by Elisabeth Mcgrath

Created on: April 16, 2011   Last Updated: April 17, 2012

Answers to life questions are generally found within the structure of a person’s religion. Whether those answers lie in scriptures, teachings or the religious community, they provide a comforting response to perplexing problems. Where everyday events affect people at a spiritual level, it is in spirituality that answers are sought.

Moral questions

A decision about moral behaviour can be reached by studying scriptural texts. Guidelines and signposts set a clear path to follow. Commandments and laws provide boundaries within which to act through a quiet conscience. Certainty of  choices being correct have a freeing effect and allow for cheerful optimism that the right course has been adopted.  Religion can be compared to a mirror that judges and reflects the true nature of man.  

Ethical questions

Daily activities of life as they relate to personal, business and community interactions can be conducted at a practical level with spiritual inspiration. Honesty, respect and integrity are values that people wish for in their dealings with others.  Reminders that these virtues are reciprocal make for more congenial societies. If founders of companies, organizations or groups incorporate ethical values into their charters and mission statements, they set a powerful example for others to follow.

Focus

If a person’s spiritual beliefs are a driving force throughout the day, thoughts will naturally turn to memorized scripture verses whenever a challenge presents itself. Memory can extract ancient precedents, examples and outcomes. Action can be taken accordingly and often automatically when concentration and attitude turn towards higher goals.  

Support

Clearly there are benefits in being part of a religious community. Confirmation of righteous action through defined answers is easily endorsed. Like-minded individuals with similar values offer a supportive role and encouragement to a fellow-traveller. Individuality may be a sought-after status but it does not always measure up against a sense of belonging. A sense of communal worth often outweighs cultural or ethnic considerations.

“If one wishes to form a true estimate of the full grandeur of religion, one must keep in mind what it undertakes to do for men. It gives them information about the source and origin of the universe, it assures them of protection and final happiness amid the changing vicissitudes of life, and it guides their thoughts and motions by means of precepts which are backed by the whole force of its authority” – Sigmund Freud.

Secular or governmental mores, while providing legal frameworks within judicial systems, do not have all the answers. Sometimes more is needed when applied on a personal level. Spiritual insights and a sense of moral obligation can fill the gaps in humanity’s needs. Finding answers in religion can become a life-long habit that has its own satisfaction and rewards.

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