This is something I don't let on to many people but basically I'm a very religious person. Not religious in the "this is my creed and this is what I believe" kind of way, but more in the "there is definitely something out there and we need to recognise this fact if we want to live full lives" of way. I don't use the world spiritual because even though it technically is closer to that definition, it diminishes and gives the wrong impression of the feelings I have; it's kinda like, if I had been raised a Christian, I would 100% be a Christian today.
Anyway, moving on. What I wanna preach is that I feel like we in the West have lost something very important when we moved on from widespread spirituality. I mean, I can see why we did it. On the surface religion appears to offer little outside of explaining the world to people who have no other way of doing so, but with the advance and proliferation of science that role has been usurped. However, when you look deeper, you find it has a whole system of directives and activities that are designed to help you explore and expand your understanding of yourself and your role within the world. Religion isn't meant to be a superficial set of beliefs and ideas that you just have, its meant to be an aide to the deeply personal journey that every single one of us is on.
Take fasting for instance. Superficially it might seem like fasting is a dumb idea and was only made up so priests could justify food shortages to their people, and that its irrelevant in the world today, but when you actually look into it and experience you understand it's about denying the self and getting into closer contact with the stuff you truly value. It helps keep you grounded, helps keep you appreciative. It's a minor challenge designed to force your mind to take a step back from its usual drives and desires and to let your soul gain some of the spotlight.
Then there's the matter of faith itself. I'll admit, I'm still not 100% that there's some other force out there, but if someone pointed a gun at my head and asked do you have faith, the yes-or-no answer would straight away be Yes. And since developing faith, my whole worldview has changed. I now feel like life has purpose more than what I used to, and that just the very act of being is itself something that should be honoured and respected. It's hard to describe, but essentially life is more beautiful in itself, and that's something I didn't have before, and it's something I feel like we're missing as society. Life is now just seen as the fortunate side-effect of chemicals swirling around in the brain; and while that's technically what life is, it's not really what life is, if that makes sense. rational secularism has given us a huge deal in terms of human rights, individual liberties, etc. but it ultimately isn't a replacement for spirituality (nor should it be, but that's for another time.) When you try to deconstruct everything down into digested, rational terms, you often miss the point of said thing in the first place.
Now of course, I am keenly aware of all the human grievances religion has committed over the centuries, and by no means am I saying we should become anti-intellectual religious zealots. Instead, I say we should open our lives up to spiritual devotion so that, through time, we might be better able to deal with life's misgivings and disasters as they come to us. In fact, I think a time such as ours with widespread wealth and knowledge is one of the best times for renewed spirituality. Since we don't need spirituality to explain the sufferings of everyday life, and since we don't need it to explain the world, we can instead use it for it's highest purpose - self-fulfilment and growth.
Anyway I'm not sure how to end this so here's a song I've been jamming to lately.
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