Smells Like "Meme" Spirit

I've written before about some of the phrases that seem to come up again and again in on-line dating profiles and that there appeared to be a code attached to their meaning.  And while it is easy to generalize about whether certain words and phrases are worn almost as accessory what is it I am supposed to make of the near ubiquitious dating profile statement "spiritual but not religious"?

I ask this because it is an almost overwhelmingly universal answer on the profiles I read as an answer to the religion/faith question.

Now my sampling does not in any way represent a scientifically valid result.  And I  am clearly not a visitor to the growing number of dating sites for the religious, but in my experience the "spiritual but not religious" response greatly outstrips the number of those who identify themselves as a member of a religion (practicing or otherwise), agnostic/atheist or even the number of people who do not address the question at all.

Which makes me wonder.  Is the "spiritual but not religious" blanket answer an indicator of a cultural zeitgest or is there something  I am missing in the way a lot of people are purportedly living their lives?

I say this because while I have met numerous people who live with a profound sense of faith, I can't say I have met that many outside that group (and even within it) who struck me as particularly spiritual.  Nice?  Absolutely.  Generous?  Certainly.  Calm?  No doubt. Insightful, empathetic, balanced?  Sure.

But spiritual?

Not so much.

Which perhaps says more about my personal confusion about what the word actually means. And when in doubt I rely on that most reliable of cultural filters...the Beatles!

George Harrison started his Beatle life as the "quiet one" but by the time of Sgt Pepper he had evolved to being seen as the  "spiritual one".  Now when I think of George I think about krishna and gardening and sitars.  I also think though about acid trips, the material world and all things fab (girls, guitars and ganja).

And perhaps that provides a clue.  Maybe the spirituality people are citing now is malleable and includes all kinds of things..from the divinely connected to the most earthbound, profane or mundane in pleasure pastimes.  You know..as long as you are spiritual in it's pursuit.

So basically, if you are really into it?  Voila.  Spiritual!!  Which is why the phrase can cover pursuits as wildly divergent as bird watching and Burning Man.

So...my dedication to sourcing and sampling all Beatles related  minutiae?  Damn near saintly!

Somehow though I think we are all a bit confused by the devolution of finding a mate into something more like shopping than not.  And this confusion has us thinking "I'm actually deeper than this mere profile can convey" or "Hmm, I already spent a lot of time already describing what I want in a mate and by extension..life, maybe I better balance that with a declaration of my place in the scheme of things.  Essentially we are driven to add onto our lists, the idea that we think about loftier matters than fine dining, exotic travel and cottaging.

And since near universal participation in organized religion is very much a thing of the past in much of western society, it is up to those of us without a denominational home to announce the presence and importance of spirituality in our lives if not actually describe how we experience or nurture it.

But no matter, because in embracing the catch all phrase "spiritual but not religious" we put paid to that need and perhaps just as importantly deflect the attentions of those who prescribe to more traditional dogma.

You know it was all so much easier when I could safely just say I am agnostic or atheist (a difference I see as depending on how curmudgeonly I feel on any particular day).

Perhaps I will just say in future that I connect to my soul daily with an incantation of words that have come to mean so much to me over the years.  Now..how exactly do you spell "coo coo ca choo"?