The Seeker’s Guide by Elizabeth Lesser is one of the myriad of books that I am currently reading.  I read it several years ago when I lived in a different city and was a different person.  Now that I am married and have a young child, I’m finding that other parts of the book make sens to me.

One of the first chapters discusses spirituality and states that we don’t need to be part of a religion, or to be religious, to be spiritual.  I’m not sure if the younger me would have agreed with that, but this older me currently does.  Although I self-identify as a Wiccan, I freely admit that I’m not particularly religious.  But I do think I am a spiritual person, trying to find the beautiful and meaningful in ordinary things.

I think I am very lucky to have a young child, as they seem to have a way of helping you find the spiritual in life even when causing chaos.  Baby Man takes such joy is playing on the swings in the park, and even in the simple act of running around the condo.  He provides a good reminder that life is pretty amazing.

Yeah, I do still get caught up in the daily grind.  I get annoyed when I get an email from work giving me another dumb assignment.  I want to throw up my hands and throw away my yarn when it gets tangled.  (Honestly, I need a swift, I nearly ruined a $25 ball of yarn in my first attempt to use my ball winder.)  And, like everyone, I get caught up in the consumer drive (see the last aside).  But, when I slow down, my spirituality is there is reign me in and ground me.

Can you be religious without being spiritual?  I think so.  Can you be religious and  spiritual?  Absolutely.  Do we need religion?  Probably.  Do we need spirituality? Absolutely.  I know that some day soon I will return to practicing my religion more fully, and I hope that I will never lose my spirituality.