Dear Elders, How does your spiritual life influence your secular life?
Signed,
Oh Yes, I Went There
Steve Leavenworth
Dear Oh Yes,
This subject needs more than a few lines to answer. It needs to be discussed, but I’ll do my best.
My spiritual and secular lives are all in one body – me. I am not a Christian per se, nor do I follow any other of the popular religions, so I don’t have to have a 2,000-year-old book on hand to tell me what to do or how to behave. I KNOW what I should do in various circumstances, and I try to do it. You may think I know because I was brought up in a religion, but I wasn’t. I attended a church while in junior high school and joined a church for a number of years, but I don’t live my life the way I do because I learned how somewhere in my past. Actually, I believe that all humans know the difference between right and wrong unless they have a mental problem that blocks their normal behavior.
That’s the best I can give you.
Casper Kranenburg
Dear Oh Yes,
There are many influences shaping my secular, day-to-day life. The most important is the influence my parents had on me, but my spiritual life is a big influence, too. You ask me “how?” Here is a saying I once read: “People may forget what you said, people may forget what you did, but people never forget how you made them feel!”
I hope that answers your question.
Jan Stickler
Dear Oh Yes, I Went There,
I hope I don’t have two “lives.” I have enough trouble handling one. This one does include a spiritual component. Being spiritual, it is something that flows through my life – whether I’m in church or in my kayak. Sometimes, it flows like a stream in the spring and, other times, it flows as if in a summer’s drought. But it is always there, influencing how I see and act in this world.
Hopefully, I am a better person because of it.
Bill Twibill
Dear Where Did You Go,
Being spiritual has so many interpretations that range from sacred, cerebral, intellectual, high-minded, lofty and saintly. Since I have all of these wonderful qualities, it has a major impact on my secular life. Just ask any one of my friends.
