Mere Spirituality

Spirituality is not religion.

In our convenient age of five-step formulae and "there's an app for that" mentality, it should come as no surprise that we often look for similar shortcuts when it comes to practicing religion. Previous generations had at least the decorum to be either hot or cold when it came to religion. You either believed in God or you did not. Simple. There were no impious half-measures.


Not so today, not so. We have created a blasphemous assortment of half-prayers and religious "feelings." This Frankenstein's monster goes by many names: New Age philosophy, astrology, pantheism. It is most commonly addressed as "spirituality." The basic message is simple. Get rid of all that doctrine, tradition, and rules, and replace it with emotional experiences that will somehow coalesce into the achievement of some esoteric plane of existence, nirvana, enlightenment, etc....

Spirituality is the essence of our times. No responsibility, no rules, no tradition, and no God. Spirituality is far more dangerous than atheism. It is, in itself, a kind of cocktail mix of agnosticism and religion. It removes God from the equation. All of the religious feelings sans a Supreme Being. This is a dangerous, spiritual arsenic. It is a devilish trick. There is nothing wrong with spiritual feelings in themselves. In fact, they are very good. Such feelings often mean that the Holy Spirit is moving within our hearts. These feelings are intended to bring us closer to God.

Spirituality takes these feelings and disguises them, disguises them, and perverts them. It is a subtle lie unlike the outright rejection of atheism. Atheism is a desert. Spirituality is a poisoned well. The combination is deadly. St. Augustine wrote that "You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you." The heart cannot survive on atheism alone, on shadows. It needs spiritual substance. And instead of the true fruits of the true Church, a modern soul is deceived and taken in by the sweet-tasting but ultimately empty.

This is the strategy of evil. Starve the soul with atheism. Create a culture immersed with the death of the spirit, Nietzsche's nihilistic message, "God is dead." Eventually, the soul will reject the lies it has been fed. It will OD on sand and dirt. That is where spirituality comes in. When the soul has emptied itself with darkness, it looks for something more. The answer of the world is spirituality. An empty "religion" based only on emotion and fantasy, on feelings and sensations.

Always remember that God cannot be replaced. There is nothing that can replace the need for God in our souls, no matter the amount of garbage we swallow. Our hearts will be forever "restless" until they find God.


Deus Vult!