Christian spirituality

“Christian spirituality, finally, looks out in love at the world. It is not self-centred, regarding its own spiritual progress or development as the be-all and end-all. Precisely because it is rooted in Judaism (where Israel was called for the sake of the world), is focused on Jesus (who gave himself for the world), is shaped by the true God (who made the world) – and because it embraces the whole person, who is constituted not least by her or his vocation to serve the world – Christian spirituality must, like a well-pruned rosebush, encourage those shoots that move outward and discourage those that become intertwined with one another. Thus, though Christian spirituality generates and sustains a self-awareness in God’s presence, it can never be content with navel gazing. The self of which one is aware, if it stands in the presence of the God we know in Jesus, must always be turned outward toward God’s world.”

(The Meaning of Jesus, Wright [and Borg], 212)