Advent: I'm religious, but not very spiritual

1:39 p.m. CST December 20, 2014
Becca Stevens
The Reverend Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest serving as Chaplain at St Augustine's at Vanderbilt University, and founder of Magdalene, a two-year residential community of women who have survived prostitution, trafficking and addiction. She is the author of the new book "The Way of Tea and Justice."

Juxtaposing Advent and the pre-Christmas rush sometimes makes me want to take up the mantra, "I'm religious, but not spiritual."

During this season when it feels like waiting and watching is an extinct theological sport, such a mantra is freeing in a few ways. It's an invitation to participate in all the rituals leading up to Christmas without having to be in the spirit and such a mantra makes us accountable for the faithfulness of our lives without having to be inspired.

People can count on us to give, serve, and love, knowing that we believe religion is deeper than a feeling of spirituality. It also allows us to be open to a genuine spirituality that comes as we move through our daily lives, surprised by the spirit and not claiming it is ours.

This is the Advent season set aside during the longest nights of the year to prepare for the incarnation of love. It is called the season of watching and waiting, and it is set in the midst of what is also called the "Christmas Rush." It's the oxymoron of theology as we are called to get busy and sit still. It is the tea in a world of coffee drinkers. It is the silent prayer uttered in a Pentecostal-style worship service.

http://www.tennessean.com/story/opinion/contributors/2014/12/17/religious-spiritual/20570391/