Hopefully a little smile came to your face when you read the bold title of this post. Is it even possible to define what spirituality is?

That may depend on your objective. Some people want to define spirituality so they can draw a line between what is right and what is wrong. Many spiritual traditions have done this, sometimes becoming so attached to their understanding of what is right that they are willing to harm others to defend it. There are enough examples of this approach to discourage people from pursuing spirituality at all.

Yet we shouldn’t abandon the idea of defining spirituality too easily. I find myself drawn to the approach that William James took for the word “religion.” He observed that the enormous number of different definitions isn’t an indication that religion isn’t definable. Rather it is an indication that religion doesn’t stand for any singular or specific set of practices and beliefs. “Religion” is a collective name referring to various groupings of practices and beliefs which have some characteristics in common.

Taking that approach with the word “spirituality” seems fruitful. Finally, we can engage in a conversation about commonality.

We can start with the word “spirit” and observe that spirituality generally has something to do with aspects of life that aren’t entirely material. We can also include humanity, because spirituality involves humans seeking something more than what is material. I would add mystery and wonder, and also that spirituality suggests a path of growth toward meaning, purpose, and fullness of life. I would also add that spirituality is elusive. We can perceive it clearly at some times, and not at other times. It would be interesting to discuss whether practices and disciplines are a shared characteristic. They are a necessary part of the spiritualities I’m aware of anyway.

What I really appreciate about starting at the collective level, is that it invites us into a fruitful conversation with each other. We can ask each other about their spirituality by understanding their perspective on the different characteristics. For example, what elements of wonder, mystery, and awe their spirituality focuses on. Or, how the practices and disciplines are meant to help them with the elusive aspect of spirituality.

So often it seems like people want to simplify the understanding of spirituality to conclude that we are all pursuing basically the same thing. That seems to be true at the highest level. However, there’s plenty of room for differences between us. We can simultaneously have passion for our own understanding and respect for others understanding of spirituality.