Spirituality

As someone who is Roman Catholic, born and raised, I find that all of the readings play a part in my everyday life. After I read Brother Hayes’s account of his own spirituality and call to the brotherhood, it made me kind of jealous. Not jealous because he’s a brother, but because of his closeness with his faith. Brother Hayes said that “something was happening that was far beyond what [he] could understand at that point, but [he] no longer felt quite as frightened. God was in control.” I believe that all Christians aspire to not only live a life of faith, but to have that feeling that God is guiding them in some way. The lack of these experiences among lay people, I think, is the reason that religious autobiographies aren’t popular. People feel either feel like bad Christians or jealous over the fact that someone else had the experience that they desire. On the other hand, spiritual self-help books lay out the foundations for these people so that they can work on themselves, become better people of faith, and essentially feel that closeness with their religion and God.

Each person has their own desires within their religion, such as Brother Hayes, but when a person feels slighted by their religion what are their options? This question was brought up in the blog Courage and the Church. I am a very spiritual person and I will be the first to admit that I ask controversial faith based questions to better understand my faith. However, I think that Julia, the young woman who wrote this piece, isn’t trying to better understand Catholicism, rather she seems to want to tear it down a little bit. She asks fellows Catholics to question the validity of certain religious political positions, and if they should walk away because they don’t agree. To me, a person who’s been going to private school since Kindergarten, it seems to be something that someone who doesn’t know all the facts would write. There are options within the Church but she doesn’t acknowledge them. It’s scary because the power that this blog has is immense, primarily because it’s on the internet.

 Religion can be a very personal thing, while the internet is a very public thing. In the post New Models for the Church in a New Media World by Jim Rice, he says that “in our globally connected time, our very metaphors are changing, and this could be an opportunity for deeper insights that draw us closer to God and to one another.” Being able to connect with a fellow Christian half way around is a powerful thing and I understand Rice’s examples, but the meaning of the word “Catholic” is universal. In my religion, we believe that our faith connects us and transcendent these types of mediums (the internet). Like I said, I understand Rice’s examples but I don’t need a Facebook status or Tweet to make me feel connected to or empathy for my brothers and sisters in Christ around the world.

These three examples, autobiographies, blogs, and the use of the internet, are all ways that can foster growth in people’s spirituality. I firmly believe that there is a place on the internet for writing about spirituality. Today more than ever people are turning their back on the concept of organized religion and focusing on their personal relationship with God and the growth of their own spirituality. The internet provides that outlet for people seeking these desires and in turn, gives them a place to educate others on their own journey.