What are the attributes of "deep spirituality?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ohana
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
O

Ohana

Guest
On another thread, I posed this question sort of to myself. I then got to thinking about it more and more. As Catholics, we practice a range of spiritual practices and they gradually deepen our spirituality over time. I am not so much interested in the differences that occur over our different ways of approaching God, but more on the commonalities. What characteristics or attributes are present that are similar in in all forms of spirituality.

I think awe is one characteristic. I find that the more I “know” God, the more awesome He is. Sometimes this is disconcerting as when considering Brother Jesus, or Jesus the High Priest, or Jesus Our Lord. I “behave” differently with each. I experience awe with each “persona” but at base it is all profound. This characteristic is also present (big time) when considering The Father. And then there is a different kind of awe in understanding that the Holy Spirit, the indwelling God, is leading and shaping me.

Anyone else out there interested in exploring other attributes?
 
This is a great idea! Thank you for starting the thread!

Matt 7:17: Just so, every good tree bears good fruit, and a rotten tree bears bad fruit.

One way I use to “measure” myself is, how well am I producing fruit, as in fruit of the spirit.

Gal 5:22-23: In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.

I really like the part about “against such there is no law,” because that means I don’t have to explain myself or defend myself against anyone for bearing these fruit! 🙂

Another one for me is trust. If I trust in the Lord with all my heart, then I never have to worry about what’s going to happen five minutes from now, or five years. Planning is wonderful, but if you trust in the Lord that the Holy Spirit has things under control, then when the plans get changed we don’t have to experience anxiety and worry, which is like a rotten fruit of the spirit.

Alan
 
Ohana said:
On another thread, I posed this question sort of to myself. I then got to thinking about it more and more. As Catholics, we practice a range of spiritual practices and they gradually deepen our spirituality over time. I am not so much interested in the differences that occur over our different ways of approaching God, but more on the commonalities. What characteristics or attributes are present that are similar in in all forms of spirituality.

I think awe is one characteristic. I find that the more I “know” God, the more awesome He is. Sometimes this is disconcerting as when considering Brother Jesus, or Jesus the High Priest, or Jesus Our Lord. I “behave” differently with each. I experience awe with each “persona” but at base it is all profound. This characteristic is also present (big time) when considering The Father. And then there is a different kind of awe in understanding that the Holy Spirit, the indwelling God, is leading and shaping me.

Anyone else out there interested in exploring other attributes?
Click to expand...
Sincere, valid humility is a commonality of spiritual practices.
 
I would add “Peace” as an attribute of deep Spirituality.
Or perhaps “Serenity” would be a better term…

Peace
James
 
And the virtues

chastity
temperance
charity
diligence
patience
kindness
humility
 
Ohana said:
On another thread, I posed this question sort of to myself. I then got to thinking about it more and more. As Catholics, we practice a range of spiritual practices and they gradually deepen our spirituality over time. I am not so much interested in the differences that occur over our different ways of approaching God, but more on the commonalities. What characteristics or attributes are present that are similar in in all forms of spirituality.

I think awe is one characteristic. I find that the more I “know” God, the more awesome He is. Sometimes this is disconcerting as when considering Brother Jesus, or Jesus the High Priest, or Jesus Our Lord. I “behave” differently with each. I experience awe with each “persona” but at base it is all profound. This characteristic is also present (big time) when considering The Father. And then there is a different kind of awe in understanding that the Holy Spirit, the indwelling God, is leading and shaping me.

Anyone else out there interested in exploring other attributes?
Click to expand...
I believe that divine attributes would take time to grow while inherited and acquired weaknesses would take time to be fully crucified. But the highest common factor is ‘being a person after God’s own heart’, This attribute cannot be hidden. Even if it is mimicked by a pretender the truth will be exposed soon.
 
Pitcharan said:
I believe that divine attributes would take time to grow while inherited and acquired weaknesses would take time to be fully crucified. But the highest common factor is ‘being a person after God’s own heart’, This attribute cannot be hidden. Even if it is mimicked by a pretender the truth will be exposed soon.
Click to expand...
👍
 
I would say deep spirituality is abiding. When I think of something deep, I think of something well-rooted. Deep spirituality may be an awareness of God and a resolution to live totally for Him that doesn’t come and go but persists every moment of life.
 
Pitcharan said:
I believe that divine attributes would take time to grow while inherited and acquired weaknesses would take time to be fully crucified. But the highest common factor is ‘being a person after God’s own heart’, This attribute cannot be hidden. Even if it is mimicked by a pretender the truth will be exposed soon.
Click to expand...
Still crucifying inherited and acquired weaknesses here! 🙂 That is a useful image by the way. Being after God’s own Heart is a bit baffling. Is that as in “pursuing” or as in “performing like”?

The “performing like” may take a bit of explanation. In medical parlance, something like “after Bilroth” may be to perform a surgery or procedure in a manner described by a person named Bilroth. i can see this as a “goal” in deepening Spirituality but one rarely if ever arrived at in this world. I think you mean more like the former. Is that correct?

Per Grannyh, humility would seem to be a most necessary starting point, but that will most definitely grow over time.
 
Ohana said:
Still crucifying inherited and acquired weaknesses here! 🙂 That is a useful image by the way. Being after God’s own Heart is a bit baffling. Is that as in “pursuing” or as in “performing like”?

The “performing like” may take a bit of explanation. In medical parlance, something like “after Bilroth” may be to perform a surgery or procedure in a manner described by a person named Bilroth. i can see this as a “goal” in deepening Spirituality but one rarely if ever arrived at in this world. I think you mean more like the former. Is that correct?

