Every Bush is Burning: A Spirituality for Our Time

This is a quote from Joan Puls.

It defines the way that I've come to understand humanity, and is the most beautifully realized description of spirituality that I've come across.

A close friend and previous roommate Sarah Bolick once read this to my Baltimore community in order to give us a better understanding of her relationship to spirituality.

I was touched, immediately.
Ever since, I've hung the quote on my wall next to my bed and come back to it often.


"Spirituality embraces all of life, breathes through its homely details and its noble intentions. It is at the heart of our efforts to be human. Its is the seamless robe worn in all our roles. Spirituality arouses in us an awe for the mystery of every human life. It is the lived connection of body and spirit, work and play, life and death. It is the reflection of our inner, honest, searching self and the expression of our tender, generous, hoping heart. It is the style of our judging and acting and the quality of our loving. It is the voice of our prayer and the progress of our pilgrimage towards peace. It is the silence of our struggles and the echo of our cry for justice. It is the ability to turn obstacles into opportunities and cacti into kingdom-signs. It is the truth of our allegiances and the measure of our commitment to our world and its people. It is the scope of our wisdom, the test of our trust, the human translation of our Godlikeness. It is the realization that every bush is burning.

Perhaps most specifically, it is the degree of our harmony with all that is within and without us. We become spiritual when we inhabit our bodies, know our own souls, and insert ourselves gracefully into all that surrounds us. We become spiritual when we discern the sounds of our earth, recognize signs of pending destruction, speak words of blessings and reconciliation. We become spiritual when we know ourselves as potential sisters and brothers of everything and everyone who has lived. We become spiritual when we find in this moment the message for today and in today the mission for tomorrow. When we experience the "in-one-ness" of life. Being spiritual demands the combined investment of our whole heart, our whole mind, our sexuality, our psyche, our sweat, and our very breath. 'I came that they might have life and have it to the full' (John 10:10). Life fully human and fully spiritual, life integrated and incarnated."

It has been a few months since I've last read this piece, yet every time, it seems completely new. The words are never the same.

What I gain each time as meaningful and relevant wisdom ebbs and flows depending on my current life. The power and fluidity of these words never ceases to amaze me. Though, some thoughts always seem to resonate with me, and tug at my core understanding and relationship with spirituality:

"It is at the heart of our efforts to be human."
"We become spiritual when we inhabit our bodies, know our own souls,"
"We become spiritual when we know ourselves as potential sisters and brothers of everything and everyone who has lived."
"When we experience the "in-one-ness" of life."

While those words seem to soothe my frustrating and often times painful inability to verbalize spirituality, or why it is so deeply important and meaningful to me, this time different elements stood out:

"It is the reflection of our inner, honest, searching self and the expression of our tender, generous, hoping heart."
"It is the silence of our struggles and the echo of our cry for justice. "
"We become spiritual when we discern the sounds of our earth, recognize signs of pending destruction,"

Initially, I thought it was because I'm in a place of self-discovery and searching..but its more than that. Spirituality is reflected in our actions and can be understood through the way we choose to live-it is a process of discovery, compassion, and hope. Our need is strongest in times of suffering and despair, and we answer its call when we seek justice for our brothers and sisters. It is solidarity. Lastly, spirituality is most often recognized and understood in the idea of connection--not just with our fellow man, but our connection and accountability to the Earth, nature, the world we live in. We are obligated to protect and live in dignity with each other, not to yield power and control over anything that deemed weaker.

Obviously these interpretations are fully contrived based on my focus--my concerns, biases, worries, journey towards self-discovery and my overall thoughts for leaving my comfortable life and heading into the unknown.

The next time I read this, the same line will mean something entirely different, and hopefully I'll understand spirituality even more comprehensively.

I'm so grateful that this dynamic work of poetry is something I can keeping coming back to and something I can keep gaining insight from. It always seems so intensely personal upon each reading, but vital to share and hope others gain as much from this as I do.