I’m Spiritual

Spirituality inspires how we live, especially what we do, and how we spend our time. The word ‘spirituality’ owes its origin to the Latin word ‘spiritus’ which has connotations of life-giving breath.  We could perhaps call it by another name, such as our value system and beliefs. If I spend the day with a compassionate attitude matched by compassionate actions, I have a spirituality that’s inspired by something good and life-giving, leading me towards a space that enriches me as a human being. If I spend my day demeaning and exploiting others, I have a ‘spirituality’ that is life-denying and undermining my humanity, because the fundamental human orientation is to live life, not undermine it.

Excerpted from Reimagining Religion: A Jesuit Vision by Jim Maher SJ (p.19)