Too often, in my view of Spiritual well-centeredness, the Spiritual dimension is defined as religion and one’s perceptions of God. I don’t think this is the case. Spiritual wellness is defined as an understanding of something greater than self. I have frequently said that religion can get in the way of true Spiritual well-centeredness. In my view, God, rather, encompasses all of the dimensions of well-centeredness (Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social, as well as Spiritual). In the Judeo-Christian tradition, can God be anything less.
Our Spiritual struggles are not, then, in our faith (or lack of faith) in God. They are not with religious tradition or practice. Rather, our Spiritual struggles are with people. People are irritating, and we are self-centered. People regularly fall short of our expectations, and it is upsetting. Thus, we battle less with the concept as “love your God, and love your neighbor as yourself” and more with “how do I love that neighbor.”
When I struggle, as I frequently do, with the attitudes and behaviors of others, I am the problem. It can be relatively easy for someone to love God when our life is good. It is harder when life becomes more challenging. (And I believe in a God who allows us time to be angry with him.) But what separates me from Spiritual well-centeredness is me. It is this position of “self” in our lives that most affects us Physically, Intellectually, Emotionally (Oh, especially, Emotionally), Socially, and Spiritually.
It is no surprise that my wife doesn’t do everything “right”. She loads the dishwasher “wrong”. She folds the laundry “wrong”. She squeezes the toothpaste from the neck for Pete’s sake!
It is also no surprise that every other driver on the road during my morning commute “can’t drive”. Or that nobody parks as well as me.
Surely, I can’t always be right. Right? So, just maybe (certainly) I am wrong—or at least I have different ideas of how things should be done—how I want them to be done. When we don’t get our way, we take it personally. Sounds like a Spiritual problem, no?
So, maybe, the old break-up line—“It’s not you. It’s me.”—is correct. Our Spiritual well-centeredness is predicated on the reality that I or you are not the center of the Universe. It requires the understanding that we are all uniquely made and purposed for lives that are infinitely tied to the lives of everyone else. Spiritual well-centeredness begins with the deflation of self.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow!
Carpe momento!