Spiritual FOMO
About a year ago, I came across this interview with Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble. She is an advocate for reviving the ancient tradition of remembering your death frequently. A practice called “memento mori”. The interviewer asked what other things she was planning to focus on, other than this topic. Her reply was very interesting, just paraphrasing here, she said something like – in a world that is forever seeking new things, I think it’s important to stick to one mission and dedicate my life to it.
This blog post is not about death ... although it could be, given that we are in the month dedicated to the Holy Souls. Rather it’s about spiritual trends or fads.
What do I mean when I say spiritual trends?
It could also be termed “spiritual consumerism”. I mean anything that is presented to us as the next big thing that can help our spiritual life. The new trend, the quick fix, the magic bullet, the thing that will truly help us grow interiorly. Who can blame us!? We live in a consumerist society so it’s only natural that consumerism would infiltrate our spiritual life too.
We need inspiration, we need something that will help us. Unfortunately, we could spend months, years and perhaps a lifetime seeking that “magic bullet” but not truly deepening in our relationship with our Lord. It’s a terrible thing really but it’s a tendency that is so prevalent right now. The fear of missing out (FOMO) is everywhere.
“What if this devotion is better to do than that one?”
“Oh look, a new app that can help you keep track of your spiritual life!”
“I’m finding this hard so perhaps I’ll leave this pious practice and move on to that one”.
I don’t want to entirely debunk these offerings that come around and present themselves in a very attractive way in our feed, inbox or WhatsApp. Let’s face it, the liturgy does the very same thing in helping us focus with liturgical times such as Advent and Lent. It’s helpful to have set periods of time where we give particular attention to our Lord. However, if we are trying to live our faith day-to-day, the frequent offerings of the next new thing can be the very thing that weakens our resolve and interior depth.
The ‘hidden’ spiritual life
The spiritual life is not shiny and bright. It may have been once but as the months and years’ progress, the shine takes on another hue. It’s hidden and humdrum with subtle threads of silver and gold. It’s intimate and unique and that’s what makes it so special. It needs calmness and constancy to truly bear fruit in our soul. It needs moments of trust in the hour of darkness, to then find the shimmer of light again that then bursts into something uniquely beautiful.
But unfortunately, given our prevailing societal ailment, we are not patient and calm. We lose interest easily and we worry that we might have plateaued so we move on to the next thing available to us that just might be the very thing we need. We stop attending a set programme of spiritual formation or cease listening to our spiritual director because we lose interest or find it hard or boring.
If we were to ask ourselves: what is the one thing that the spiritual life needs in order to grow? What would we say? The answer lies in Scripture (it always does). Our Lord said: unum necessarium – only one thing is necessary. And that is trust in God – trust found in patient prayer and attention to the One Person that gives you what you need: Jesus Christ. Trust in his will.
If we are not willing to trust at that moment that seems hard to understand sometimes, we will miss those unique moments that only God wants to give us. Those moments of discovery that will lead us closer to God.
So when you are finding it hard and thinking of giving up, stay firm to your commitments. Be open to the advice you receive through spiritual direction. Keep at it (whatever it is) and try not to veer away, getting caught up in seemingly more interesting things.
I will leave you with this passage from Sacred Scripture:
“A sower went out to sow. And as he sowed, some seed fell on the path, and birds came and ate it up. Some fell on rocky ground, where it had little soil. It sprang up at once because the soil was not deep, and when the sun rose it was scorched, and it withered for lack of roots. Some seed fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up and choked it. But some seed fell on rich soil, and produced fruit, a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold. Whoever has ears ought to hear.” (Matthew, 13: 3)
Hopefully, you and I can have trust in the soil that Our Lord has given us to grow and produce fruit. To truly deepen in that soil and find God there.