Spectrum of Spirit: A Digital Sanctuary for Spiritual Discourse and Community

The "Spectrum of Spirit" blog features insightful articles, essays, and reflections penned by the founder, Paul, and diverse guest contributors. Focusing on contemporary spirituality, the blog offers regular updates with weekly themes and seasonal reflections, fostering ongoing engagement and a deeper understanding of spiritual practices and trends.

Imagine the Sacred Was a Puzzle with Pieces from Everywhere?

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Solstice

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8–11 minutes

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I tend to be puzzled about a lot of aspects of my life, whether it’s my own doing through my arrogant pursuit of perfection, or the misunderstanding between a peer and myself. Reflecting on these instances, I would like to believe the instances where I left myself puzzled was through my belief there is a single doorway, a single course of action for a situation. Even though I write these blogs and try to expand my perspective through my projects related to Spectrum of Spirit, I find myself spiraling down life instead of being present with all the scattered cultures in our labyrinth of the world. I want to continue to challenge myself and to challenge you to wander this world with a sense of curiosity, to discover and question the areas of one’s life they didn’t know existed.

In this blog, I hope to strengthen my belief human life can be a collision of creativity, belief, and culture. Through each section I will explore how meaning can feel like a multi-layered puzzle as opposed to one contained subject.

Mapping the Puzzle

One of the services I attempt to attend regularly is at All Souls Church in Stony Brook, New York. The leader at this service, Dan Kerr, has stated on multiple occasions that Christianity is one tree in the forest of religion and the Christianity tree has many branches. On one hand, someone can look at the divisions within religious groups and see them as a negative fracture in the perfect image the divine had for humanity. On the other hand, and where I tend to stand currently, someone can look at the divisions within religious group and view them as a positive fracture in spiritual understanding, a beneficial break that allows one to assess their experiences within their perspective.

On the Stay Spiritual Channel, James and Justin react to a video explaining seven types of Christianity, including Orthodoxy, Catholicism, and Protestantism1. After concluding the video, James comments on how the creator of the video shares the 7 types of Christianity and James believes he is really narrowing it down and there are thousands of thousands of different types of Christianity2. James continues sharing his belief that there’s something like 30,000-40,000 denominations within Protestantism3. James finds this fascinating and stresses his desire to know more about Mormons because in his research, it has been very hard to find anyone to publicly share about Mormonism4. After some back and forth, James liked how there was one aspect of each type of Christianity5. James gives examples of Orthodoxy and their focus on Theosis, becoming one with God, and reflects on how he never heard of this concept growing up within the church6. Justin takes this in a different direction, as he reflects on how he had experiences with Nazarene Christians, confused on these types of Christians have their own rule book7. James believes every denomination has something like a Nazarene book, but explains his belief that you have to be in the community to have access to them8. James is convinced that those who knew the ins-and-outs of Nazarene theology had to work their way up to the knowledge through the organization, and they would never be taught the things they knew in a program like Sunday School9.

Though this was a shorter video from Stay Spiritual, I enjoyed how James and Justin approached a topic that hit close to home. James particularly shows a sense of awe at the thousands upon thousands of religious traditions within a branch of on religion and Justin piggybacks off this idea into his experiences and observations. Whether it’s Eastern Orthodox mysticism, Nazarene theology, Roman Catholic ritual, Mormonism, or one of the 30,000 Protestant tradition, each denomination has made their own path. They’ve come to make sense of their experiences through a perspective that benefits them and is shared to others. Though I am not supportive of proselytizing in a traditional sense, I am a fan of sharing faith journeys to encourage one to find their own spirituality from within. I believe the puzzle of life is confusing enough, and I recommend one takes in the fractures of the divine from other people’s perspective to map out their own spiritual path in our own sacred mazes.

Motion Through Puzzles

I find this section challenging. One of the gifts most humans have is the ability to move and the ability to make objects around us move. Our technology has been maximized to the best of our ability to increase movement and productivity in the different avenues of our lives. Even as I write, I am constantly trying to multi-task and accomplish all the responsibilities I have given myself. Yet, there’s apart of me that just wants to be still, to quit my strive for something greater, and simply exist. I say this to say, I believe being in motion is advantageous and beneficial, however, I do not know what it looks like for me to balance being in motion and staying idle.

