Where to Now?

Throughout history there have been certain benchmarks that represented a surge in human development. The Stone, Bronze, and Iron Ages, and of course the industrial Revolution are all representative of certain human advancements. I believe it is entirely possible that the beginning of the 21st Century will be viewed as the start of the Spiritual Age.

Spirituality is undergoing a transformation unparalleled in its history. It is evolving at a rate never before seen. And humanity is finally learning that spirit is as integral to who we are as the body and mind. Look around you. What topics are on everyone’s minds and in everyone’s conversations? Politics, war, sports. And spirituality. We are talking, thinking, and studying it in greater numbers and in more diverse ways than we ever have before. And we are able to talk, think and learn about spirituality more comprehensively thanks in large part to the internet and its vast supply of information. We can read the writings of great men and women of faith and vision. We can participate in discussions with people of varying experience and knowledge, and glean from them whatever we are willing to accept. What an opportunity we have been given. It only remains, then, to see what we do with all of this information.

My transformation in spirituality is as varied in its way as the recent transformation of spirituality itself. For the majority of my life spirituality and religion were synonymous. In my paradigm there could be no spirituality without religion and no religion without spirituality. But thanks to some very personal experiences, and thanks to some very loving and spiritual people, I have begun the journey to discovering what spirituality truly means.

I have at last arrived at a point in my life where I am clear that spirituality is love. It is the unconditional and uncompromising giving and receiving of love. And I am also clear that love is the only thing in this life that is of lasting relevance. With love everything is possible. Without love, what else could possibly matter? This quote from the book Conversations with God (book 1), by Neale Donald Walsch, sums up for me the power and wonder of love: “Yea, let all those who have ears to hear, listen. For I tell you this: at the critical juncture in all human relationships, there is only one question: ‘What would love do now?’ No other question is meaningful, no other question has any importance to your soul.”

It has taken me many years to understand this concept of spirituality and love. And sometimes I find myself falling into old patterns and ideas about them. But when I see the results I am creating in my family and in my own life, I am very clear that love is the place I always want to come from. And Spirituality is what I experience when I live in love.