Have you had any particularly spiritual experiences this past year? How has this experience affected you? "Spiritual" can be broadly defined to include secular spiritual experiences: artistic, cultural, and so forth.

Running. It became meditative for me this summer. I've fallen out of the groove as of late, but it's good to know that it will always be there. The sound of sneakers on pavement, listening to and counting my breaths, aligning my form - opposite elbows to opposite knees - enjoying the ache in my lungs, opening myself to Lake Michigan and the Chicago skyline and the time and space to be alone and to reflect.

Going on my first real vacations this year opened my mind and left me with a love of traveling. I flew for the first time and did a roadtrip across Canada with my good friend.

This last trip to Israel (in May). I always find that being in Israel I can find a place to rediscover why I do what I do and how important Judaism is in my life. The specific place in Israel is not the same every time for this "spiritual" experience.

I started meditating this year, not out of a desire to expand my "spiritual" side but because I was having trouble sleeping and someone recommended that meditation might help. It has! It's also had the unexpected benefit of teaching me to live in and savor each moment more fully.

My spiritual experiences have really run the gamut this year. From re-trying Catholicism, to leading worship again after "retiring" for two years, to losing the last of my bible studies at nursing homes, to reading several different religious books. Spiritually, I think I am more balanced than I've ever been.

I think finding someone you love, and who fits perfectly in your life can somehow be described as spiritual. Ever since I met him things with him have been easy, I never felt as if I had to make to much of an effort. We don't have to say to much to understand what we mean, and we both want the same out of our relationship. I really feel like he was my missing half.

I don't think I've had any particularly spiritual experiences this year. For me, though, life itself is a spiritual experience. My working life, my relationships with my friends and my family, and particularly the experience of spending time with my son, imbue my life with a feeling that is akin to spirituality.

Nope. Each passing year bolsters my atheism. While I believe people have a right to believe in whatever they'd like, I'm sickened by the lengths some would go to force their beliefs on others.

I feel I am on a constant path of self-discovery, trying to learn about my role in the world, what it means to be a man, and life in general. Although I cannot recall and specific "spiritual" episodes I am somewhat spiritual and I am always looking for inspiration in the teachings of other faiths.

I guess going back to the birth of Maya, doing it without the aid of medication, au naturel, was a spiritual experience that connected me to a long line of women whose bodies have done the most amazing feat imaginable...give birth!