Cultivation is the action behind producing land. It is a verb most acquainted with farmers who produce crops. Cultivation is also described as acquiring a skill or developing a quality. When we desire or are called to master the art of a skill or quality, we must learn the science of every detail its cultivation requires.

For most, that may mean taking classes, finding a mentor and becoming their apprentice, doing research and then going through the discipline of trial and error.

So what does cultivation in spirituality look like when spirituality isn’t a material skill?

Spirituality is the quality of being concerned with the human spirit and soul, but what awakens us to this concern?

Do we wake up one day and realize, “Oh! I am a spiritual person. Time to go develop my inner life.” Or is it a slow, gradual awakening to who we are becoming.

Spirituality has always felt a part of who I am ever since I was a little kid. I have always felt a connection to my inner world, but didn’t have the language to describe how it needed to be developed. Growing up in church, I was given the external practices of cultivating spirituality such as praying, going to Sunday School, reading my Bible, and attending VBS every summer. This routine seemed to work for me until I entered the early ages of becoming an adult.

I had graduated high school at eighteen years old, and planned to go to college later in the fall. Spirituality was very comfortable growing up because it was spoon-fed to me. I was told what I needed to do in order to grow in a relationship with God, and I would obey what people told me. But I wasn’t ready to make decisions for myself as a young adult. I suddenly was in an environment where those external practices no longer sustained me, and I experienced a crisis of faith.

How can one grow up in church their entire lives and never be given the space to know Jesus? I became exposed and no longer shielded by a dry religious routine.

During my dark night of the soul, I begged God for answers but would hear nothing. Instead of words, God gifted me memories of when I felt alive and vibrant. God was helping me to remember who He created me to be. In college, I started exploring prayer and artistry. I wasn’t an art major or taking art classes.

I enjoyed the feeling of a pen on paper whenever I wrote poetry, the stroke of a paintbrush on canvas, and the feeling of silver-painted strings plucked against my finger tips. Art and music provided a space for me to relieve the pressure of figuring out my faith and actually living my faith. I learned new external practices that gave me life. These practices included riding my bike, knitting, prayer of examen, writing songs, taking pictures of areas I was with God or felt at peace, making a pourover, swimming, and basically finding other ways to make prayer playful.

Howard Thurman said,”Don’t ask yourself what the world needs. Ask yourself what makes you come alive, and go do that. What the world needs is people who have come alive.” God is interested in the things we are interested in.

How do we cultivate our spirituality? Turn our eyes to the Cultivator. We are God’s masterpiece made alive in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:10). Every day is a new day to receive God’s rich mercy and make the most with what God has already planted inside of us. External spiritual practices are the response to what make your heart sing. Trust in God and acknowledge the ways He is cultivating you.

Lauren Davis, Retreat House partner and trained spiritual director. You can contact her here. She is also a member of Kingdom Transformation Church.