| Spiritual thinking involves learning to see, feel and | | | | invisibility does not render it any less real. Paul in the |
| experience the presence of the divine in one's life and | | | | New Testament declares, "even though on the outside |
| circumstance. It accepts the reality that life transcends | | | | we are wasting away, on the inside we are being |
| the restriction of sense, time and space. Spiritual living | | | | renewed every day, therefore we fix our eyes not on |
| and thinking is living totally every moment, guided by | | | | what is seen but on what is unseen, for the things that |
| the principle of love toward God and all humankind. Our | | | | are seen are temporal, but things that unseen are |
| spirituality is that which connects and integrates our | | | | eternal." Jesus the master teacher observed at Luke |
| experiences, our physical, social, mental and emotional | | | | 17:20-21 The kingdom of God does not come with |
| worlds. It is the core of our existence, the root of our | | | | your careful observation, nor will people say, 'Here it is,' |
| tree of life. The uniqueness of our situation is | | | | or 'There it is,' because the kingdom of God is within |
| determined by the interaction of our spiritual core and | | | | you." |
| the other components of our life. Spirituality impacts | | | | This is the realm of the spirit where the divine meets |
| and is impacted by every other aspect of life. Even | | | | the human in a supernatural transaction that is often |
| though the events of life are common to all, it is the | | | | unexplainable but no less real. Again the master Jesus |
| condition of our spiritual center and its interaction with | | | | gives us further insight here when he taught, "The wind |
| these events that gives life its uniqueness. Our spiritual | | | | blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you |
| essence defines who we are in our inmost being; the | | | | cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. |
| ordering of our spiritual life brings sense and meaning | | | | So it is with everyone born of the Spirit." John 3:8. |
| to every other part. | | | | Spiritual thinking also involves seeing with a vision that is |
| Herein lies the difference between spirituality and | | | | beyond the physical. Recall the words of Paul quoted |
| psychology and other social disciplines; Psychology | | | | above, "we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on |
| involves a quest for meaning, Spirituality is meaning. | | | | what is unseen." The supernatural transaction |
| Psychology teaches what to do. Spirituality teaches | | | | mentioned above brings the gift of spiritual eyesight |
| how to be. Psychology provides strategies for living; | | | | which allows one to see the unseen. Spiritual things are |
| Spirituality is life itself. Therefore the greatest goal of | | | | spiritually discerned. |
| life is spiritual growth and maturity. | | | | Understanding the reality of the spiritual realm and its |
| Spirituality teaches us to recognize that there is a | | | | relationship to the working of the divine spirit prepares |
| physical domain and spiritual domain. There is an outer | | | | us to experience an inner life that is not dependent on |
| world and an inner world. There is a world of sense | | | | the external circumstances. The outside may be |
| that we all see and feel. Men of science study this | | | | wasting away but the inner spiritual core can |
| world and accumulate knowledge of it. But there is | | | | experience daily renewal, transformation and growth. |
| another world, one that is unseen by the senses, but its | | | | |