On the Cultural TV Channel, the creators post a video about a traditional celebration between Gremio and Internacional fans called “pulling the cart” that took place in Santa Catarina10. The video opens up sharing this is “Cultural News” and we are shown a close-ups of one fan facing another with disgust, turning to the other fan’s close-up of disgust11. Soon after, we pan out to see both parties embrace another and laugh off the presentation and feel they were trying to give off. We jump from one group of fans to another, sometimes the groups showing a combination of Gremio fans and Internacional fans12. The audio is in a different language, so I am unsure what is actually being shared13. Eventually we get to an interview with some B-roll of the celebration, so I am assuming the man is discussing the “pulling the cart” celebration14. One of the B-roll clips showed a line up people following one another with the person following putting their hands on the shoulders of the person in front15. We continue getting interviews with attendees of the celebration and get short clips of B-roll to show us what was taking place at the event16. During another interview, we get a video of the line appearing once again, this time we see musicians with trumpets in the back of the line, appearing to set some sort of rhythm for the march17. Tons of people take pictures during the event and we get an interlude of the music played at the event until we get to another interview18.

This was quite a joyous video from Cultural TV in the cold darker months of February. It was great to see the festival recognize the known competitiveness between the two fan bases, but also the bigger picture of the event, to celebrate one another and their love of soccer (autocorrect is frustrating me so I have to use soccer). The combination of personal testimonies and group fun reminded me of the power of getting together with others in a time of celebration. The “pulling the cart” tradition has been an ever present in the Santa Caterina community, their motion within the community allowing them piece together the whole puzzle, the symbol of the culture enduring through changing times, even amongst rivalries. I encourage you to evaluate the traditions and rivalries in your own life, and motion yourself others to add support in your puzzle.

Tiny Containers of Puzzles

I believe tiny or small is relative. However, I try my best to avoid classifying anything by its size due to the weighted connotation size can hold. I have heard for woman, being small or tiny in size is something that is associated with being pretty, or the common ideal archetype for a woman, while big and muscular as a woman is looked down upon . On the contrary and in my experience as a male, being big or muscular in size is something that is typically desired, and more often than not an attractive feature. Due to the weight and constrains I believe size has in our contemporary society, I try to avoid these things to avoid subtle messaging in the way I speak about an aspect of someone or something they have. I believe this type of communication can be symbolic of some of the limiting factors of modern civilization.

On the Artistic Journey Channel, the creator posted a short about a cute mini bottle for Eidi, a Muslim tradition of giving money or gifts to younger family members from older family members to mark the end of the Ramadan fasting19. The video starts of with the words “The cutest way to give Eidi this Eid” as the creator holds tied and rolled up money in her fingers20. The next shot is her putting the corkscrew on a glass bottle filled with pink and white flowers in the middle and the money inside as well21.The following shot is the creator adding a pink ribbon on the glass bottle and putting said glass bottle into a small white pouch22. The creator then seals the white pouch and lays it on the table23. We jump to another scene where the glass bottle is laid on top of the white pouch next to another glass bottle on a brown pouch24.

Artistic Journey’s short was a another nice celebratory tradition highlighting this moment in time to share with someone they care about that is younger. The bottle was small, pocket-sized, but filled with beauty, luxury, and wealth. The creator’s generosity wasn’t shown through a grand gesture, but through an age old festivity, hoping to share their happiness of enduring the season with others around them. In some ways, I like to think of this gift-giving at the end of a season as the final piece of the puzzle, the tiny container representing a keepsake of what could’ve been a long season for the recipient, a cute gift for the present, and a security blanket for any future endeavors. I am going to challenge myself to continue to create in the midst of the ups and downs in each season, no matter how big or small I value it. I would challenge you to do the same, either for yourself or for someone you care about, for no matter the size, I believe any trinket can go along way.

Call to Puzzles

Look and imagine. Draw closer to what’s sacred to you. Engage with traditional puzzles. See the gestures of the pieces. Identify objects everywhere. Map your surroundings. Motion towards what may be hiding. Contain what is plain. Understand outside of sight. Inhale and wait. Assemble your expression. Piece together your spectrum.

Bibliography

  1. Stay Spiritual, “Reacting to 7 Types of Christians Explained – Orthodox vs Catholic vs Protestant & More!,” YouTube, March 4, 2026, accessed March 4, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TDm8DMdPuIg&t=1s. ↩︎
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  10. CULTURAL TV, “Pull the Cart, 2026 Edition,” YouTube, February 13, 2026, accessed March 5, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7G8AAKHWL0&t=481s. ↩︎
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  19. Artistic Journey, “Cute mini bottle for Eidi🎀💫🤍 #shorts #art #eid,” YouTube, March 4, 2026, accessed March 5, 2026, https://www.youtube.com/shorts/bYaGQWyAlIQ. ↩︎
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