Article December 24, 1990 Issue

Spirituality—it matters

Stephen T. Carlson

Spirituality isn't obsolete. It's at the very heart of humanity's advancement. Few, however, would probably cite "the things of the Spirit" as underlying whatever real progress the world has made. Yet if God really is God—the one almighty creator, the sole source of good—then our worship of Him through God—centered thoughts and lives has a great deal to do with the good we experience individually and collectively. That's because such worship brings us into harmony with His power and love. And it follows that whatever pulls us away from God, Spirit, has a detrimental influence.

There's much these days that would attempt to pull us away from Him. There's an emphasis in the media and elsewhere on worldly goals. There's an inclination to condone immorality. To a common view of things, this seems normal, part of contemporary living. Spirituality, if it's ever considered, is pushed into the background as having little relationship to the way things "really are." Or else spirituality is defined in ways that indicate something quite different from genuine godliness.

But can we ignore the need for spiritually based thinking when we read a newspaper report or see a television program that shows people's lives being ruined by some materialistic indulgence? What may have seemed a "normal" part of human life—drinking or promiscuity, for example—doesn't seem so normal. Its destructiveness stands out in bold relief.

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