Back in my charismatic days, we talked about moving from the spiritual milk of the newly reborn to the spiritual meat of the spiritually mature. (Spirits, apparently, are carnivores.)

And I’ve learned that we Unitarians sometimes fret about hosting a spiritual cafeteria where folks just pick what they want and move on down the line.

And then I keep thinking about Tim Boucher’s post on “metrospirituality” that I linked to last week. Spirituality: the shopping experience, coming to a New Age bookstore near you.

We already talk about eye candy, brain candy, and ear candy. One definition of brain candy is “an experience that is enjoyable because it stimulates the mind pleasantly, but doesn’t actually make it work.” Perhaps the problem isn’t spiritual milk or the spiritual cafeteria. Maybe it’s a spiritual sugar rush, followed by spiritual obesity and spiritual diabetes?

I have to say I’m all about experiences that stimulate my spirit without actually making it work. My own favorite spirit candy is a new book. The latest purchase is Machiavelli, which I ostensibly purchased to help with some of my tutees’ summer reading. But it failed to delight, and so it sits mostly unread in a pocket in my bag. There are books that do work my spirit, but so many that only tickle its sweet tooth.

Enjoy some spirit candy? What’s your favorite fix?