Spiritual Life

This session is the second of five introductory sessions for a Small Group. Members are encouraged to think about spiritual life, particularly where they are in their own spiritual journey, and where they would like to be.

Member Preparation

In preparation for this session, take some time to read the following quotes and to think about your views on living a spiritual life.

"The true task of spiritual life is not found in faraway places or unusual states of consciousness. It is here in the present. It asks of us a welcoming spirit to greet all that life presents to us with a wise, respectful, and kindly heart..." - Jack Kornfield

"A holy restlessness is what prompts the pilgrimage of the spirit — a journey real or metaphorical that calls us away from what we have grown to think of as our home in order to discover a deeper sense of being at home with our human nature." - Rev. Sarah York, Pilgrim Heart: The Inner Journey Home

"The spiritual journey is the soul's commingling with ordinary life." - Christina Baldwin

"Our real journey in life is interior; it is a matter of growth, deepening, and of an ever greater surrender to the creative action of love and grace in our hearts." - Thomas Merton

"Attempting to live a spiritual life can indeed be a confusing and painful experience beset with obstacles and detours, rather than filled with the bliss we might have expected." - Katherine Kurs, Searching for Your Soul

These questions provide ways you may want to approach this topic. Remember to focus on just one or two of the questions, if you choose to use them, as this will allow you to explore the topic in more depth.

  • Each of us ascribes our own connotations, meanings, and significance to the words “spiritual,” “religious,” and “spiritual life”; what do these words mean to you? Are there other words that you prefer?
  • What are the roots of your present spiritual/religious life? As a child, were you raised within a particular religion or with a particular belief system? If you were later in a different religion or on a different spiritual path, what was it? How did you get from one to the other, and how did you get to where you are now?
  • Do you feel that you have a spiritual life right now? If so, what does it include? Do you have any regular spiritual/religious practice(s)? Are there any such practices that you would like to learn more about or add to your life?
  • Suppose a work of art—a painting, a piece of music, a poem, etc.—depicted your spiritual life or your sense of what is spiritual in the universe. Describe that work of art.

Special Materials

  • Name tags and marker(s).
  • Ground rules written out on a large piece of paper or poster board, to be posted on the wall.

Further Exploration

  • “Travel guides for the spiritual journey,” Rosemary Bray McNatt. UU World (March/April 2002).
  • “Spiritual Practice: Questing,” Spirituality and Practice website.
  • Katherine Kurs, Searching for Your Soul: Writers of Many Faiths Share Their Personal Stories of Spiritual Discovery (Schocken: 1999).
  • Sarah York, Pilgrim Heart: The Inner Journey Home (Jossey-Bass: 2001).