July 2015 - 102
A holistic spirituality
Spiritual life needs to involve all layers of our humanity; it is a matter of man’s every
dimension. Indeed, the word ‘holism’ that we enjoy using nowadays has its place in
spiritual life. Perhaps, before, we have confined it too much to one dimension of life,
which we referred to as the spiritual dimension, in addition to the physical, mental,
and social ones. It was and is very good, of course, that the spiritual is not neglected
and placed on the same level as these other essential dimensions of our humanity.
After all, everything that involved spirituality and meaning was in danger of
becoming a forgotten dimension for an entire period of time. It was said that people
would end up in an existential vacuum, which would even make them feel sick, and
they would get therapy from another dimension than the spiritual one. Existential
problems were mainly tackled through the use of psychotherapy, with a slim chance
of success, of course.
A holistic view of man should essentially have room for the spiritual but the spiritual
should also be holistic in itself. In other words, it needs to influence all levels of our
life, and not just add a little something; it should be like salt and really add flavour
like it does to food.
The New Age movement rediscovered the connection between spirituality and
health. They go back to nature and the cosmos to supposedly discover forces that
have a positive influence on a person’s health. On the summer solstice, Stonehenge
draws large crowds. Along with self-proclaimed presiding druids, they present
offerings to the elements. It is most peculiar that they turn to nature worship and
close themselves off from the Revelation of God that was revealed to us in and
through Christ. However, there is a positive element, which is the fact that they
develop a spirituality that does have an impact on their daily lives, and on their
health, first of all. The question is, of course, whether they seek out this nature
worship for the religious aspect as such or for the health benefits. If it is the latter, it
would be a very utilitarian interpretation and use of spirituality.
Even within Christianity, there are those who are looking for the therapeutic effects
of spirituality. They believe that people who are actively involved in religion and
lead a spiritual life are less prone to depression than those who take no interest in
religion. Nowadays, we see that spiritual mental health care projects are being set up
in which psychiatric patients are sent to an abbey or a reflection centre where they
can experience a spiritual immersion, hoping that it might have a therapeutic effect
on their psychiatric problems.
Let us also think of the therapeutic communities for substance abuse treatment that
have very religious and very spiritual schedules with prayer sessions, Bible readings,
and a strict timetable reminiscent of the order of the day of abbeys. Through the
positive effect of religion and spirituality, they hope that people might find a new
way of life without drugs.
In the 1990s, we opened a home for people who have existential issues that offers a
convent environment as well as mental and spiritual guidance so that, once more,
they might find purpose and meaning in life. Particularly American literature has
books on Jesus as a psychotherapist and the healing power of religion.
All of these examples use religion and the spiritual to achieve a goal: a healthier life,
a drug-free existence, a recovery from mental and existential wounds.
But is this what we mean when we talk about a holistic spirituality?
It is indeed dangerous to reduce spirituality to something that is useful. We are
completely steeped in this kind of mentality and we must shield spirituality from it.
Spirituality is of a different nature. I would like to refer to Saint Bernard of Clairvaux,
who wondered why men should love God. His answer was very clear and apt: we
are to love God for God’s sake. God himself is the reason for our love. All other
possible reasons touch on the nature of God’s love. In fact, we can say the same for
human love. If we were to say that we love someone for the financial benefits or the
pleasure we hope to receive, our love becomes a caricature. Love bears no other
reason than love itself.
If we, as Christians, aim to cultivate a spiritual life, the origin and the goal are God
himself and his love. God is the reason for our spiritual life. He is the only reason.
This should be and remain our starting point, otherwise our spiritual life would be a
consumer item that needs to prove its use somewhere.
Our spiritual life is no isolated event, however. It is so fundamentally and radically
intertwined with our life that it affects and impacts the others dimensions of our life.
These are the salutary effects of a spiritual life, effects we do not seek out but that are
presented to us as gifts. We kindly open up our other dimensions to have them be
fruitful, or should we say infected by the spiritual.
Osmosis occurs when our existence is influenced in every aspect by the spiritual.
Indeed, we become other people. A slow but certain transformation process takes
place, and we will be able to bear the fruits in the long run.
To the extent that our spiritual life is authentic, the fruits will be as authentic and
powerful to have their presence in all of our life’s dimensions.
It is a matter of passively opening ourselves up, and, like a gentle shower, allowing
the water to slowly seep through until we are completely soaked. Of course, we can
consciously or unconsciously close off certain layers and not allow the spiritual to
influence them. These are the obstacles that we face when we try to lead a full
spiritual life. We shield certain areas not to have them infected with the spiritual, so
to speak. This does affect the holism to which spirituality inherently calls us. God is
the only reason for us to open ourselves up to him and his love, and we must do so
with our whole being, with the entirety of our life. Saints are people who have
reached this state of wholeness. That is why they are called holy, in complete
harmony, whole, holistic. This is the wholeness, this is the holiness to which we are
called.
Let us remember two things: a spiritual life is a goal in itself, involves being open to
God’s love, and cannot be used for any other purpose, and a spiritual life must not be
closed off in life’s spiritual dimension but allowed to spread out across all other
levels of our existence.
In fact, this is how it was phrased in the commandment of love. It says that we are to
love God above all else. It is the first and foremost commandment, it could suffice in
itself. When we are truly fulfilled with God’s love, we will be loving people and love
others like we love ourselves. We might understand Saint Augustine even better
when he said: “Love, and do what you will.” God’s love will infect our human ability
to love, purify it, and bring it to the level of divine love, which we call unconditional,
without measure. This is what our love of neighbour should be, as well as the quality
of our charity and our fraternal love.
A spiritual life requires us to let go of many things and to allow many things to
happen in our lives. Perhaps we ourselves are the greatest obstacle to overcome with
regard to spiritual life because we want to keep so many things into our own hands.
Simply consider how often we are passionately preoccupied with our pleasures, our
possessions, our power. It is as though these are the great certainties in our life. We
are clinging on to these certainties and will not allow them to be shined upon, be
made fruitful, be infected by God’s love.
No, it is not a matter of ignoring these three great passions in our lives or push them
aside or call them evil. They only become evil when we allow desire to enter them,
for our passions are our desires’ favourite anchoring points. Instead of desire, we
need to allow love to enter them, to make them fruitful.
We will still desire pleasures but it will be a profound joy that we desire, no shallow
amusement. We will still desire possessions but our greatest possession will be God
with his love, which will truly fulfil us. We will still desire power but rather it will be
a dedication to develop the world, no matter how small a contribution, and it will be
marked by service. Perhaps we could refer to the gifts and the fruits of the Holy
Spirit. Paul makes a clear distinction.
We should not open ourselves to the gifts of the Holy Spirit to bear the fruits. We
open ourselves to the Holy Spirit for He brings us God’s love. The fruits are the free
gifts that are included.
It is therefore a golden rule of spiritual life to truly guard ourselves from
utilitarianism, the idea of utility that has permeated our current existence. It can
never be an escape from the harsh reality, like a place of refuge in times when we can
no longer face reality. At the very most, these can be departure points to get to know
the spiritual, and get to the tree by the fruit, and to the source that is God’s love.
Bro. René Stockman,
Superior General