Spirituality in the Real World

When all seems lost in the world, I look to spirituality. Spirituality must be practiced in the context of the physical world we live in if it is to be relevant.

Spiritual teachers we admire lived their teachings. As much as they spent time in prayer and meditation, they also taught and healed and led communities. Our spirituality must serve us both in times of contemplation and in times of work.

Spirituality calls us to discern what is ours to do rather than dictates what we must do. In our quiet time, we seek the guidance that is within us. We learn to recognize and discard the voices that are a cry of ego or some fearful whisper in a corner of our mind.

Spirituality calls us to give what is ours to give and to serve where we are led to serve without knowing the ripples that radiate from each act.

When guidance becomes clear about the action we are truly called to take, spirituality emboldens and strengthens us to act upon our beliefs in a way suited to our abilities.

Spirituality is the foundation we stand on as we become agents of change. The world is constantly changing, but which changes do we accept and which do we try to transform? This paradoxical question greets us every day, and each of us hears a unique response. Some may be called to social justice, some to service for others.

Giving What Is Ours to Give

The world can be overwhelming. I am only one out of more than 7 billion people. I live where I live; I know what I know; I can do what I can do.

Spiritual teachers throughout history—and even those now using the internet—have never been able to touch everyone. We serve where we are, utilizing what is within us and available to us. Yet the world is a different place because of what we bring.

It may feel imperceptible, but the universe bears the imprint of each being. Spirituality calls us to give what is ours to give and to serve where we are led to serve without knowing the ripples that radiate from each act.

Just because we can’t do everything is not a reason to neglect what we can do. Just because I am only one voice is not a reason not to speak words of love and Truth.

We are not alone. Not only are there 7 billion other people, there is a unifying and eternal divine energy available to each of us. It is through the power of the eternal and unchanging that we are able to anchor ourselves in the swirling tides of daily activity. Moment to moment we apply our labels of happy and sad, victory and defeat, even life and death.

Whether I perceive the tide is rising or receding, I trust the upward evolution of consciousness to move humanity beyond its labels in the direction of love.

I am here to be the uniquely radiant expression of Spirit I was created to be, doing what is mine to do, giving what is mine to give, and gratefully finding beauty in each day.