Spirituality is...Just a Vehicle

The warm water beads as it runs down the curves
Of the beautiful surface so tan
She's polishing the Jaguar again

Hasn't run in a year or two
Nice car but the wheels don't move, anymore
Maybe she remembers
Maybe something's got her scared
It's too precious to be careless
And it's finally been repaired

So you never see her drive it
She won't risk it any more
It's too easy to collide it
And it hurt so much before

Could it be
That it's really just a vehicle
Standing like a statue all this time
Could it be
Its just a vehicle
She shines
"Just a Vehicle" by David Wilcox

One of the reasons we have trouble pinning down what spirituality is probably has to do with our tendency to use that word as a noun, which the dictionary affirms is rightfully done. However, when we transition our understanding not to the letter of the law but the spirit - the word suffers in its proper form.  You remember nouns - "person, place or thing."  Starting with that perception and marinated in America's consumerist, personality obsessed culture, spirituality can morph into something as useless as beautifully waxed sports car that sits in the window on display.

Where will I put the groceries?

 Spirituality is not a thing we can own like so many gadgets, machines or paintings.  We can't buy and we certainly can't sell it - even at the Christian Book Store.  Spirituality is not a person. We can find evidence of it in the behavior of people - Mother Theresa, Ghandi, The Dalai Lama, or Mrs. Wallace from our Sunday School class, - but no one human being is spirituality incarnate. We should never get so caught up in the star-culture (cult-ure?) that we get confused and lose our way.  Spirituality is not a place we arrive, but a method for getting somewhere.

While I hate to argue with the good people at Dictionary.com, spirituality in its purest and best form is a verb. It is an active, moving vehicle made to take us to our destination.  Every person has a different idea of where they want the car to go.  Some folks just want it to take them to a happy day, or drive them out of a valley of sorrow or a late night abandoned street called "Fear."  Others want to travel to realms they have never seen before - beautiful places like "Peace" or busy intersections like the corner of "Need" and "Community".  Still others want it to drive them all the way to Heaven, sometimes without leaving earth.

Our lives as spiritual people is often a search for the key that makes this car go and sadly most have a key in their own pocket, having picked it up long ago.  Just like there is more that one type of car - there is more than one key that can put the vehicle in gear. Some of the best keys are prayer, peace, reflection, giving, listening, opening. forgiveness and, of course, the master key that can start every car - love.  And once you start the car - you must drive it.

It's a risk, you know. You could run out of gas if you start out on a long journey of faith without enough fuel and provisions. You could get lost and need to find somewhere to stop and get directions (and, you would be willing to have to ask for them!).  In a world so full of doctrines, traditions and interpretations - you might even crash your car into someone's parked ideas.  Through the spiritual journey - some cars start out shiny and new, but end up looking like this:

Well, I don't have to worry about those window dings anymore.

When that happens, the amazing love of God, and the spirituality found in the love of others will drive you where you need to go until the frame can be healed, the metal melted and re-formed and the tires changed. Then, as the repairs are complete, your task is to get behind the wheel anew- and keep going.

Spirituality isn't something we have to be admired or gain status. Its a functioning vehicle of heart, mind and soul designed to take us, and sometimes passengers we pick up along the way, to all the places God would have us go.