Monday, December 20, 2010

Religion is not spirituality

We capitalize specific religions because they are proper names. Spirituality requires no capitalization, except of course if it's the beginning of a sentence. But how often does that happen, really? The word spirituality requires no capitalization because it is a humble word. Words like Catholic, Islam, Mormon even the Church of England all require capitals because they are proper names, they are proud.

It's okay to be proud, but it's far more satisfying to be humble. Famed martial artist and creator of Jeet Kun Do, Bruce Lee once said, "Learn everything. Keep what works."

Religion is one ideology at a time, one belief at a time, shared by many. Spirituality can be everything we've ever learned. Spirituality is best used to help us recognize and understand life as individuals.