WHAT SPIRITUALITY MEANS TO ME

Spirituality is a long journey

By Goh Aik Hiang

ONCE I ASKED A PERSON who is involved in ministry seeking to be ordained as a minister what would happen if he was not ordained. He was stumped for an answer.

I was deeply disappointed. Is ordination an end in itself or is it a process and a journey to discipleship or spirituality?

Spirituality is a process. It is a journey, a journey of learning about ourselves, of learning about God and of learning about walking with God in all circumstances. It is not an easy journey, but ultimately we will find strength, hope, peace and freedom if we stay focused.

Someone shared with deep sorrow: Why did God allow all those terrible things to happen to me? Why must I bear so many tragedies in my life?

I empathised with her and I had no answers too. But I doubt we will ever find answers that will satisfy our mind or minimise the pain. The challenge is, no matter how difficult the situation we are in and how painful we feel, we still need to travel this journey and prayerfully, we learn something good and precious along the way.

Spirituality is like going through a tunnel. Often the tunnel seems endless and without light. But we could go through the tunnel by staying focused, differentiating what is important and what is not, letting go of what is temporal, and holding on to what is eternal.

At the end of the day, we could say to ourselves:

There is Light in time of Darkness.

There is Hope in time of Hopelessness.

There is Freedom in time of Bondage.

There is Peace in time of Trial.

There is Release in time of Pain.

There is Gain in time of Loss.

There is Comfort in time of Tears.

There is Life in time of Death.

There is Beauty in time of Brokenness.

There is God in time of Chaos.

By the grace of God, let us journey on. Amen!

The Rev Goh Aik Hiang is the Pastor-in-Charge of Hinghwa Methodist Church.

QUOTE:

WALKING WITH GOD

“Spirituality is a journey of learning about ourselves, of learning about God and of learning about walking with God in all circumstances. It is not an easy journey.”