Per Grannyh, humility would seem to be a most necessary starting point, but that will most definitely grow over time.
Click to expand...
I thought everyone understood ‘being after God’s own Heart’ as in “pursuing”. The phrase is used many times in the Bible to describe David.
 
Most people probably do, but I get a bit specific on some things. Thanks for the clarification. That is what I thought, but was not sure.
 
Ohana said:
…Per Grannyh, humility would seem to be a most necessary starting point, but that will most definitely grow over time.
Click to expand...
I think the starting point is Gratitude.

“In the light of the Divine Goodness, it seems to me, though others may think differently, that ingratitude is the most abominable of sins and that it should be detested in the sight of our Creator and Lord by all of His creatures who are capable of enjoying His divine and everlasting glory. It is a forgetting of the graces, benefits, and blessings received, and as such it is the cause, beginning, and origin of all sins and misfortunes. Contrariwise, the grateful acknowledgment of blessings and gifts received is loved and esteemed both in heaven and on earth.” (~A Letter from Saint Ignatius of Loyola to Simão Rodrigues, 18 March 1542).

Gratitude is not only the greatest of virtues, but the parent of all the others. (Marcus Tullius Cicero—106-43BC).
 
Michael_Mayo said:
And the virtues

chastity
temperance
charity
diligence
patience
kindness
humility
Click to expand...
Overlapping with this list are the Fruits of the Spirit: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, generosity, gentleness, faithfulness, modesty, self-control, chastity.

Father Dubay has a chapter on discerning your spiritual growth in his book, Seeking Spiritual Direction: How to Grow the Divine Life Within. If you go to Amazon.com, and search inside the book for “Discernment: Assessing My Progress” you can start reading the entire chapter on p. 267, and see more details of all his indicators of growth, which include:

an undivided heart
serving others
entering by the hard road
pilgrim frugality
suffering with love
hatred for sin
rejection by the world
fidelity to contemplative prayer
absence of egocentrism
delicacy of conscience
watching
speech, a reflecting mirror
Holy dissatisfaction
joy
love for truth
love for the church

And if you’re wondering how to get there, the chapter before it is “How Can I Continue to Grow?” Parts of that one are available online as well.
 
First off, thank you for these great posts!

Secondly, this (below) is just what I needed to hear today - thank you!

“Another one for me is trust. If I trust in the Lord with all my heart, then I never have to worry about what’s going to happen five minutes from now, or five years. Planning is wonderful, but if you trust in the Lord that the Holy Spirit has things under control, then when the plans get changed we don’t have to experience anxiety and worry, which is like a rotten fruit of the spirit.” - sorry I didn’t think to copy the person’s name that posted it - but thank you!

For me, along with the things that others posted, I would also add that being open to our world around us. It’s about living the life that Jesus wants us to. Seeing, hearing, listening to those around us and doing what we can to make a difference to them (and us!).

Happy Friday!
Judy
 
Nothingness except a deep communion with God and longing for the Hereafter.
 
To love as Jesus loves

To have compassion as Jesus has compassion

To have the ability to choose only good, as Jesus chose only good.

Only through the transforming grace given to us by God through Jesus Christ, will this happen.

Jim
 
JimR-OCDS said:
To love as Jesus loves

To have compassion as Jesus has compassion

To have the ability to choose only good, as Jesus chose only good.

Only through the transforming grace given to us by God through Jesus Christ, will this happen.

Jim
Click to expand...
Cooperation with grace…Good point Jim

Peace
James
 
Ohana said:
On another thread, I posed this question sort of to myself. I then got to thinking about it more and more. As Catholics, we practice a range of spiritual practices and they gradually deepen our spirituality over time. I am not so much interested in the differences that occur over our different ways of approaching God, but more on the commonalities. What characteristics or attributes are present that are similar in in all forms of spirituality.

I think awe is one characteristic. I find that the more I “know” God, the more awesome He is. Sometimes this is disconcerting as when considering Brother Jesus, or Jesus the High Priest, or Jesus Our Lord. I “behave” differently with each. I experience awe with each “persona” but at base it is all profound. This characteristic is also present (big time) when considering The Father. And then there is a different kind of awe in understanding that the Holy Spirit, the indwelling God, is leading and shaping me.

Anyone else out there interested in exploring other attributes?
Click to expand...
The crucial commonality among all authentic Christian spiritualities ought to be the growth and maturation of love. Bernard of Clairvaux described stages or degrees of love, which one experiences as he grows in holiness:
  1. Before Christ, I love what pleases me. I love apple pie and ice cream. I love my parents when they are good to me. I love my friend when he does what I want him to do. And so on. I love what is good for me.
  2. After becoming a Christian, I discover that the One who can do the most for me among all others is God - thus I love God. He is my best benefactor: He can do the most good for me.
  3. After growing in the Christian life, and learning more about God in Christ, and receiving grace, and striving to follow Him, I come to learn the great good of God in Himself. He is good whether or not I benefit from Him - He is good and beautiful and true in Himself, and in Himself He is lovable. In this new and deeper way, I now love Him. AND, besides all that, it is still very good for me to love Him and to receive from Him all the good that He will give to me!
  4. After growing still more in the Christian life, I come to a forgetfulness of my own self-interest in the brilliant light of the radiance of His goodness and holiness! Now God has become all in all - and only in Him is my life and my completeness. Whether I live or I die, whether I am comforted or I suffer, whether I receive plenty from Him or am impoverished and crushed by Him - still God is good, and I love Him with all my heart and mind and soul and strength.
These four stages or degrees of love ought to be the path that any authentic spirituality will lead us through, if we seek God as we should. If this is not the path, the journey of my spirituality, then it is not authentic, and ought to be abandoned.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top