by Claudia Windal

Created on: September 16, 2008

What is a spiritual life? A disclaimer is essential here: I will use "God" since I am a Christian and to use multiple names for God would be confusing to the reader. I believe that our spiritual lives stem from our desire to draw closer to and to imitate God in our lives and actions. Each of us has the potential to develop our spiritual lives although some will not even attempt to do so.

It was the spiritual life of St. Francis of Assisi and his imitation of the Christ, that moved me to become a member of a Franciscan religious order. Francis transcended his physical desires and often his physical needs in order to live a spiritual life. In doing this, Francis perceived a need to live simply. He saw the Christ in the people in and around Assisi and he responded to their needs as he believed the Christ would respond. His understanding and love of God underscored his outreach to the "least of his sisters and brothers." While people scurried away from the sound of the bell rung by a leper, Francis headed in the direction of the sound, found the leper, embraced the individual, and offered whatever he had (a portion of bread, a bit of water, perhaps a vegetable) even though this meant that he would have less to eat himself.

As we begin to develop an increasing desire to know God with this intimacy and to respond "I Will" to the call of God to live out our spiritual lives, we will find that we concentrate less on what we want and need, and focus more on what others want and need. This focus is based on prayer and contemplation both of which draw us closer to God and propel us outward to the people of God and their needs.

One need only read the lives of the saints to begin to learn of the spiritual lives of these women and men. One of the first things we discover is that they did not live easy lives. Many of the best known saints became members of religious orders where it was not unusual for someone to live their life in seclusion and solitude. Others, were overcome by diseases of the intestines, tuberculosis, and other conditions. Their sacrifices on behalf of the people of God, often were the cause of these conditions and suffering.

Because they found the Christ in everyone they met, they also reached out to each person in an attempt to know the by listening to their concerns, reassuring them of the never ending love of God, providing for some of their physical needs, praying with them and for them, and calling them "friend." Mother Theresa of Calcutta, is perhaps

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