Have you found that following your spiritual path has made you a better person?

[NowHereThis]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

 

[Gary_Sheldrake]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

I don’t think that my spiritual path has made me a better person, but I’m not sure how to quantify such a thing. What would you like to improve about yourself for instance?

Thank you,
Gary

 

[MichaelHowling]

The two big ones for me were Eucharistic adoration …spending time alone with Christ in the blessed sacrament.

I think it has calmed my mind and heart, helped me to see things around me with different eyes, and really brought me closer to Him. It’s MUCH more intimate!

The second one is going to confession!
It really humbles you if you do it right and makes you much more mindful with what you do …it really helps you set the bar higher.

I know how I am when I am actively practicing and when I am waning… I feel much better, my health is better, I’m able to do more, and I am a better person when I am really staying close to Him.

God bless

 

[Angela77]

Confession!!!

 

[arthra]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

Thanks for raising this important question…

I became a Baha’i when I was twenty five years old… and it took awhile for me to become acculturated to the path I chose… Prior to my choice of the Baha’i Faith … I had explored various religions and found that they all had essential spiritual truths… At the same time I was involved in the peace movement and the civil rights movement from the time I was seventeen. Anyway the Faith more or less combined I felt the best aspects of my ibelief in the oneness of the world religions, the belief that a representative world parliament and international court of arbitration could address many of the ills facing the international community and also my convention that mankind was one… that racial prejudice should be eliminated.

I chose the social work profession as my career path …as it aimed at addressing social ills…later went to graduate school for a professional degree…

The Faith also influenced my marriage and family life… In the Faith a marriage occurs with the consent of the parents of the prospective bride and groom… so my inlaws were helpful in issues that came up in our marriage…

In raising my children we made sure they were exposed to values that were open to peoples of a variety of religious backgrounds…and that they also were encouraged to have friendships with people from a variety of cultures and backgrounds.

So over a good part of my life now my spiritual life has continued fresh and vital and I’ve attempted to work with groups that share the ideals I have cherished…

 

[philial]

I’m not sure whether I have progressed along a spiritual path so much as just got older, more mellow, with my hormones & passions undergoing natural reduction! Other than that, I’m still a grubby wee sinner,

I learnt a long time ago that I shall have to trust to the mercy of our forgiving God. I am still relying most on that. In that sense, I am where I was, and shall, doubtless, remain.

 

[Used2beSherryG]

Spending time in Eucharistic Adoration, receiving the sacraments, listening to the Lord and following His lead as He taught us in His walk on earth. Doing what he taught us to do in works of mercy, praying as Jesus prayed to His heavenly Father, visiting the sick, comforting those in grief, feeding the hungry have brought me a peace and joy even in times of personal pain and suffering. I want to be holy and even though I fail each day, I beg for God’s mercy and continue to do what Jesus commands.

 

[chataranga]

Greetings,
I’d like to believe so. Following the Yama and Niyama of Yoga. Developing a practice of Karma Yoga or as Christians say-Time, Talents, and Treasures. Blessings and take care.

 

[rossum]

Have you found that following your spiritual path has made you a better person?

Yes.

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

Meditation and mindfulness. Don’t act without thinking.

rossum

 

[Kliska]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

Thankfully it isn’t my spiritual path that I’m following, but rather a Person; Jesus, Who is the Shepherd. It is all about the Holy Spirit changing me from the inside out… without Him, nothing truly good could come from me, and inline with scripture it is His fruit that is good, and right. Having a personal relationship with the Lord is paramount, and realizing the Way is indeed narrow and few there be that find it, so learning about that Way and walking in it is at the top of my list for that is what I see in Holy Scripture.

 

[benhur]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

Funny thing about a “path” is that you always remain with a halfway point (true math/philosophy). Alas as Kliska said we can find rest from such a paradigms. But I know what you mean, for surely we can grow in Truth and knowledge. The part of the path that breaks you, ironically is the one that sometimes helps the most.

 

[Tarquin]

Yes.
As others have said or intimated,
prayer/meditation/devotion

For me, reading good books - by which I mean scriptures (whatever you as a UU choose for that/those) and books such as “Imitation of Christ,” “Mere Christianity,” things like that.

As a UU, you have more leeway than most denominationalists in choosing scriptures and methods. I have found a number of Pope John Paul II’s encyclicals to be inspiring in different ways. We home-schooled at the time he put out an excellent treatise on the Family and education. I also found his remarks about the Church and the role of members to be stimulating - I got some good ideas from those. And this was when I was not particularly “Catholic,” so from my perspective his writings are as open and useful for everyone as is “Imitation of Christ”.

After prayer/meditation/devotion and readings, I have to add the most important, which is compassionate and charitable action. Love, as many have said, is action. No action, no love. No action and no love, then no spiritual progress. If I had to give up two, I would give up reading and praying, and live my “religion” through my actions.

But you are asking whether my path has made me personally a better person. Yes, of course. My path has brought me, naturally, to remember God constantly, to strive to live charitably, and to prepare for the next segment of my spiritual path, life after mortality.

 

[Adamski]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

I am fairly sure if I wouldn’t have found Christianity as an adult I would have killed myself because all my value was caught up in money and when that money wasn’t there I felt like I had nothing until I found jesus

 

[Kosta]

Which parts of that path have most helped you to grow in this way? I’m always looking for ways to improve myself, because I can surely use the help.

I also am having a bit of hard time figuring out the answer to this question, but I believe that for me, the answer is yes, my spirituality has made me a better person. I think that for me, first I have to take a step back figuratively speaking from daily life. I can’t retreat from it, as much as I’d like to, but the Church has ways to better oneself. One of (if not the) most profound prayers that we have is the Jesus Prayer. This is something that I try to recite as much as possible, but I forget many times. If something is plaguing me, then I refer to our Scriptures. I’ve found Matthew’s words most helpful to me. I also try to practice something called mindfulness, living only in the present moment and acknowledging how we are feeling, accepting it, & moving on. I’m rather new to practicing mindfulness, but I believe it’s important to my life now. Church life is also very important. There’s a reason Divine Liturgy is at the beginning of the week: it is what we Orthodox Christians use to replenish our souls and get through the week. The priest sends us out with a mission: to spread the Gospel by living it and focus on our own salvation. This is no easy task, but with a little help from our Lord & Savior, nothing is impossible.

 

[ChurchSoldier]

Yes. Here are some of the exercises I have found helpful.

1. An intentional dedicated life focused on living within God’s will.
2. Formal self evaluation (examination of conscience) with regular interaction with a spiritual director.
3. Regular daily prayer and weekly corporate worship.

Great question!