Spirituality: A Working Definition

In response to the question I posed a couple of days ago, here’s something I’ve come up with. I am heavily indebted to Sandra Schneiders' understanding of spirituality; she is one of the important figures in the study of Christian spirituality (and a professor emeritus at my school). And she's much smarter than me.

I’ll start with her definition: “Spirituality is…the experience of conscious involvement in the project of life-integration through self-transcendence toward the horizon of ultimate value one perceives.”[1] I like this a lot. To unpack a bit, if that seems a little puzzling…

Spirituality is conscious. Authentic spirituality is not accidental, but a result of a choice and will. One practices spiritually intentionally in response to some particular motivation.

Spirituality involves life-integration. Spirituality understood as merely a private, inward experience is incomplete. Rather, spirituality is holistic and thus includes one’s relationship to others, to work, to play, to society, to the earth.

Spirituality is self-transcendent. Spirituality takes people beyond merely self-centered interests to concern for things outside of oneself. A spiritual person is caught up in something more significant and far-reaching than his or herself.

Spirituality is directed toward a horizon. Spirituality aims toward something, with a compelling goal drawing one toward itself while informing the journey along the way, where the destination need not be reachable but nonetheless pulls us toward it.

Spirituality is shaped by our ultimate values. Whether this reality is God or something else, spirituality is shaped by that about which we care most deeply and understand to be of greatest importance

Another way of putting Schneiders' definition (which is not really that different conceptually but only linguistically) is that spirituality is the intentional ordering of life through practices, applied holistically and informed by a truth or ultimate reality toward which one is oriented. 

At this point, I’m not so sure that defining spirituality is really about uncovering the universal, exact definition that completely captures the essence of what spirituality is. I think there’s room for opinion. So what do you think? You may feel that this definition is lacking…but how so? For example:

• Do you disagree that spirituality is conscious? Can you be "doing" spirituality or "being" spiritual without trying or knowing?
• Can spirituality just be private, about your inward life, or must it also encompass the whole of your life and activities and relationships?
• Can you be spiritual and not concerned with something beyond yourself? Do you need a goal?
• For it to be spirituality, must it be shaped by our greatest value(s)?
• Can true spirituality be defined without mentioning Jesus or the Holy Spirit?

I'd also add that studying spirituality is distinct from studying theology, differing in that it is more about the lived experience of the individual, whereas theology tends to emphasize underlying beliefs. Spirituality is heavily informed by theology but tends to use individual experience as the starting point.

Part of the goal of defining what spirituality is involves knowing what I’m studying, for one. But the goal is also to uncover what authentic spirituality is and to be able to eliminate what it is not. For example, I don't think spirituality is solely about the interior life or belief in God. It's not just mysticism, works-righteousness, something monks do, new age thought, meditation, religious enthusiasm, and so on.

In getting closer to understanding what it is, I think I can then better encourage others and discover myself what it means to live out the fullest experience of being human. Because I think that’s a key goal in the spiritual journey: not simply becoming more spiritual but becoming more human.

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[1] Sandra Schneiders, “Approaches to the Study of Christian Spirituality,” in The Blackwell Companion to Christian Spirituality, ed. Arthur Holder (West Sussex, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2011), 16.