I was talking with one of the most generous supporters of the ministry I’m a chaplain for. Generous and dependable in his giving, but generous and dependable too in all the other ways one might long for a church member to be. I asked him why.
This man had the temerity to look me right in the eye and say, “Because I’m religious but not spiritual.”
I don’t think I’ll ever get over it.
Restore me to the joy of your salvation, and sustain in me a willing spirit. – Psalm 51:12 (NRSV)
A willing spirit is certainly something to long for. But if we sit around waiting until God vouchsafes us some mystical experience of spiritual willingness before we do stuff, we’re going to get a lot less done than we otherwise might.
My guy understood human nature pretty well. Almost as well as Jesus, who told us to put our money where we want our hearts to be, because hearts follow money more often than the other way around. And so this man—doggedly, regularly—religioned. He showed up. He gave money. He spent time. He prayed—dutifully, not ecstatically. He trusted the ancestors who’d said, after many generations of learning, “Do this, not that.” “Act this way; try not to act that way.”
And while the rest of us were floating around labyrinths and Taize-ing until our brains leaked out our ears and just generally trying to out-Hildegard Hildegard, there he was, building the city of God brick by brick.
I don’t know if he’d agree or not, but I’m pretty sure he was building his spirit, too.
Prayer ~ Grant me a willing spirit, God. Until then, grant me religion. Amen.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Quinn G. Caldwell is Chaplain of the Protestant Cooperative Ministry at Cornell University. His most recent book is a series of daily reflections for Advent and Christmas called All I Really Want: Readings for a Modern Christmas. Learn more about it and find him on Facebook at Quinn G. Caldwell.