HRE2O1 - Religion UNIT 6 Notes
Unit 6: Prayer and Sacraments
Chapter 1: Spirituality and Truth
What is Spirituality?
Spirituality refers to the soul and its needs. Christians believe that
people are souls with bodies and both require care to find fulfillment in life.
Spirituality and Success
As people living in a fast-paced economy, we tend to spend little time
focusing on spiritual health. We chase success, usually measured in economic
terms, and don’t really consider whether those measures of success make us
truly happy.
Common measures of success include high marks, prestigious
post-secondary programmes and schools, well-paying jobs, luxury homes,
cars and merchandise, popularity and power. Single-minded pursuit of those
measures comes at a cost to our spiritual health. No people who achieve
those measures would call themselves happy if their spirits remain
unsatisfied. For example, in pursuing those measures of success, one might
find oneself sacrificing relationships, honesty, integrity, concern for others,
physical health, mental health and so on. Loss of each of the above can
diminish one's spiritual health and contribute to an overall feeling of
dissatisfaction or unhappiness.
It is also possible to achieve those measures of success without
sacrificing one's spiritual health. But to do that one needs to make spiritual
health the priority.
What is Spiritual Health?
Recall the four traits of your human identity: physical, psychological,
spiritual and social. These traits are good, interrelated and require
maintenance.
, Because the traits are interrelated, maintenance of our bodies, psyches
and social relationships necessarily has an impact on our spiritual lives and
vice-versa. For example, morality is part of our spirituality, but healthy social
relationships need to be grounded in moral behaviour. Our bodies can be
used for good or evil actions. How we use them affects our spiritual
development. Finally, our psyches or minds are healthier when our actions
align with our beliefs. No one wants to be forced to do something that is
contrary to their beliefs. Our beliefs are meant to be aligned with the truth.
Spirituality is about seeking truth and living within it.
“What is truth?”
Pontius Pilate asked Jesus that very question (cf. Jn 18:38) when Jesus
claimed to bear witness to the truth. Truth is reality. It is the path and the
destination. To get to the truth, one must walk in the truth. Think of truth as
the tuning fork for your soul. A tuning emits a perfect pitch when you strike it.
Your soul will know the truth when it hears it.
How Do You Know What You Hear Is True?
The answer is surprisingly simple. When you hear or see real love, you
see truth; when you hear or see fear, you see evil.
Everyday you are confronted with choices to love or fear. Truth is
revealed to us only when we are prepared to hear or see it. We can't see the
option to love until we are ready. Why wouldn't we be ready? Too often,
knowing the truth gets in the way of what we want and so we don't want to
see the truth. For example, I want the last piece of cake. However, the reality is
that I've already eaten most of it and some people haven't had any. I'd rather
deceive myself into believing that everyone has had a piece and no one wants
the last piece. But if I'm open to the truth, I'll leave that piece for someone
else who might want it. That's the loving thing to do. Eating the last piece
stems from fear of missing out on the pleasure. Your soul knows that.
Activity
Choose one of the questions below and illustrate your answer. Your
teacher will give you some paper and markers. You can draw whatever you
wish. You can answer the question literally or through symbols or metaphors.
You can title your work "My Truth."
Unit 6: Prayer and Sacraments
Chapter 1: Spirituality and Truth
What is Spirituality?
Spirituality refers to the soul and its needs. Christians believe that
people are souls with bodies and both require care to find fulfillment in life.
Spirituality and Success
As people living in a fast-paced economy, we tend to spend little time
focusing on spiritual health. We chase success, usually measured in economic
terms, and don’t really consider whether those measures of success make us
truly happy.
Common measures of success include high marks, prestigious
post-secondary programmes and schools, well-paying jobs, luxury homes,
cars and merchandise, popularity and power. Single-minded pursuit of those
measures comes at a cost to our spiritual health. No people who achieve
those measures would call themselves happy if their spirits remain
unsatisfied. For example, in pursuing those measures of success, one might
find oneself sacrificing relationships, honesty, integrity, concern for others,
physical health, mental health and so on. Loss of each of the above can
diminish one's spiritual health and contribute to an overall feeling of
dissatisfaction or unhappiness.
It is also possible to achieve those measures of success without
sacrificing one's spiritual health. But to do that one needs to make spiritual
health the priority.
What is Spiritual Health?
Recall the four traits of your human identity: physical, psychological,
spiritual and social. These traits are good, interrelated and require
maintenance.
, Because the traits are interrelated, maintenance of our bodies, psyches
and social relationships necessarily has an impact on our spiritual lives and
vice-versa. For example, morality is part of our spirituality, but healthy social
relationships need to be grounded in moral behaviour. Our bodies can be
used for good or evil actions. How we use them affects our spiritual
development. Finally, our psyches or minds are healthier when our actions
align with our beliefs. No one wants to be forced to do something that is
contrary to their beliefs. Our beliefs are meant to be aligned with the truth.
Spirituality is about seeking truth and living within it.
“What is truth?”
Pontius Pilate asked Jesus that very question (cf. Jn 18:38) when Jesus
claimed to bear witness to the truth. Truth is reality. It is the path and the
destination. To get to the truth, one must walk in the truth. Think of truth as
the tuning fork for your soul. A tuning emits a perfect pitch when you strike it.
Your soul will know the truth when it hears it.
How Do You Know What You Hear Is True?
The answer is surprisingly simple. When you hear or see real love, you
see truth; when you hear or see fear, you see evil.
Everyday you are confronted with choices to love or fear. Truth is
revealed to us only when we are prepared to hear or see it. We can't see the
option to love until we are ready. Why wouldn't we be ready? Too often,
knowing the truth gets in the way of what we want and so we don't want to
see the truth. For example, I want the last piece of cake. However, the reality is
that I've already eaten most of it and some people haven't had any. I'd rather
deceive myself into believing that everyone has had a piece and no one wants
the last piece. But if I'm open to the truth, I'll leave that piece for someone
else who might want it. That's the loving thing to do. Eating the last piece
stems from fear of missing out on the pleasure. Your soul knows that.
Activity
Choose one of the questions below and illustrate your answer. Your
teacher will give you some paper and markers. You can draw whatever you
wish. You can answer the question literally or through symbols or metaphors.
You can title your work "My Truth."
