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| For many, spirituality is a way to keep their centers still while life whirls around them | |
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March 20, 1999 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No more. Spirituality has gone mainstream. People are looking to connect with a greater force, something beyond themselves. The big-screen TV, the BMW and the 56K-modem no longer are enough to satisfy. That exploration has prompted break-room conversations about the elusive and encouraged small-group gatherings to share inspiration. Spirituality also has promoted new perspectives in science, medicine and business management and filled books on leadership, parenting and self-improvement. It's even worked its way back to church, where those who once rejected traditional religion seek like souls. Kathryn Campbell, associate minister at First-Plymouth Congregational Church, suspects that the resurgence of spirituality in the past 20 to 30 years has to do with affluence. Despite houses filled with gadgets and collectibles, she said, people are asking themselves: "Is that all there is?" "They're sensing there is more. There is a quality they want to tune into more deeply," she said. That translates into a general "hunger for people to find meaning in their lives, to connect with that greater force that most humans sense." Karen Hudson deBrown, director of caregiving ministries at Westminster Presbyterian Church, agreed. "It's like seeking what's missing. They ask the question, "This is it?'" People who have reached their goals in these relatively prosperous times still feel they're coming up empty, she said. Jane Erickson, early childhood consultant for Lincoln Public Schools, sees spirituality coming out of the closet and into the office as such books as "Soul in the Workplace" or "Leading With Soul" circulate through schools and boardrooms. "Ten years ago, we would not have had a group openly discussing spirituality and how it impacts on our work," she said. Erickson is no newcomer to spirituality; it has guided her for decades. "When I address myself and other people as whole human beings, with my body, my mind and my spirit in my work and my interactions, I'm a more productive person, a more passionate person, a better co-worker," she said. "When we work out of our whole being, we're more." People who continually address other people's needs in their work must have something extra to fuel them. "For me, filling my own bucket involves fulfilling my spirituality," she said. Laurel Van Ham, a licensed psychologist in private practice and with the Lincoln Medical Education Foundation Behavioral Health Center, says she's always valued spirituality. She is delighted that so many others are taking interest -- from people reading the new spirituality books and tuning into Oprah Winfrey's daily "Remembering Your Spirit," to scientists expressing doubts about what were once considered absolutes. In the field of psychology, for instance, she's seen a shift from a strict behavioral perspective to a greater openness to people's spiritual needs. Practitioners no longer try to get people to put less stock in their faith, she said. Spirituality now is accepted as something that fulfills people and helps them cope and be healthy, Van Ham said. She noted studies that show people who believe in a higher power or practice prayer have better immune systems and recover more quickly from illnesses. Spirituality is fuzzy. Its essence lies beyond the reserved seat in a fourth-row pew and the recitation of psalms. Van Ham calls it something unseen with a reach far beyond herself. It is the still point when life whirls around. "Spirituality is what gives meaning to my life," Van Ham said. "It's the conviction that my life has a purpose and I have some sense of what that purpose is." She likes to use the image of a kite that flies around, catching the breeze, but needs an anchoring string. "It's got to have that tug. God is this big boulder that my string is attached to," she said. Campbell seconded that. "People need a firm foundation under their life -- some idea, some philosophy, some principles or some being, some spirit on whom they can firmly plant their life." The search for the spiritual isn't confined to organized religion. It's "something that permeates all life, that goes beyond specific entities," Campbell said. "God is bigger than the church, and God will work as God will in people's lives." Some people connect the word "God" with a bad experience with the Christian church, Campbell said. They may feel freer using the word "spirit" or seeking answers in Native American spirituality or Buddhism, she said. "Whatever brings people in touch with that greater being and leads to a greater sense of inner peace, love, compassion and understanding for the world, who could argue with that?" Spirituality surfaces in so many places, deBrown said. It comes to her when she's ironing or driving across country, when her mind is floating and unfocused. "It doesn't have to be when you hit your knees (in prayer)," she said. DeBrown nurtures her spirituality in alone or quiet times. "It's the simple and the natural, a resonance within yourself that people will recognize if they're truly seeking," she said. Erickson abides by a Ralph Waldo Emerson quotation posted by her computer at work: "Prayer is the contemplation of the facts of life from the highest point of view." She applies that "highest point of view" perspective to her interactions with parents, colleagues, students and teachers, she said. Although belief in God is central to her spirituality, Erickson doesn't limit her experiences to church and prayer. She finds spirituality in dance, the outdoors, yoga, most everything she does. "I work at not keeping it in a box. God is way too big for us to limit him/her," she said. "I believe we were created to be spiritual beings, to have a spirit inside of us that is connected to something greater than us. Call it God, love, chi, the holy spirit. Every part of us is connected to that spiritual being." DeBrown said people on an honest spiritual search remain open to discovery. "The death of spirituality is wanting to close the case," she said. "It's elusive, it's beyond us, it's a mystery, but always, always to be sought; it's always just beyond." That search for spirituality takes some people back to the organized religions they left years ago. Churches and congregations, Campbell said, must accept them as they are and help them develop. "These people haven't grown up with the church; we have to develop new ways," she said. Copyright © 1999, Lincoln Journal Star. All rights reserved |
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