The flaws of the spiritual

Painting by Mary Grace Thul, OP

Crisis is opportunity. It’s the theory in human development and it applies to faith as well. We cannot grow in the spiritual except through crisis, and crisis offers us the opportunity to  face the flaws, the shallow spots, the inconsistencies inherent in any faith and deal with them. By facing that truth, we grow into a faith that has nothing to do with custom and all to do with love.

The spiritual life has many levels. The essentials meet you at the doorway. But we are meant to go deeper. All we need is a certain intensity, purity, and sincerity of heart that keeps us searching. Otherwise, when we meet with crisis, we will stall out and go no further. All life requires dealing with flaws and inconsistencies. In our spiritual life, such failures help us deepen our faith and make us go beyond the tangible and practical. If we believe otherwise, a time will come when we will cease to believe.  

To be deeply spirituality, we must do more than simple follow along. For to only follow is to remain stagnant. We must live spirituality with an intensity that challenges all perceptions. Then and only then will we find that what appears as crisis is rather opportunity.