Defining Spiritualism

In Websters II Dictionary, spiritualism is defined as a philosophy, doctrine, or religion emphasizing the spiritual rather than the material. It could also be said that spiritualism is the belief that spirit is the ultimate reality. No minister can espouse a view of the Eternal without incorporating an aspect of the spirit. How we each see and acknowledge the essence of spirit is important to how effective our ministry stays, but how we relate our own lives to this spirit is vital to our ministry.

It is far easier to talk about spirit, talk about what God wants from us and of us, if we can somehow manage to keep God at an arm’s length. That way it becomes less personal and we can wax and wane philosophical until we grow short of breath. It becomes only words. Letting the Spirit of God into our lives in a meaningful way in which we surrender our self-protecting images and desires is the hardest thing we must do. In the movie Shreck, the main character tells his sidekick, Donkey, that Ogres are like onions, full of layers. How true of ourselves if only we would admit it. We spend years growing up and adding to the layers of deceit, and half-truths, hoping that by saying something it would eventually become the truth. Some of the layers are added by experiences not of our making, and some by our own design. Regardless of how the layers became, in order to truly become what we were made to be, we must undergo our own journey into the wilderness and shed these layers, to be broken down so that God can build us in his likeness, without all the trappings we thought we needed. This cathartic experience leaves us stripped of pride, arrogance; ready to admit that we are not in control of our life let alone our universe. (It’s amazing how we make God in our image so that we think we have control over things.) But our wilderness trail, whether it takes the form in this lesson of lost in the woods, or something different, it serves the same purpose – to bring us back to our senses and back into fold of the Eternal. It is after this point, as weak as a newborn, that we begin to prepare for ministry in the way that God wants and not from our own desires. Having been through this, we can relate to others in a way that no one can, as imperfect beings trying to live according to the Master’s wishes. “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. For we are His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them." EPHESIANS 2:8-10

Rev. Ron Boucher

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The Universal Life Church is a comprehensive online seminary where we have classes in Christianity, Wicca, Paganism, two courses in Metaphysics and much more. I have been a proud member of the ULC for many years and the Seminary since its inception.