LAKE OCONEE — One of the enduring interests in my adult life has been the study, observation, and experience of spirituality and religion. I have formally studied theology and philosophy for five years, as well having an ongoing interest in following various theories and practices in these areas. If you have any inclination to look at these topics, either from a personal practice or intellectual pursuit, I will present some thoughts and directions for you to consider.

One of the reasons for focusing on this topic is the realization that for an individual  to be psychologically healthy a person must look for, find, and live out a life that includes a spiritual dimension, a life that has meaning. This would appear to be more obvious to those with a more evolved consciousness and sense of spirit (transcendence) in their brain. Holistic health is optimal living.

First, let’s try to get a working definition for each term. In looking at various sources I found they differ some but generally encompass the following articulation:

“Spirituality” — having to do with deep, often religious, feelings and beliefs, including a person’s sense of peace, purpose, connection to others and beliefs.

“Religion” — a set of common beliefs and practices held by a group of people, often codified, prayer, ritual and religious law.

From this we can deduce that religion is a particular subset within the larger perspective of spirituality. It is a way to feel spiritual.

Most religions have a god, or gods, as a part of their belief and practice. Dr. Karen Armstrong has written a brilliant and most scholarly book, New York Times bestseller, entitled “A History of God.” In this book Dr. Armstrong traces the idea of god from its origins through its manifestations in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions in all their variations. It is enlightening to see how various people within each tradition have viewed god, or the gods, and how their belief and practice have changed over the years. God has certainly had a variety of changing descriptors over time! I wonder how “god” will be described a thousand years from now. Or has the final chapter been written?

Spirituality as defined above is a uniting element in the lives of people.  Religion, on the other hand has a tradition of doing both, uniting and dividing.  Look at the various religions, denominations, and sects. An objective reading of church or secular history, or today’s news sources, will demonstrate unification or destruction existing under the banner of religion. What objective criteria might be used to determine whether religion in your life is truly spiritual and additive to your life, as opposed to being dulling, divisive, discriminatory and destructive?

Recently I was edified by the work of Dr. William O’Hanlon.  In order to assist people to get a more secure grip on an understanding of spirituality and religion, he has developed a paradigm called: “The Three C’s of Spirituality.” They are:

Connection: Moving beyond your isolated ego or personality into something bigger, within or outside yourself. (Did you know that the word religion comes from the Latin re ligare, meaning to reconnect?)

Compassion: Feeling loving towards others, a softening of the usual mistrust, harshness or judgmental attitude often felt.

Contribution: Giving of ourselves in some form of service to the larger community.

Thus, the spiritual person is one who gets beyond his/her selfishness, has compassion for others, and is a contributor to making the universe more loving and kind;

I hope that the above material is provocative in assisting you to look at your spiritual and religious dimension so that your may integrate that dimension into your personhood. What is right for you at this time in your life? May you enjoy your search and find further meaning and depth for yourself.

— Dr. Stathas is a counseling psychologist, licensed marriage and family Therapist, in the Lake Oconee area. He is the founder of the Stathas Life Development Center. He can be reached at (706) 473-1780. E-mail: Stathas@plantationcable.net Web site: drstathas.googlepages.com.