Spirituality, gift or curse?

How important is spirituality in your life?

As a devoutly atheistic person, I tend to treat questions of spirituality as code for queries on religion.

I realize they are not the same. If asked if I were religious, I would say that God has a great deal to answer for. Am I spiritual, perhaps just the fact that I reference God suggests my ambivalence.

You are religious, aka one who takes all matters at faith value, but maybe you don’t connect closely with the greater universe.

You don’t follow the Bible or the Quaran or some other text from the annals of religious time, but you are literally in sync with the moon and the stars. Pagan and spiritual.

Spirituality has its limits if you are seeing ghosts, naive about good and evil, or indulging in reverential fantasies

Believe or doubt. You can still have a sense of kindness and respect for the forces of man and nature.

MLK

Who is your favorite historical figure?

It’s not really history if you’ve lived it but I greatly admire Martin Luther King, Jr.

He always maintained a harmonious dignity and respectful rhetoric.

He was a true peace maker.

He paid dearly for his efforts on behalf of equality and social justice.

Given our current civil status, I can only hope that his martyrdom was not in vain.

Passion

What are you passionate about?

Can it be relative?

Passion, for instance, like a love for Tide detergent vs. Percil is relative.

I’m thinking “no” because that relativity dilutes passion into just a liking. It cools it.

I take many things seriously enough to be passionate in my thinking. That extends from food to politics with stops along the way to consider climate issues and civic discord.

Taking the day’s question in its best light, I have to admit to a passion for my friends and their friendship.

I am certainly passionate about the love of my life. After over 30 years together, I am still mad about him.

Passion has many guises.

By myself

Who do you spend the most time with?

It is a boon to have the time and wherewithal to be able to lose oneself in thought.

It is a loss that brings us many gains.

The rush and whir of even the best company can be a distraction.

I value the distractions of society.

I learn from acquaintances as we pass aphorisms and chit-chat.

Being with my love and my friends brings me pleasure and joy.

I treasure these times but need my own time as well.

Time alone is as important to me as time spent with others.

Luckily, I spend the most of my time with myself.

It gives me the happenstance, time and grace for self-reflection.