Practices

Colleen M. Griffith includes an excellent discussion of the idea of a "spiritual practice":

The Nature and Purpose of Spiritual Practice 

Spiritual practices are concrete and specific. They are consciously chosen, intentional actions that give practical purpose to faith. Situated between life as we know it and life in its hoped-for fullness, practices are imbued with a sense of our relatedness to God, others, and the earth. Influencing our dispositions and outlooks on the world, spiritual practices render us more open and responsive to the dynamic activity of God’s grace, and move us toward greater spiritual maturity.

The “how to” question regarding spiritual practices is usually everyone’s first interest. Authors in this issue directly address the “how to” question, making it possible for readers to experience a spiritual practice for the first time. Ultimately, however, the “why” question proves more significant than the “how,” particularly over the long haul in maintaining the discipline of spiritual practice. What are we practicing for?

We engage in spiritual practices because we seek a way of life rather than just a conglomeration of doctrines or a set of moral principles. Desiring an embodied faith that touches us and changes us, we opt in spiritual practice for a “knowing” that springs from the heart’s core, the lev, spoken about in the Hebrew Scriptures as the center of our affections (Ps. 4:7), the source of our reflection (Is. 6:10), and the foundation of our will (1 Sam. 24:5). The point of such practice is never mastery, but deeper relational life, a kind of living that makes appropriation of one’s faith all the more possible.

Catholic Christianity is indeed a tradition rich in practice. It is this editor’s hope that readers will find in the essays that follow entry into practices that nurture their spiritual lives, practices to be received, lived into, and reshaped in time and place for generations to come.

Much of the importance of this lies in the recognition that "why" is more important than "how".  Things that are considered spiritual practices by some can be nothing of the kind to others, and vice versa. This will be very important when examining spiritual issues within a specific professional and technological context.