When people hear that I am a minister, they usually respond in one of the following ways: They politely but quickly end the conversation—looking terrified that I might start talking about being “saved” (little do they know that in Unity we don't believe in “being saved” in the traditional Christian sense. We only believe in being saved from our own spiritual ignorance). Others feel guilty and obligated to explain why they don't like or attend church anymore. (After hearing some of their stories, I can't say I blame them!)

Then there are the bold ones, who seem to be looking for a debate or an opportunity to shock me. They will say, “Well, I don't believe in God anyway, so why bother with church?” …

I will usually say, “Tell me about the God you don't believe in.” I listen intently without comment. Invariably, the God they describe—a being residing in physical space and time (often looking like Michelangelo's God of the Sistine Chapel), meting out judgment, granting some wishes but not others, and rewarding those who believe in Him with everlasting salvation and punishing those who don't with eternal suffering—I simply smile and say “I don't believe in that God either.” My answer inevitably opens up a lively conversation in which we usually find some common ground as we begin to talk about an Ultimate Reality, a “higher presence,” or an innate wisdom and intelligence operative in the universe.

Religion is a taboo subject for many people and irrelevant for many more. Spirituality, however, is an entirely different subject and one that is of growing interest throughout the world. According to George Gallup, internationally recognized researcher, “the pendulum may be swinging away from what is beyond to what is within us.” A 1999 Gallup survey on American spirituality asked, “Do you think of spirituality more in a personal and individual sense or more in terms of organized religion and church doctrine?” Almost 75 percent of the respondents chose “personal and individual.” In a January 2002 poll, 33 percent of Americans described themselves as “spiritual but not religious.”
Spirituality is not the same as religion, nor is it the same as morality.

How do you define spirituality? Is it a sense of a higher power? An energy or a presence greater than oneself? Some speak of it as innate intelligence and the organizing principle of the universe itself.

Religion, on the other hand, tends to rely on beliefs, rituals and doctrine to answer fundamental questions about the nature of man, the existence of good and evil, and God.

Morality deals with standards of conduct that are generally accepted as right or proper, whereas spirituality is concerned with the relationship between the individual and God or Spirit, Ultimate Truth, Atman, Buddha nature, or however you describe the Ineffable, Divine Presence. Ultimately, genuine spirituality is the communion, or nonseparate identification, with the innate and transcendent Divine Essence.

Religion tends to divide us; spirituality tends to unite us. Religion tends to emphasize outer practice and conformation; spirituality emphasizes inner practice, personal transformation and the integration of higher levels of consciousness into day-to-day living.

This article is an excerpt from Wendy Craig-Purcell's new book Ask Yourself This, recently published by Unity House®.
 

Wendy Craig-Purcell is founding minister and CEO of The Unity Center, a 1500-member spiritual community in San Diego, California. An active member of the Association for Global New Thought, Wendy participated in the “Synthesis Dialogues,” which brought together some of the world's leading thinkers to dialogue with His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Wendy serves on the board of the Foundation for Affordable Housing in San Juan Capistrano and is a recipient of the Gandhi Nonviolence Award.