We have all met people who describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious”. Quite honestly, I don’t really know what they mean by that. From their own definitions, it always seems that being “spiritual” has something to do with enjoying sunsets and being “religious” means coming to Mass. Most often, they are very nice people who feel the need to justify the fact that they do not or no longer attend church or temple services. They do this by asserting the depth of a kind of feeling that they have come to define as spirituality. These are not bad people. In most cases they are very sincere and good people. They just have confused “spirituality” with a vague sense of well-being or a spirit of service to the community. True spirituality might involve these things but is not limited or defined by them. A mature spirituality is the integration of all of our senses, our mind and heart in response to the world around us.

One might make the analogy that being “spiritual but not religious” is like being a fan but not a player of a sport. I am a great fan of college football but I know that there is a big difference between watching the game on television or even at the stadium (tailgate party notwithstanding) and playing the game on the field. Spirituality is a contact sport. It requires us to get dirty, not in the pejorative sense of grime or refuse but in the sense of getting in contact with the earth, our environment and the people around us. Spirituality requires skin on skin contact. God shows us this in the Incarnation. It was not enough for God to have created us and cared for us on the purely “spiritual” (in this case meaning intangible) level. He “took flesh and dwelt among us”. Spirituality as our response to God will always turn us to each other. And this is where the “religious” part kicks in. Spirituality without religion is a fanciful dream. Religion challenges us to confront God in our brothers and sisters. It connects our hopes with the sometimes messiness of our lives. It allows our love to bear fruit. Jesus says, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” We gather for our “religious” services BECAUSE we are spiritual beings, responding in faith, hope and love to the God who loved us first.