“Spiritual, Not Religious.”

Okay, you guys know me. You know that I’m basically here for it, wherever you’re coming from. Whether you are a devout Catholic, a good Lutheran, you’re one charm away from being a witch, or you’re just here to be one with the Earth. I’m here for you and I’m here to sit in a spiritual space with you.

But.

Isn’t there always a but with me?

Buuuuttttt…This statement is revealing so much more than you realize. Because here is the thing: we are spiritual beings. There is no way around that. We have a spirit. We all do. That doesn’t make you special or different. And while we are all spiritual, we are also religious creatures. We all do things religiously or ritualistically; whether that’s our morning cup of coffee or church on Sunday mornings.

Think of what the word religious means: relating to or believing in a religion. Now before you lose it on me, we all believe in something, even if that something is a lack of something. Make sense? And typically, that religion is deeply connected with our spirit. It’s a part of our spiritual formation. It may be the cornerstone of it. It is the container in which we connect with the divine, and the community of like-minded or rather like-spirited believers.

So to say “I’m spiritual but not religious would be like I’m bodily but not physical and meaning you have a body but you don’t like to go to the gym.

What I hear when you come and sit down with me and say this statement is “I feel deeply connected to my Creator, but I am mad or hurt by the Church for something that happened to me or the way the community of the Church treated me.

What you’re getting at is a wounding. And it’s probably part of why you were drawn to spiritual direction. You can tell me until you’re blue in the face that you don’t need religion, you don’t get anything from church, you don’t get anything from the Bible, from Communion, etc. You can tell me you connect better to God listening to worship music in the car, or during your work out. You can tell me you know the Divine is within you and that’s enough for you. And I will be the first to say, I’ve been there and I get it. But it doesn’t mean you aren’t religious. And it doesn’t mean you feel good about it. It doesn’t mean you aren’t seeking something else.

The honest to God truth is that the church has done a lot of wounding. I don’t know anyone who would deny that. What I hope you’ll see is that wounding isn’t the same as permanently breaking or ruining. And you are so worthy of healing this piece of you. You are so worthy of what “religion” has to offer you. You are worthy of that community and connection and ritual. It is good. And it is flawed. So are all of the people I know.

I invite you to come in and sort through this with me. Because I think you should be upset about your wounding. I think you should be mad at the Church. AND I think you should let that anger move you into a space of healing. We are not made to experience big emotions and powerful experiences in a vacuum. We were created by a triune God, a God of relationship and community. Don’t let the word God or church or religion or prayer or scripture or any other word keep you from healing. And Don’t let a painful experience keep you from a healing one. We are Spiritual beings and Religious creatures. And we are wholly in need of healing.