A Quest For The Holy Grail?

What is true spirituality? It can be defined as the state, quality, manner, or fact of being spiritual in one's nature, something not tangible or material that affects the individual's soul and how it relates and communicates with God. Spirituality is a subjective foundation, a foundation built in one's heart and mind rather than the material world, and upon that foundation we build a means by which to communicate with God through the Holy Sprit and receive the blessings, the guidance, and the protection of Gods Grace. And although it is given freely to all through the grace of God, spirituality -- something that is so remarkably simple to obtain and build upon --- true spirituality, remains an elusive goal, "A Quest For The Holy Grail" if you will, that some people seem to have a hard time finding and enjoying the multitude of blessings that it brings.

Modern science tends to deny anything that cannot be proven with mathematical theory, felt and examined by the five senses, or recreated in a laboratory environment. But spirituality is a state of mind in which we have faith that greater things exist that science cannot prove, measure, or otherwise recreate. It is through spirituality that we seek communion with deity and beg for guidance in our daily lives, and like a child seeking approval from a parent, we seek to mold our lives and deeds so as to be acceptable in God's eyes and meet with his approval.

In the Christian tradition, all one has to do to obtain salvation is to accept Christ and follow in his teachings, but some people crave a deeper connection to God and embark upon "A Grail Quest" to discover this deeper connection or enhanced spirituality. To accept Christ into your life and become "Born Again" into the spirit, although remarkably simple, should be done with the utmost sincerity and conviction. And although many find it difficult to find a point of balance between the demands of their daily lives and professions versus strict adherence to the core tenets of Christ's teachings, this "point of balance" can be found without embarking upon some great spiritual quest. But just "picking up the cross" and following him, is not enough to fill the void in the hearts of some. These people become "seekers" in hopes of filling the spiritual void within Jesus said in Matthew, chapter seven and verse seven, "Ask, and it shall be given you, seek and ye shall find, knock, and it shall be opened unto you." Some people go in search, seeking everywhere, and knocking upon all sorts of doors hoping that the secrets of true and enhanced spirituality will be revealed.

Some theologians and lay people, prominent in the Christian faith, have noted that the Christian Church has possibly failed some people in not offering "working tools" with which to find deeper spirituality. And in some cases it might not have been the church that failed but rather the individual that simply missed the point, the subjective state of mind necessary to find spirituality. Perhaps in some, the church and the individual are both to blame, as oft times, the message from the pulpit can be ambiguous and the individual misinterprets the meanings of the message as it is delivered unto them. Case in point, we often read of those that have given personal testimony that although they had been a life long church attendee, the individual could not understand why he or she could not "talk" to God and hear God answer. They speak of having heard numerous ministers and lay people tell of interpersonal conversations with God, and these individuals were left with the impression that if they were sincere enough and faithful enough in their spirituality, God would talk to them in the literal sense and offer guidance or otherwise answer their various prayers in which they had made some sort of request. And when they failed to hear God in a literal sense, or to see an absolute miracle in their lives, they felt disappointed or otherwise less than acceptable in God's eyes and undeserving of his attentions. Some of these people have left the church, and some even embarked upon "A Grail Quest" seeking the answers to their questions in a multitude of other paths of spirituality.

In recent decades, we have also witnessed the migration from the church of those that become disassociated and felt left out of the church by the inclusion of the convoluted doctrines of man, the misinterpretations of scriptures, and other heresy created by man. These seemingly heretical teachings often appear to be the exact anti thesis to the teachings of Christ and the core tenets of the faith, leaving the follower of Christ to wonder how Christians can embrace exclusive and sometime politically inspired philosophies of hate, materialism, consumerism, and greed for personal financial prosperity that contradict the very words of Jesus Christ. These that have felt left out, or disassociated have also gone in search, seeking, knocking, and hoping to find a renewed spirituality, one that is free of doctrines and philosophies that should never have entered into the church to begin with.

In future essays we will look at the many avenues, that those that have been disassociated, forced out and "Left Behind" by many contemporary churches, have taken to find True Spirituality on their personal "Quest For The Holy Grail."

Read More On This Subject In Part 2

10 December 2006

Rev Ed Crabtree