Spiritualission

I can so relate to this:

Recently, a young couple came to arrange for their banns to be called, and the conversation took an unexpected direction. They had been attending the church where they were to be married, and the groom was struggling with this experience. He told me that he could not have the kind of faith that Christians have. He could not be a Christian because he could not accept these set descriptions of God and the world, when his experience was telling him something else. In this sort of dialogue, I need another word. I need to describe Christianity in a way that is not about rules or binding, but about a journey of faith and the experience of God. “Spirituality” and “spiritual path” are not adequate to the task, but they are a starting place. They offer me the possibility to describe faith in terms of relationship with God and others; to answer the need inside each of us that presents itself more readily in questions than answers. We live in a time that some call post-Christian. People have given up on legalistic, controlling religion. They have also begun to give up on the materialism and licence with which they replaced it, as they see that it does not meet their needs. They flock to the “Body, Mind and Spirit” section of bookshops, and to talks on alternative practices because they are trying to find a way to feed their spiritual side. They are not flocking to the Church, because they do not see that we have anything to offer them. So when I say to people: “I’m not really religious,” they are nonplussed. “Hang on,” said one young man, “but you’re a vicar.” It is then that I use that word spirituality to begin a dialogue about experiencing God rather than joining a club and following rules.

The article by Eva McIntyre is brief but raises the issue nicely and helpfully. Doubly so since someone close to me has been articulating their faith in terms of finding the cultural baggage of traditional church and faith expressions very unhelpful but still finding a vibrant meaning in God-centredness in Christ...