When I was a child, I was educated in a private school run by the nuns. They not only taught me the ABCs, they introduced me to the spiritual life. To be sure, it was a spiritual life reduced to the barest essentials. I learned to pray form prayers like the Our Father and the Hail Mary. In my childlike thinking, that was what the spiritual life was all about.

When I went to the seminary while still in my teens, I discovered that the spiritual life can be a lot more complicated. I learned that it ranges far and wide and that, in fact, like God, it has no bounds.

I understood that there are millions of paths winding their way to God. That God could not be contained in one approach to Him.

I learned to converse with God. Say a few words to Him and then remain quiet for a while. I realized too that staying close to God did not keep me from pain. Rather it gave me strength to better bear the pain.

Mostly though, I learned that God loves me despite my weaknesses and craziness. I experienced His steady love even in the midst of my own unsteadiness. As I hobbled along tripping all over myself, I could feel His hand reaching out to me.

I came to understand that the spiritual life is so much more than pious prayers and religious ceremony. So much more than wearing your faith on your sleeve.

It dawned on me that I could never understand God’s ways. Neither could I ever hope to come anywhere near knowing what He is all about.

It became clear to me that the spiritual life is a process that is in a continuous state of evolution. A spiritual life that remains static is a dying spiritual life. Even as I changed, so too did the way I saw and experienced God.

Regardless of where I was at, or wasn’t at, I felt that God was always there walking with me on my journey through life. Though the way ahead was foggy and the road full of twists and turns, I never doubted that He was there. Though I could not see or hear Him, I felt His presence and that was enough for me.

“What spirituality means to many of us,” writes James Casey, “is having a relationship with the Creator, however we define that. It means believing that we have an inner voice that is eager to offer us guidance whenever we are at a loss about what to do. Practicing a spiritual life also relieves us of the burden of worry about the future. We know it will take care of itself in the same way as we will be taken care of.”