invite you to spend a few moments considering the following questions :

• Do I make time for quiet reflection and moments of relaxation ?

• Do I approach life with a negative or a positive attitude ? These questions help us to reflect on how well we attend to our spirituality — an element that we ignore too often in the daily rush of life .

‘ Spirituality ’ is a puzzling concept that people talk about but few comprehend . It is often associated with religious beliefs ; however , mystics throughout history and within all religious traditions have viewed spirituality not as a religious tenet but rather as the innate human longing to be connected to one ’ s inner self in such a way as to live in harmony with all of life .

Richard Rohr , a global leader in spiritual awakening , suggests that we are ‘ circumference people ’ living on our edges and far from our respective centres . He says , “ Living in this material world , with a physical body , and in a culture of affluence which usually only rewards the outer self , it is both more difficult to know our spiritual self and all the more necessary .” He believes that our contemporary culture undervalues spirituality because people do not know how to ‘ go inward ,’ so

ensnared are we by outer self and by the external trappings and challenges of life . Nonetheless , there is a bubbling energy of spirituality evident as people seek to be at peace with themselves , with others and with the world .

Professor emeritus Eugene Peterson of Regent College in Vancouver observes , “ In our times spirituality has become a major business for entrepreneurs , a recreational sport for the bored , and for some . . . a serious and disciplined commitment to live deeply and fully . . . .” Spirituality has become a commodity of sorts , viewed as something that can be discovered in a self-help book or found in a special rock or crystal . Such offerings suggest that all things spiritual must be found or acquired externally , but they do little to help us move from our edges to our centre .

French philosopher Teilhard de Chardin provides an interesting perspective . He says , “ You are not a human being in search of a spiritual experience . You are a spiritual being immersed in a human experience .” The more we search the external world for what we imagine is spiritual , the more we lose sight of the spirituality we seek because what we seek is already within us awaiting our attention .

Spirituality is uniquely individual and may be identified as that aspect of our humanness that

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