So one of the things I've been doing has been attending "Faith Formation" sessions on Mondays and "Bible Study" on Tuesdays. Both of these have been opportunities to discuss religious and spiritual ideas with a context, text, or set of suggestions to give the discussion some focus.

 I know a lot of people who describe themselves as "spiritual but not religious," or who say "I create my own religion." I think this is super awesome and I'm always excited for them. But in my own case, I believe that if I don't talk out loud about my own beliefs and values, those beliefs don't shape who I am and the actions I make nearly as much as they do if I "own it" by opening talking about what I believe. 

I've heard it said that "you believe what you hear yourself say about yourself." When my beliefs change, or when I decide I want to live in a way that is more consistent with my values, I always find that it takes a long time for me to find and become comfortable with new vocabulary for what I believe, and that generally I am unable to put my new beliefs or my new commitment into practice right away, it always takes a lot of work. I backslide into old habits and old beliefs. But when I talk out loud about my commitment and my beliefs, it seems to cause an "embodiment" of those beliefs, I become comfortable with a new vocabulary, I stop feeling "weird" and "goofy" about my new beliefs/commitments, and I begin to live them. So I welcome the opportunity to wrestle with questions of value and belief in a group, because it really helps me become the new person that I desire to become.

 Another reason I really enjoy discussing beliefs and values in these sessions is because of the awesome new ideas and perspectives I learn from complete strangers. I don't see my religious beliefs as monolithic. They change all the time. My beliefs today just represent my best understanding today. The important commitment I make to myself is not to be "right" and stubbornly unchangeable but instead to be as rigorously honest with myself (and others) as I can be, and to always remain teachable. The ideas I'm hearing in these sessions are helping me a lot. So to sum up, I'd say that these sessions definitely are an important spiritual practice. I'd recommend it to anybody.

 In fact, for my money, I think participation in small groups openly and warmly discussing the biggest questions (of evil, illness, love, grief, commitment, forgiveness, brokenness, death, anger, food, etc) is a more valuable spiritual practice than any solo practice such as individual prayer and mediation. At least that's what I believe today.