Spirituality in general definition is concern with the matters of spirit regarded as a connection to something greater than oneself involving emotional experience of religious awe and reverence focusing on personal experience.
A good description of it defines spirituality as the condition of the soul and the soul’s personal relationship with the one true God who is the Divine Creator of mankind and everything within the world he lives drawing the gift of enlightenment to an unfolding transformation of a persons views towards the supernatural existence of God in an apparent display of wisdom progressing to humble submission of freewill, fate, and faith as to the conceived notion and manifestation of his divine plan.
Each definition differs in the context of a person based form his witnessing experiences, religious or not, a person has his own spirituality to tackle or develop. How do we relate ourselves, our life, the things around us, and the events in our lives then? Is it a matter of news item that come and go or a matter of spirituality? What really is in the concept and context of spirituality that seduces a man to subject life to freewill and complete surrender to an unknown supernatural being called God?
What really is in the concept and context of spirituality that continuously subjects some men to denial and complete unbelief of the mere existence of his creator? Spirituality has a very complicated nature nobody cares much but is within us and is acting on us the very way we perceive and conceive on things. What are the essential elements of spirituality? From the book of Anthology of Caring, the essential elements of spirituality were determined as philosophy of the interrelationship between the Infinite and human, essence and energy permeability, precipitating event, depth experience, human responses, and life-changing (Chinn 1991).
The practice of spirituality differs between human non-converts and converts even between converts themselves. When we say converts it is not a matter of conversion by religion but a matter of conversion by heart. Such practice is being inherited from our denominational tradition which shapes the way we approach scripture, values, philosophy of belief, and life itself. In layman’s terms it is the response to the grace or call done by the complete surrender of freewill made whole by the person’s conversion or personal transformation in an act of faith guided by inspiration coming from the Holy Spirit.
In simple terminologies the essential elements of spirituality are the call or grace, response, freewill, conversion or personal transformation, faith, faith experience and the inspiration. What does this mean? It means everything that the supernatural being of holiness can do to us to make us respond and be made whole and holy again being the very temple of the Holy Spirit. Spirituality meets the heart and the soul, never the mind and the rationality of it. It is something one never totally comprehends unless being submitted to its stages to be able to comprehend and change.
A man’s transformation naturally determines the character of spirituality made possible by the gift of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. When man begins to look within and what he finds within himself guided by the leadings of the Holy Spirit, he begins to find the greater meaning and the very purpose of his creation which is to love and adore God, let God be his God. Selfless love, healing, trusting, openness to the Holy Spirit, endurance, steadfast faith, and the emergence of virtues of patience and humility are the stream of characters of spirituality that emerges within the very core of man during his lifelong transformation.
This makes the change in man and is apparent in the way he talks and sees the world based on a different perspective. A person as we say defines spirituality first from the context of hand-me-down faith and tradition evolving practices. It is how he understands faith, religion, and spirituality. It is only when a person by the grace of faith has been called by God to be his child that the concept of spirituality and humanity’s purpose of existence changed. The changed is done by stages of spirituality.
The call does not automate the change but it leads man to seek the face of God first and be converted by heart. The change is gradual as faith and belief takes its form in the person’s heart and subconscious. It is not just the quest for the truth but rather something like reaching out to the supernatural in us and within us. First, man experiences emptiness and loneliness amidst the noise of this world. He begins to search for something undefined, sometimes questioning sanity, and always wanting to be alone but not alone. It is a kind of feeling that intelligence detects danger of saying goodbye to sanity.
Then man begins to question the creation of things and began to question some things that happened in his life without being aware that this is the cue for the call. Then man began to shed tears of sorrow, of bitterness, and something almost reaching to suicide. He is alone and no other man can reach him. He has been left by his friends but feels something different in him. There is something that he cannot define is working within himself. Problems come and more problems came. He is at the lowest point of his life, alone always alone. Then he begins to talk to himself and to God.
There is a mental discussion going within his mind and the Holy Spirit responded by giving him the grace to hear the Holy Spirit’s voice. Man has responded to the call and the Holy Spirit is already beginning to teach and transform him. Prayers and meditation and tears are the only accompaniment of this holy transformation. Communing with God through prayers is our only consolation. Man now realizes that God exist, that there is good and there is bad. The battle of the virtues begins. The Holy Spirit keeps on talking to man to complete his conversion.
He leads man to seek God by reading the Holy Bible cover to cover, cover to cover, and cover to cover. One can never count how many times man will open and read and comprehend. And each time, by the grace of God and according to the level of one’s spirituality, interpretation differs but it is always in line with the doctrines of the Church. The thirst was never satiated, man seeks God through communal prayer, by communities, and participates in the healing sessions, and a lot of other tools the Holy Spirit has successfully build in the community to fulfill evangelization and transformation.