Fostering Our Spirituality

 

“Spiritual activities such as prayer,

contemplation, and meditation

can reduce stress, promote a healthier

lifestyle, and intensify

our sense of belonging.

Spirituality can also have a

positive effect on brain activity.”

Robert Sherfield

 

Building a spiritual connection can provide strength and hope during difficult times. It can serve as a reminder that good and beautiful things co-exist in a world that also includes violence and suffering. Getting in touch with divinity is the essence of one’s soul, an individual’s innermost nature, and represents the synergy in all things, animate and inanimate. Spirituality does not only represent tolerance and acceptance, it is the feeling of universal oneness and unity in diversity and includes an awareness of the connectedness of all that is. All of life has meaning and purpose and is accordingly blessed. Spirituality is defined as the animating force in life, symbolized by breath, wind, vigor, and courage and can be considered an active and passive process. It is usually personal between us and divinity and is a way in which we take care of ourselves, and gain a better under-standing of who we are.

When we engage ourselves spiritually, we can explore our gifts, strengths, and strive to seek peace, harmony and a deeper understanding of the universe, meaning our personal connection with our higher power. It is a way in which we take care of ourselves, and gain a better understanding of who we are (Berbaum, 2007).

            To address spiritual deficiencies, we can explore our cultural roots to enhance our spiritual connections. According to tribal ancestors, spirituality was of the utmost importance and needed to be nurtured starting at a young age. Children were taught to become aware of their dreams and learn how to examine the latent and manifest messages portrayed by their dreams. Vision quests, fasting and other forms of communicating with one’s higher power were strongly encouraged.

            A belief that is supported by those who practiced a traditional form of spirituality is that everyone is given gifts from the universe at birth to use as medicine for the mind, body, heart and spirit. These sacred gifts are: Respect, Humility, Compassion, Honesty, Truth, Wisdom, and Love.  Each gift comes with a teaching which offers direction and guidance in finding balance and purpose in life by:

      ·         Acceptance of who we are as individuals, and members of our families and communities.

·         Understanding our responsibilities.

·       Doing what we are supposed to do with the best of our abilities (Buckingham and Clifton, 2011). 

    Elders and other adult males and females imparted teachings to prepare youth for their path in life.  It was important to learn how to live in a gentle way with humbleness and respect accomplished through prayer, fasting, and listening to everything and being open for what our spirit guides are trying to teach us. The beliefs associated with the path of life included the following:

      ·         Honor Gitchi Manito (The Creator).

·         Honor elders.

·         Honor our elder brothers (all animals are considered to be elder brothers because they were here before humans, and they are relied upon for teachings, as well as for sustenance).

·         Honor women.

·         Keep promises and uphold pledges.

·         Show kindness to everyone.

·         Be peaceful in body and spirit.

·         Be courageous.

·         Be moderate in dreams, thoughts, words and deeds (Peacock and Wisuri, 2002).

 

            Spirituality is unique and personal and can be achieved in many ways, from belonging to a church, a walk in the woods, prayer, meditation, practicing yoga, to participating in a 12 Step program. Cognitive Dissonance is referred to as any idea, belief or practice that is contrary to our actual beliefs. There are so many contradictory messages portrayed in religious practices. We are told to fear God; but at the same time we are told fear demonstrates a lack of faith.

            If you find comfort in attending organized religious practices because of the support obtained from having a connection with the congregation and church leaders, by all means continue this practice. However, be careful not to fall into the guilt and shame traps. We need to build up a personal system in which we protect ourselves by gaining a good understanding of what our values are and we can take what we need from each church service and leave the rest. Attending religious services does not ensure that we are addressing our spiritual needs. We cannot replace our spirituality with religion. They are not one in the same.

Religion is generally associated with a body of people adhering to a particular set of beliefs, practices, rituals and theory, and religion provides guidance for moral behaviors and can be limiting in focus. Many religions demonstrate adherence for attendance and membership. Re-ligion is considered a belief in a higher power, the supernatural and is associated to an outside organization such as a church or synagogue. Spirituality is inborn and exclusive to all people, and represents a tendency to move towards knowledge, love, meaning, hope, transcendence, connectedness, and compassion. 

Beliefs have power to guide our actions and behaviors, either positive or negative. We need to examine what beliefs are working in our lives and leading us down the right path and what beliefs have been destructive. Our spiritual beliefs can guide us on how to view matters such as death to understanding the meaning of life, faith and trust, trust that important element in any healthy relation-ship. Our spiritual beliefs are usually the most avid gauge of our actions and behaviors. Our self-esteem is associated with our spiritual beliefs. When we act in a way that is in agreement with our beliefs, we feel elated, when we act against our beliefs it is detrimental to our well-being.

Spirituality and self-esteem are key ingredients concerning character development. They serve as a road map when interacting with others. People with ingrained spiritual beliefs carry themselves with deep sincerity of character.  When we have maintained a strong character base we behave the same way when we are alone as we do in the company of others. Character can be described as how we would act if all of a sudden there were no policies or consequences for our behaviors. We are free to treat anyone however we wanted without taking responsibility. I have viewed television shows and movies in which the police were busy or distracted from policing specific areas so there was looting. The individuals stealing others’ property did not have strong character. 

We all know people who are poor in character.  They are the people we can’t trust. These individuals make decisions based on how the outcomes will affect them and can be extremely self-serving. They don’t keep their pro-mises, do not tell the truth, they do horrible things to others to get ahead, and do not respect the needs and wants of others. A person of character accepts responsibility for his or her actions and does not place blame on others for their own wrongdoings. They do not take the credit due to others. A person of character treats everyone fairly (Sherfield, 2004).

The native people were treated poorly when Colum-bus thought he arrived in the West Indies. Did Columbus have strong character and in-grained spiritual beliefs? Did the caregivers at the Indian boarding schools have strong character with solid spiritual beliefs when they abused the children at these institutions?

Enhancing our spirituality can provide us inner strength and hope. Our spirituality is unique to each and every one of us and reminds us that we can co-exist in a world filled with good and suffering. A life force does exist that makes things grow, makes rain, rivers, mountain ranges, and the perfect banana. Childbirth is another representation of the miracle and mystery of life. We need to examine what is working in our lives and what is not concerning our beliefs and establish a deep-seated understanding of what our values are. We need to work diligently to prevent ourselves from doing things which go against our values. It is also important to explore and nurture our spirituality to enhance and/or maintain our self-esteem and build a strong character if our character is broken.