There is a part of each of us that is hidden from those around us, and is made up of our thoughts, feelings, memories, hopes, values and beliefs. All these are things that help to make you, you. Let’s call it the ‘inner life.’
Much of life is spent on outward appearances, and the things that other people can easily observe about us. How we look. The way we dress. The work we do. The house we live in. The way our kids turn out. It is easy to become focussed on trying to make everything look good, so that others will think well of us and accept us.
Such outward appearances, however, are not who we are. It is our inner life that determines our real qualities and characteristics. And while it may be hidden, the inner life can make itself known to others by the way we behave and the things we say.
The inner life is complex. Sometimes there is conflict and confusion. We might have thoughts or feelings that we struggle to control. What we think about ourselves may be very different to how others see us.
Yet our inner life is also the place where God resides. Deep within us there is a core of goodness that comes from God, a divine imprint that reminds us that we are a chip off the heavenly block.
Spirituality is the word we use to describe the process of making sense of our inner life and, in particular, how we get in touch with the God who is ‘the ground of our being.’
Some religious people understand this, but others do not. Instead of helping people on their journey to the heart of God, they try to control others, or make themselves look superior, or impose lots of rules and regulations to force others to become someone other than who they truly are.
Jesus understood this problem well, and came to help us find our way back to God. He cuts through the clutter of religious life and teaches us simple truths about God, about his desire for us to enjoy God’s love, and to take delight in passing it on to others. It is a journey that takes us deeper into what it means to be human in the best possible way, discovering the core of goodness within ourselves, not through the force of others or a strict regime of rules, but in the joy of prayerful union with God.
The Christian life is not about outward appearances, nor about clever theological thinking (although I’m very glad we have theologians who help us develop our understanding of God). The Christian life is simply an invitation to follow Jesus who is longing to show us the way to a full and rich inner life, to discover that spiritual wholeness that the Bible calls ‘holy’.
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