To
grow spiritually in a world defined by power, money, and influence is a
Herculean task. Modern conveniences such as electronic equipments, gadgets, and
tools as well as entertainment through television, magazines, and the web have
predisposed us to confine our attention mostly to physical needs and wants. As
a result, our concepts of self-worth and self-meaning are muddled. How
can we strike a balance between the material and spiritual aspects of our
lives?
To grow spiritually is to look inward.
Introspection
goes beyond recalling the things that happened in a day, week, or month. You
need to look closely and reflect on your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and
motivations. Periodically examining your experiences, the decisions you make,
the relationships you have, and the things you engage in provide useful
insights on your life goals, on the good traits you must sustain and the bad
traits you have to discard. Moreover, it gives you clues on how to act, react,
and conduct yourself in the midst of any situation. Like any skill,
introspection can be learned; all it takes is the courage and willingness to
seek the truths that lie within you. Here are some pointers when you
introspect: be objective, be forgiving of yourself, and focus on your areas for
improvement.
To grow spiritually is to develop your potentials.
Religion
and science have differing views on matters of the human spirit. Religion views
people as spiritual beings temporarily living on Earth, while science views the
spirit as just one dimension of an individual. Mastery of the self is a
recurring theme in both Christian (Western) and Islamic (Eastern) teachings.
The needs of the body are recognized but placed under the needs of the spirit.
Beliefs, values, morality, rules, experiences, and good works provide the
blueprint to ensure the growth of the spiritual being. In Psychology, realizing
one’s full potential is to self-actualize. Maslow identified several human
needs: physiological, security, belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic,
self-actualization, and self-transcendence. James earlier categorized these
needs into three: material, emotional, and spiritual. When you have satisfied
the basic physiological and emotional needs, spiritual or existential needs
come next. Achieving each need leads to the total development of the
individual. Perhaps the difference between these two religions and psychology
is the end of self-development: Christianity and Islam see that
self-development is a means toward serving God, while psychology view that
self-development is an end by itself.
To grow spiritually is to search for meaning.
Religions
that believe in the existence of God such as Christianity, Judaism, and Islam
suppose that the purpose of the human life is to serve the Creator of all
things. Several theories in psychology propose that we ultimately give meaning
to our lives. Whether we believe that life’s meaning is predetermined or
self-directed, to grow in spirit is to realize that we do not merely exist. We
do not know the meaning of our lives at birth; but we gain knowledge and wisdom
from our interactions with people and from our actions and reactions to the
situations we are in. As we discover this meaning, there are certain beliefs
and values that we reject and affirm.
Our lives have purpose. This purpose puts all our physical, emotional,
and intellectual potentials into use; sustains us during trying times; and
gives us something to look forward to---a goal to achieve, a destination to
reach. A person without purpose or meaning is like a drifting ship at sea.
To grow spiritually is to recognize interconnections.
Religions
stress the concept of our relatedness to all creation, live and inanimate. Thus
we call other people “brothers and sisters” even if there are no direct blood
relations. Moreover, deity-centered religions such as Christianity and Islam
speak of the relationship between humans and a higher being. On the other hand,
science expounds on our link to other living things through the evolution
theory. This relatedness is clearly seen in the concept of ecology, the
interaction between living and non-living things. In psychology, connectedness
is a characteristic of self-transcendence, the highest human need according to
Maslow. Recognizing your connection to all things makes you more humble and
respectful of people, animals, plants, and things in nature. It makes you
appreciate everything around you. It moves you to go beyond your comfort zone
and reach out to other people, and become stewards of all other things around
you.
