Spirituality for People Facing Challenges in their Lives
Why is there a need for spiritual assistance for people facing unexpected challenges in their lives?
People facing unexpected challenges in their lives often
· Experience a great deal of fear, helplessness, and hopelessness
· Have anxiety of the unforeseeable outcome of surviving the challenging event which can lead to feelings of powerlessness and being out of control
· Crumble under the challenge of surviving in every dimensions of their lives: physical, emotional and Spiritual
What are some of the questions that people who are facing unexpected challenges in their lives ask in their frustration with coping with their challenges?
They often ask any or all of the following questions:
· Where was God?
· How do I reconcile my religious beliefs with what has happened?
· How do I face the reality of my fragile life?
· How does God view suffering in the world?
· I’m angry with God, is He angry at me?
· What is the meaning of what happened?
· Who am I?
· Why was I here?
· Why is this happening to me and my loved ones?
· Why are we suffering?
· What do I believe now?
· Why did God abandon me in my time of need?
· Where is the value in my suffering?
· Am I at fault?
· Is this some kind of sick joke?
What are the challenges which people facing unexpected challenges in their lives often experience?
These people often:
· Perhaps for the first time they face the realities of death or the possibilities of death
· Recognize their vulnerability
· Are forced to accept they do not have absolute control over their own lives
· Have got to learn to live with hope in the midst of the unknown outcomes
· Need to transcend theirs and others sufferings to gain a focus on living rather than just “surviving”
· Are forced to clarify the meaning of their lives
· Fight to make the best of their challenging circumstances
What are the existential struggles which people facing unexpected challenges?
· Dealing with the threat to the notion of one’s very existence
· Wrestling with existential concerns related to:
· Control – How can I retain control in my life?
· Identity – Just who am I and who will I be once I go through this challenge in my life?
· Relationships – What will my relationships be like once I go through this challenge in my life?
· Meaning – What is the meaning of my life now that I am facing this unexpected challenge in my life?
How does the human spirit survive unexpected challenges in life?
People facing unexpected challenges in their life often:
· Struggle to make meaning of the mess!
· Come to an increased awareness of the spiritual part of themselves
· Find themselves giving more thought to spiritual questions
· Report feeling a “wake up call” and being more grateful and appreciative of life than before
What is spirituality?
Spirituality is:
· The way in which people understand their lives in view of their ultimate meaning and value
· One’s sense of peace, purpose, and connection to others, and beliefs about he meaning of life
· A universal concept found in all cultures considered to encompass a search for existential or ultimate meaning through religion or other paths
What are the universal aspects of spirituality?
All spiritualities no matter if they are related to an organized religion or not include the following components:
· Meaning – Making sense of one’s life situation, deriving purpose from existence
· Existential – Searching for personal meaning in the face of death of self and others, concerns for freedom and isolation
· Value – Cherished beliefs and moral standards
· Transcendence – Appreciation of a dimension beyond oneself, creating an ability to rise above the here and now experience
· Connecting – Relationships and communications with self, others, nature, higher power, the sacred
· Becoming – Links to identity and personal growth through reflection on the experience
· Coping – Means of using or developing strategies in critical life events to achieve inner peace
What is the differences between religion and spirituality?
· Big difference between the specific religious beliefs/practices and the universal capacity for spiritual experience
· For most survivors their primary means of expressing their spirituality was through organized religion
· Other survivors find answers to their ultimate questions outside the context of organized religions
What are the three types of people who face unexpected challenges in their lives?
The three types are:
¡ Religious Individuals – These individuals highly value religious faith, spiritual well being, and the meaning of life
¡ Existential Individuals – These individuals highly value spiritual well being, meaning of life but not religious faith
¡ Non-spiritual Individuals – These individuals have little value for religion, spirituality, or a sense of the meaning of life and tend to be more distressed and experience worse adjustment in coping with their life challenges
What are Victor Frankl words which give some concept of the spirituality during a crisis of faith?
