those who want to move on from the contemplation of how God is calling us for five minutes, here are some pointers. Begin each prayer time by breathing deeply and exhaling. I first started by focusing on the name of Jesus in two syllables. I would breathe in and concentrate on saying in my mind "Je" and exhaling on "_sus". Take nice deep breaths.

Be sure to get into a comfortable position that is enough to relax, but not too comfortable so that you fall asleep. Loosen your belt or tight clothing and take a moment to write down all the things that could possibly interrupt your prayer time that you must remember. Now, let's get spiritual.

Thomas Merton, the famous spiritual guide and monk of Abbey Gethsemani (recommended pilgrimage site) said, "meditation is the launching pad of prayer." So, let us then begin our time by moving from contemplating silence to meditation. I have a watch that has a little alarm so I can set it to remind me to go at least ten minutes (at first, now it is to remind me not to go over fifteen minutes). You can meditate on the name of "Jesus" and let all the tightness of your body flow out of you.

Then, as you are meditating let the meditation on the name of Jesus take on a life of its own. And expect Jesus to encounter you. Trust that the Someone who has been calling you is God and that it is through the God_man Jesus Christ that he is going to reach out to you today.

Be sure to have a pad of paper to write down all the things that might interfere with your prayer time. And enjoy being in the presence of God, the sheer sound of silence.

Peace be with you. (And you respond by saying, "And also with you.")