The Christian spiritual path can easily be turned into another set of practices and techniques that we are to master in order to have a spiritually formed life. After many centuries in which spiritual disciplines and practices were ignored by large numbers of Christ-followers, today the language of spirituality seems to be everywhere. Books and seminars tout the benefits of spiritual exercises. The spiritual life is presented as a series of practices, techniques for experiencing God's presence.
I read the books. I hear the presentations. It's easy to believe that the Christian spiritual life consists of a series of techniques to which we should devote ourselves. I know this is communicated to folks because I often deal with persons on the back end of this blitz. I talk with folks who feel that they've messed up the technique, or they feel paralyzed because they cannot get the technique right. They can't get the prayer just right. They can't sit silent enough for their centering prayer practice. They feel guilty because lectio divina eludes them.
Rather than get caught up with technique, the aim of Christian spirituality is to connect us more intimately to God. The spiritual life enables us to be attentive to the God-connection at the center of us, the connection that anchors the soul.
Spirituality is not a performance or a series of practices to master. Rather, spirituality is a life to live, a life-giving connection with God that nourishes and sustains, a life that is offered willingly and sacrificially for the benefit of the wider world in God's name.
Any techniques we may utilize are merely in the service of building a life. They are not the end toward which we aim, but tools that help us grow in the graces of God.
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