I was approached awhile back by one of our Unity members who had this wonderful idea to put out this question: “What is the difference between religion and spirituality” to get a conversation going on our blog. Recently our own Ron Newman responded with this:
“I was raised Catholic, certainly a religion . . .books of rules, traditions and authoritarian stuff.
Catholic religion is about living by the book and conforming to not just the ten commandments, but also the six commandments of the Catholic Church. I remember one of them:
“Observe the days of fasting and abstinence established by the Church.”
Abstaining from meat on Friday was formerly required by this commandment. The punishment, a mortal sin, was to be sent to the eternal fires of hell. The Catholic religion was fear-based—fear of punishment by purgatory and hell. It is about living a similar life to those in your church community . . . well defined boundaries.
One simple expression of our human experience is that everything is either based on fear or love.
Spirituality is about a heart connection to Spirit. Live love in all you do. We go into the silence and meditate, speak to God, and listen with our hearts.
Spirit will guide you to your destiny. There will be learning experiences. There are a broad range of lifestyles and full acceptance based on love.
Spirituality, as experienced by those in Unity, is love base.”
If you have a perspective that you’d like to offer here on this topic, you can send it to me by email to: pattyriciaslight@yahoo.com. You don’t have to be a member to do so. We’d love to hear other voices on this topic! ~ Patty Lynn Kyle
