We are spiritual and I mean just spiritual. We aren't necessarily religious for spirituality is the norm of man; spirituality is outside the confines of religion at times. The believer believes in whatever they believe. The non-believer doesn't believe in whatever someone else believes. But they believe in something, something different, something which makes sense to them and not to anyone else. And that's quite interesting. The believer and the non-believer hang on the same rail; they believe differently.
Believing in something is spiritual. Not believing in something is spiritual too. Believing in nothing is believing in something and everything then is spiritual. At most when we speak of spirituality, we assume it's similar to religion or an attachment of religion. Its discussion goes the same way as that of the hen and the egg. Which came first? Which came second? Somebody picks the egg. Someone picks the hen. And both are justified. But who's right? Someone is right. No one is right. Everyone is right according to their justification. What's the fuss then about spirituality?
The fuss about spirituality is that we are spiritual and we believe in a God who is spiritual and we believe in things which are spiritual. In a good way, stripped of our religions, we are still spiritual and we remain that way. We are spiritual to the core.
Being spiritual means being in a state of constant seeking. Seeking hope, strength, faith, beauty, goodness. Seeking everything which nourish our spirit, seeking everything which makes us feel spiritual ease.
What happens when things get tough? We pray. We pray long after the toughness has exceeded our bearing capacity. We pray at times just as the things begin getting out of control, out of our control. And we wait for thing to work out believing they will work out. Why pray? Because we know there's someone watching over us, someone beyond us. Someone with strength to makes the order we want out of the chaos that prevail in the moment. We don't see that someone but we are certain He's there. We are certain. We give Him a try.
Not everyone prays. Not everyone bow their head in the ground and supplicate to an unseen God. True. Not everyone has a talisman that they chant to as prayer. True. Not everyone raises their hands above their head and look at the vast sky asking for mercy and wait for it to fall like the Israelites waited for manna and quails from heaven. That's true too.
But what if a prayer isn't the prayer we think it is? What if everything is a prayer? What if the cries in the middle of the night is a prayer for something. What if the smile on a face with a heavy heart is a prayer for healing and happiness? What if the kind act of of feeding a stray dog is a prayer for the dog have food? Not necessarily an answered prayer on the side of the dog but a prayer made through the act of feeding by the feeder? What if listening to someone tell their pain is a prayer for the person to be listened to to their satisfaction?
Everything is a prayer. Every action is a prayer. Everything is an answered prayer. And the wishes we make, the hopes we hold, the things we want are prayers as much indirectly as we might want them to appear.
Why do we pray then? Because we are made up of prayers and we are made for prayers. It looks ridiculous. But it is. That's why we pray.
What's the prayer then we all have to pray? Everyone has their prayer; it's not one fit for all. But for our human spirit with it's vulnerability, the best prayer we can pray is to gain strength to face what we have to face and humility to recognize that it is what we have to face. Our human spirit isn't as stronger and we want it to be. That's why we breakdown at times, that's why we are stranded sometimes. That's why we are in confusion sometimes. But to pray, let's pray the greatest prayer we know ; to the supreme Being, give us strength to face what we have to face.
Kabwere Musa
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