The Returning: The Way of the Enthusiast

"Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm." — Ralph Waldo Emerson

Some pathways lead us into silence. Some lead us into service. This one leads us into joy For the Enthusiast, the spiritual life is not meant to be endured — it is meant to be experienced.

Deeply.
Viscerally.
Wholeheartedly.

The Enthusiast encounters God through celebration, mystery, worship, wonder, and the moments that make the soul feel impossibly alive. Their spirituality is electric, embodied, expressive, and often contagious.

If the Contemplative sinks into stillness, the Enthusiast rises in praise. If the Ascetic strips life down to the essentials, the Enthusiast revels in the abundance of God’s goodness. Neither is superior. Both are sacred. Both reveal facets of the same Divine heart.

The Spirituality of Aliveness

The Enthusiast’s prayer begins where awe breaks open their chest. Where beauty overwhelms logic. Where gratitude rushes through like fire. This pathway is not naïve positivity — it is a recognition that joy is spiritual warfare. That hope is resistance. That delight is a protest against despair.

Enthusiasts live with a holy expectancy that God is always up to something — always revealing, always surprising, always moving. They feel God in music, worship, dance, creativity, synchronicity, and divine interruptions.

To the Enthusiast, life is a sacrament. Everything is pulsing with potential and shimmering with Presence.

The Sacred in Celebration

Across cultures and spiritual traditions, human beings have rarely approached the Sacred through silence alone.

We sing. We drum. We dance. We chant. We feast. We raise our hands. We make music together. Sometimes devotion spills beyond the boundaries of words and asks the whole body to participate.

Within Hindu traditions, bhakti describes a path of loving devotion expressed through practices that can include prayer, poetry, song, and kirtan. Sufi traditions have cultivated devotional poetry, music, chanting, and forms of dhikr, or remembrance of God. Jewish spiritual life carries rich traditions of song, dance, feasting, and communal celebration. Sikh kirtan sets sacred poetry to music as an expression of devotion and remembrance.

Christianity carries its own expressions of ecstatic devotion—from the Psalms inviting Creation itself to praise, to Gospel music, charismatic worship, contemplative chant, sacred dance, and communities singing together across centuries.

These practices emerge from different histories and theologies and should not be treated as interchangeable. Yet together they reveal something wonderfully human:

Sometimes encountering the Sacred makes us want to respond.

With wonder.
With music.
With movement.
With tears.
With laughter.
With celebration.

For the Enthusiast, joy itself can become a spiritual practice.

Not a denial of suffering. Not a demand to remain positive. Not an endless pursuit of spiritual highs.

Rather, a willingness to be fully moved by life—to notice beauty, receive moments of wonder, celebrate what is good, and allow awe to interrupt the ordinary.

The Enthusiast reminds us that reverence does not always whisper. Sometimes, reverence sings.

The Nondual Lens: Joy as Union

Mystics across traditions have described joy not as an emotion but as the felt sense of union with God. For the nondual contemplative, joy is what happens when the illusion of separation dissolves and the soul recognizes its Source.

The Enthusiast doesn’t manufacture joy; they notice it. They attune to it. They respond to it. Their delight is the natural outflow of an awakened heart.

As C.S. Lewis wrote, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.” For the Enthusiast, that business begins now.

The Shadow of the Enthusiast: Escapism & Emotional Inflation

Every pathway carries its edge. For the Enthusiast, it is the temptation to chase experiences rather than intimacy.

The risk is spiritual bypassing — using ecstasy to avoid grief, using praise to outrun pain, using positivity to mask the deeper work of healing.

But when held in balance, the Enthusiast becomes a prophet of joy, reminding the weary world that God is not only found in valleys, but also on mountaintops; not only in silence, but also in song. This pathway teaches us that jubilation is just as holy as contemplation — and both belong in a mature spiritual life.

Reflection Questions:

1. When was the last time you felt joy rise in you like a blessing?

2. What practices help you stay awake to wonder, awe, and divine possibility?

3. Where might God be inviting you to celebrate, praise, or delight without apology?

Suggested Practice: The Joy Noticing Ritual

Today, practice noticing joy in its smallest forms: warm sunlight, a song that moves you, a meaningful conversation, a moment of beauty. Each time you notice joy, whisper: “Thank You for being here.”

Let gratitude amplify your awareness until your whole day becomes a quiet hallelujah.

One of Jennifer’s many naked painting sessions

Founder’s Note:

I’ve traveled seasons of deep sorrow and profound joy — and I’ve learned that both are doorways into awareness of God. But joy has a particular medicine. It softens, opens, and heals.

At Loto, we intentionally weave praise, celebration, creativity, and embodied worship into our retreats and gatherings because joy awakens parts of the spirit that nothing else can touch. Whether we’re creating Morning Altars, worshiping under the trees at Forest Church, or celebrating breakthroughs on retreat, we make room for joy as a spiritual teacher.

If your soul has been longing to feel alive again — to remember delight, to return to wonder — we would love to welcome you into these spaces of renewal.

With Love, unconditionally— Jennifer

Next in The Great Returning

If the Enthusiast meets God in celebration, the next pathway meets God in clarity. Next, we’ll explore The Way of the Intellectual — where the mind becomes a sanctuary, curiosity becomes devotion, and understanding becomes a form of love.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. If you click through a link and make a purchase, it will earn me a small commission, at no additional cost to you! See our disclaimer for details.

Dig Deeper…

You May Also Like…