More and more Americans are endorsing the notion that they are "spiritual but not religious." In fact about 30% of Americans agree with this statement according to polling. What they generally mean by this is that they are not affiliated or engaged with an organized religious tradition or belong to a particular religious community but they view themselves as being spiritual nonetheless. Perhaps they have their own particular meditation, prayer, and beliefs that are personal. My question is could they be spiritually homeless and does it matter?
Gallup polling over the past half century has found that in general, 40% of Americans have attended a religious service during the past 7 days. There are regional differences however with my area of the country (the San Francisco Bay area) having the lowest religious service attendance rate in the USA with only 16%. So, although the majority of Americans report that they believe in God and are affiliated with some religious tradition, the majority don't attend services regularly. Many complain about organized religion often referring to the problems with these communities. Many have stories of rejection, trauma, and discomfort within these institutions while they were young for example.
In my recent book published by the American Psychological Association, Spiritual Practices in Psychotherapy: Thirteen Tools for Enhancing Psychological Health, I outline a variety of evidence based tools of spirituality. One includes the community support that comes from being part of a spiritual/religious community. Many who are "spiritual but not religious" don't have a spiritual or religious home. My concern is that they then don't reap the benefits of a spiritual or religious community.
Perhaps a useful comparison is physical exercise. Many people can exercise regularly on their own and do fine with it. I do. However, many really need the structure and community of exercise with others at a gym, yoga studio, exercise class, or other location. Many people walk, bike, run, play tennis or golf, and so forth within an exercise community. Part of the benefits of the exercise include the community they develop and nurture around the exercise. This is also true for spirituality as well. While many don't feel a need for a spiritual community, others really do and find that their spiritual and religious interests and skills atrophy when not engaged regularly with others within a community or institution.
So, are you spiritually homeless? If so, might you benefit from a spiritual/religious community or home? If so, can you work towards finding one? Think about it.
