a spiritual thing

Shortly after Rich Mullins’s death in 1997, 20 the countdown magazine aired a tribute to him which included a bunch of interview recordings.  My dad got me a copy of it on CD many years ago, and I’ve listened to it so much I practically have it memorized.  (It’s also streamable here.)  Here’s one of my favorite bits:




“A spiritual thing is folding your clothes at the end of the day. A spiritual thing is making your bed.  A spiritual thing is taking cookies to your neighbor that’s shut in. Or raking their front yard because they can’t do it.  That’s spirituality...I think there is nothing more practical than spirituality.”

Very Benedictine of him, isn't it? But here's the part that really gets me.


"And in the church it is unbelievable to me that this whole foolishness about esteeming yourself has leaked into the church. I kind of go, "Christ didn't ask us to esteem ourselves." I think if Christ were asked, I think He would probably say, "Look buddy, you would be lucky if you could forget yourself. If you could lose yourself, you would be luckier than if you found yourself." It would be wonderful if you knew the names of the trees between your house and where you work, between your house and your church. If you knew that that was a tulip tree and you knew that that was a red bud. It would be great if you knew the names of the constellations. It would be great if you knew something about your neighbors. It would be a lucky thing for you if you forgot yourself, if you lost yourself."