When people heard the word "spiritual" many years ago it sounded like something a psychic medium would intervene in to communicate with the dead.
In the modern world, however, people might not be in tune with spirituality in that sense.
In a different sense, though, things are a little different. Many people in this contemporary society might even consider themselves at least partially spiritual. A growing trend is showing a significant number of people actually think they perform spiritual tasks.
Why Spirituality?
As these blog posts look at the Meaning of life from a spiritual base it seemed like a good time to try to decipher what spirituality constitutes and to what degree it is worth examining further.
Getting back to thinking of themselves as spiritual, there seems to be more people recently who claim to be in some way. A survey by Pew Internet Research indicated 64% of Internet users who perform spiritual and religious activities online represent nearly 82 million Americans!
This brings the post to an interesting point.
That point is asking which way to look at spirituality. In this case it involves asking some of the things that constitute spiritual activities.
As this articles states (better than the author can), spirituality largely concerns that which is holistic.
Is Spirituality A Passing Trend?
In society nowadays spirituality is more about who you are as a whole person, versus the sum of your actions. In the example in the website above a person does not so much do things that are ethical, as they are an ethical person.
One ramification of this is as follows: If somethings you do is not ethical, as in the example, it would seem to follow you are not an ethical person. If someone says this to you it could lower your motivation for being ethical the next time you can choose.
However, an ethical person as a whole is not necessarily confined to perfection in a clear cut manner. For example if you tell someone they look good in an outfit and you really think they don't, it that ethical? In other words being an ethical person is not just based on outward action but also on inward intent. Humans tend to judge others superficially in general.
This brings the post to the next interesting point. That is,
What Is "Spiritual", Anyways?
What makes something "spiritual" to be considered as a spiritual activity? Using some deduction the author has come up with this incomplete list. Some of the things spirituality involve are:
- Striving to achieve your full potential
- Putting things into practice, as opposed to just reading about them
- The sacred
- Life as a whole. (For example, it would not be doing things that are altruistic, but in being altruistic).
- Self reflection
What Is Spirituality?
With these things in mind, just how would spirituality rate as an overall trend for the upcoming year? Is it worth looking further into, as these posts do? To determine this, here are some things might impact the trend to figure this out (going back to the previous list):
1. With an aging society people think about death more and might want to make the most of their remaining time on earth. (Achieving full potential)
2. With more people unemployed volunteerism is increasing. Volunteering often accentuates spiritual principles by putting them into action. (Putting things into practice).
3. It is a general trend that there are more elderly people in a typical church audience.(The sacred).
4. With a relatively high unemployment rate people are more likely to turn to something larger than themselves. More people look for information about God during bad times. (Life as a whole).
5. Technology increases awareness, with things like social media. The information superhighway increases access to the information. (Self reflection).
With the statistic that 82 million Americans performing some type of spiritual activity online there seems to be a simple answer to the question of whether spirituality is declining or rising. There does seem to be a trend developing, even if it is based on things in addition to what is listed above. What is that trend?
The trend of spirituality in modern society is on the rise as a whole.
Do you consider yourself spiritual?
You might also be interested in:
My Personal Spiritual Awakening
Feel free to leave any comments or share.
Author: Albert Wagner
