I firmly believe in a Creator God. I believe *He is loving and powerful and omniscient. I believe we live on in some way after death. I believe this afterlife is different from our earthly life. I don't know how, but I trust and believe it. I base this belief on the observation of nature itself, including the entire cosmos! Energy is neither created nor destroyed, so I believe "energy" is a scientific term for what religionists call God, but it is not a complete definition of God. God IS energy (think Holy Spirit here), but energy is not an intelligent being. Energy does not judge us for wrongdoing nor reward us for righteous living. So God is more than just energy.
While many people argue that instead of God having created us in *His image, it is us who have created "a god" in our own image, I disagree. I believe SOME people create a god in their own image, and this we'd call an idol. This is a god that is limited in virtue and power and wisdom. This is a vengeful god, a nit-picking god, a self-absorbed god. This is nothing like the God of the Bible, the God of Christianity, the God I believe in.
Rather the God I believe in is the ideal to which all human beings aspire. Because we cannot aspire to that which we do not know or have not experienced ourselves in some capacity, it leads me to believe that there is a touch of divinity left on our souls by our Creator, that causes us to look towards heaven and wonder. That wonder is the spark necessary to form any spirituality, and often religion as well.
I do recognize that spirituality and religion are two different approaches to God and all things heavenly, but they are not mutually exclusive. Spirituality speaks to the mysterious, the emotive, the subtle, the inexplicable, the awe and peace and joy that we find in God. Religion speaks to our desire for community, moral living, and traditions and rituals that help us mark milestones and express outwardly something of our inward faith.
Some people are only spiritual ("spiritual but not religious"). These are usually folks that have been burned by religion or religious authority figures, and they react to those experiences without being able to appreciate the positive aspects of religion.
Other people are only religious. These are generally the literalists, the extremists, the superficial list-checkers, the moralists - those who focus on the letter and not the spirit of the law that Jesus criticized. They do what is supposed to be "good" but without allowing it to transform them from the inside.
But is such transformation really "necessary"? Depends on what our goal is. If an intentional life of peace and joy is the goal, then yes. I do think living a spiritual life is more fulfilling than living a secular life. But I do not thing that it is necessary to open the gates of heaven, for instance. Though I do think we will have a better time "there" if we took time to prepare "here".
Then there's the definition of religion. Is it the mere superficial doing of external rites, rituals, traditions? Or is it also the belief in the meaning behind said actions? If it's the latter, then I'm definitely religious - I find comfort in the liturgy, in repetition, in familiarity. May be part of my personality, may be part of my autism. But I like it and find meaning in it, but not necessarily the meaning the official magisterium of the church would like me to find.
My spirituality isn't exactly Catholic Christian. My religion is, but my spirituality is a hybrid. The most important thing is how do I relate to God? And this is the thing that cannot be pigeon-holed into any one set way. What's more, it's not up for external validation, since no one else knows my heart the way God does.
* I use male pronouns because Jesus is male and He refers to the Source as "Abba/Father". It's just a convenient way to keep God's superpersonhood in mind. I cannot relate to God without gender. Nowadays this point has really been driven home to me as people deny their biologically-based gender and reinvent grammar to try to fit with their need to be a nonconformist. But I digress. I've gone through periods when I referred to God with feminine pronouns, but since I am choosing to stay firmly within the Christian worldview, I find it more consistent to use the language that is familiar with other Christ-followers. That said, it is understood that God is not "merely" male, nor is *He "merely" female. God is "super" personal - that is, as a Trinity, God is not just "a" person like human beings. But in order to relate to God, we must personify *Him to a degree based on our lived experience.
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