In his groundbreaking work Man’s Search for Meaning-An Introduction to Logotherapy (Frankl, 1963) Frankl, who survived life in a concentration camp in which he lost all of those people he loved, gave us an insight into the spiritual issues faced by people challenged by the unexpected in life:
· “That which does not kill me, makes me stronger”-Nietzsche quoted by Frankl
· “Suffering will not destroy humans; rather suffering without meaning destroys”
· "In spite of all the enforced physical and mental primitiveness of the life in a concentration camp, it was possible for spiritual life to deepen.... They were able to retreat from their terrible surroundings to a life of inner riches and spiritual freedom." (1963, p. 56)
· “The salvation of man is through love and in love. I understood how a man who has nothing left in this world still may know bliss, be it only for a brief moment, in the contemplation of his beloved.” (1963, p. 59)
· Love "is the ultimate and the highest goal to which man can aspire." (1963, pp. 58-59)
· "Humor was another of the soul's weapons in the fight for self-preservation." (1963, p. 68)
· "...everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms - to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." (1963, p. 104)
· “(T)here is also purpose in that life which is almost barren of both creation and enjoyment and which admits of but one possibility of high moral behavior: namely, in man's attitude to his existence, and existence restricted by external forces.... Without suffering and death human life cannot be complete.” (1963, p. 106)
· Man "can only live by looking to the future." (1963 , p. 115)
· "The prisoner who had lost faith in the future -- his future -- was doomed." (1963, p. 117)
· “He who has a why to live for, can bear with almost any how." (Friedrich Nietzsche, quoted in 1963, p. 121)
· "Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible." (1963 , p. 172)
What is spiritual distress?
People who are facing unexpected challenges who experience spiritual distress may do so because they have:
· Unresolved religious or spiritual conflict and doubt
· A belief that this unexpected challenge reflects:
· God’s punishment for the person
· Person’s preoccupation with the why me?
· Person’s loss of faith
· A problem in their capacity to cope with the unexpected challenge and relate this being stuck to a spiritual crisis in their lives
What are the symptoms of spiritual distress?
· Fear
· Pain
· Anxiety
· Confusion
· Depression
· Anger
· Hopelessness
· Loss
· Apathy
· Shame
· Guilt
· Grief
· Withdrawal
· Isolation
· Resentment
· Disbelief
· Conflict
· Regret
· Loneliness
· Powerlessness
What tool can be used to assess for spiritual distress in people facing an unexpected challenge in their lives?
You can use FICA to assess for spiritual distress (Pulchalski & Romer, 2000):
· F – Faith, Belief, Meaning
· I – Importance and Influence
· C - Community
· A – Address/Action in Care
F – Faith, Belief, Meaning
· Do you consider yourself spiritual or religious?
· Do you have spiritual or religious beliefs that help you cope with the stresses in your life?
· What gives your life meaning?
I – Importance and Influence
· What importance does your faith or belief have in your life?
· Have your beliefs influenced you in how you handle stress of this unexpected challenge?
· Do you have specific beliefs which might influence your decision making in meeting this unexpected challenge in your life?
C - Community
· Are you part of a spiritual or religious community?
· Is this community a support to you?
· How is this community a support to you in handling your current unexpected challenge?
A – Address/Action in Care
· How would you to address these issues in assisting the person facing the unexpected challenge?
FICA recommendations:
· Consider spirituality as a potentially important component of every person's physical well being and mental health.
· Address spirituality at each contact with people facing an unexpected challenge in their lives.
· Respect people's privacy regarding spiritual beliefs; don't impose your beliefs on others.
· Make referrals to spiritual care team, chaplains, or community resources as appropriate.
· Be aware that your own spiritual beliefs will help you personally and will overflow in your encounters with those for whom you care to make your encounters a more humanistic one.
What is spiritual well being?
Spiritual Well Being is associated with improved quality of life for people coping with unexpected challenges in their life by experiencing:
· Reduced anxiety, depression, and discomfort
· Reduced sense of isolation
· Better adjustment to effects of the unexpected challenge
· Increase ability to enjoy life after dealing with the unexpected challenge
· A feeling of personal growth on surviving the unexpected challenge
What is spiritual coping?
Spiritual coping in dealing with life’s unexpected challenges is:
· Regaining a sense of control
· Regaining a sense of identity and self-worth
· Dealing with the effects of surviving the challenge and relationships with oneself and others
· Finding meaning and hope in living life after dealing with the life challenge
· Accepting reality of unexpected challenge and trying to deal with it in a positive and purposeful way
A final thought:
“We are not human beings having a spiritual experience
We are spiritual beings having a human experience”
Father Pierre Teihard de Chardin
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