This is the second of a three-part series on spirituality.
Spirituality of the individual and ways to work with it
April 27, 2008
By y Michael J. Murschel For The Courier News
Spirituality is not dependent on what one's outlook on God or higher consciousness is. Everyone and every organization has a spiritual component. It could be God, working with a sustainable environment, the pursuit of knowledge, or the law and the profits.
Doesn't matter.
In one of its online modules, The Center for Spirituality and Healing at the University of Minnesota describes spirituality as "embracing, celebrating, and voicing all the connections with the ultimate/mystery/divine, within me and beyond me, in experiences that give me meaning, purpose, direction, and values for my daily journey. Spirituality exists in our connection to other humans, our environment and the unfolding universe beyond, and the transcendent."
That's significant because of the close ties the University of Minnesota has with the Mayo Clinic. On the university's Web site, www.csh.umn.edu, studies from the 1990s reveal that "77 percent of outpatients surveyed stated that physicians should address the patient's spiritual needs as part of routine medical care; nearly 80 percent of American adults believe that religion helps patients and families cope with illness; and nearly 75 percent believe that praying for someone else can help them recover from illness or injury."
Studies such as the 2001 report by Jeff Levin, Ph.D., God, Faith, and Health: Exploring the Spirituality-Healing Connection, found that religious or spiritual practices like prayer or meditation are associated with better health outcomes. The Web site also reports that "associations such as the American Nursing Association recommend that providers consider patient spirituality."
To that end, spirituality is more than mere navel gazing. By some accounts, it is imperative to a complete lifestyle.
Delving into spirituality on a personal level can be achieved through several different routes. Many people meditate, and there are many ways to meditate.
Concentration meditation focuses on one object or thought. Mindfulness meditation works on becoming aware of the entire field of attention. Other forms involve motion or dance, such as the whirling of Sufi Dervishes.
Western, or Christian, meditation has many forms. Many are ancient practices. Lectio Divina, "divine reading" or "sacred reading," is the practice of meditating or praying on a portion of Scripture to become open to its deeper meanings. Repeating, mantra-style, a sacred word or name is another way of coming into this exploration.
Others engage in a resurgence of ancient practices such as labyrinth walking or prayer walking to focus on the intentions of God. Much of this rationale, as with most spiritual practices or disciplines, is drawn from early Christian text, such as Monica of Africa who in the Fourth century said, "Nothing is far from God."
Coming to terms with one's spirituality is often a mixed blessing. Things suddenly pop into consciousness that were once dormant. That keeps many at arm's length from ever wanting to go into these places because they are off the personality map that is our security blanket.
For some, this exploration is best carried out with the companioning of a spiritual director, one trained in the art of sacred listening and assisting in the progressive disclosure of the workings of the spirit. Spiritual direction is not counseling or therapy, but rather a time-honored tradition designed to open seekers to conversation with the sacred in their lives, whatever that may be. Once a Roman Catholic practice, spiritual direction is an increasing part of Protestant and Evangelical practice. Although the terminology varies from tradition to tradition, the intent is the same: Holy listening for the word of God.
The styles and methods of spiritual practice are as varied as the faiths of the world. Each brings to it a reality of what spirituality's role means.
Everyone has a spiritual side. Experiencing it on a personal level is the beginning. Discovering the impact it has within organizations, faith-centered and secular, displays its true cultural power. And that is what we will look at in the third part of this series.
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