Americans spend enormous amounts of money, time, and energy in the pursuit of fun and recreation. So much importance has been placed on this, that it appears to have muscled out spiritual pursuits, in particular. Instead of going to church, people are going to the lake, to the game, to the cabin, or to the amusement park. How much blame can be placed on an overemphasis on the pursuit of recreation, for the lack of interest in spiritual ambitions?

We see this as a predictable consequence of having lives of routine with many forms of drudgery and unrewarding drains on one’s time in doing work largely to serve others with little control oneself, and perhaps being compensated but not truly sharing in the ultimate profits that are created from the enterprise. This is a form of slavery from our perspective because it is inherently unfair as are many things about your world. Your institutions are heavily corrupted to the point where many are illogical and even inimical to your interests and represent a kind of false god in some respects. Religions as well have been corrupted to create much busy work and a misdirection of energy into fruitless exercises that are time-consuming, onerous, and dull, and as such are more a negative distraction and drain on your time and energy than an upliftment or inspiration leading to greater joy and bliss in the end. We would rather see people enjoying themselves and playing, especially when out in nature, and getting closer to nature in the process because they will be closer to their true origin and makeup through enjoying such experiences, than witnessing a dull service they feel disconnected from in a church or synagogue. This is not the fault of the divine but of the human institutions in question and is typical of your culture because you have lost your way and lack a meaningful ordering of priorities. So we see spiritual ambitions as a process of strengthening, increasing clarity, precision, discernment, and excellence in what one does in life. The very process of enlightenment, if you trace its true meaning and consequences, will be to bring about healing in some way to bring someone back into divine alignment who has strayed and is suffering lack of something as a consequence, so one is gaining and being rewarded from spiritual growth. That is quite different than working in a job that involves drudgery and sacrifice because it might be a joyless experience and it demands so much time, not only on the job but often commuting to and from the workplace at the expense of having time spent with loved ones that would be more enjoyable and soul expanding in the bargain. So this would be a good time to insert a new truism that "All play and no work makes Jack unprepared for life in the physical." That is not because play is unimportant or trivial and ranks far below work as a virtue and a goal, but simply that following one’s inner impulses in the physical realm will get you into trouble because you will not fit in if you just want to play hooky to go and have fun. Such a diversion is not a mortal error, again the issue is one of needing balance in all things, and that includes the ratio of play versus work. In a physical realm as you live in, there are work imperatives for most in order to survive, let alone learn anything of value and grow, and in fact, the greatest of lessons you are gaining as a physical human are the learning from experiencing negativity, and that can only be done by the doing, by immersing yourself in facing those challenges and feeling the pain at times. In a world where you have many compromises thrust upon you, the challenge for you is to stay afloat, keep going, and to find a balance that works for you to be as healthy and happy as you can arrange given the constraints and difficulties you face. The goal of having spiritual ambitions and attainments simply needs to be recognized as something of the highest value for the ultimate gains and success in life in a true sense of soul progress. Spirituality is fostered as much by experiencing the joys of life and the rewards of love as by work output and productivity. The former are often gained in the context of sharing good times more than purposeful work, but this is subjective. When one is applying themselves to useful work that is in alignment with their soul, their interests, and their passions, work itself can become a source of great joy and a kind of blissful existence in its own right. Doing what one loves is not truly work in that case, and there are many with high‑powered careers who regard it more as play for them than work. This, too, is an object lesson in the value of play in the scheme of things.