<p> Spirituality has been recognized as a positive factor in the lives of older adults, especially as it influences their emotional, mental, and physical well-being. This convenience sample study included 17 older adults residing at a faith based continuing care retirement community in Florida. The sample was represented by Caucasian older adults with an average age of 84 years, highly educated, majority Protestant and mostly female. Spiritual life reviews were conducted using spiritual life maps (Hodge, 2005) and semi-structured interview questions. Erikson's epigenetic stage of ego-integrity was used along with Butler's life review process and Tornstam's gerotranscendence as a conceptual framework for understanding late life development and spirituality in older adults. This mostly qualitative study used a hermeneutic phenomenological approach to analyze the responses to the open-ended interview questions about spirituality across the life-time. Ego-integrity was measured at the beginning and end of the spiritual life review study. </p><p> Paired t-tests found that participation in the spiritual life review did not influence the ego integrity scores of participants. Specifically, there were no statistically significant difference between the pre ego integrity score (M=82.94, SD= 8.235) and the post ego integrity score (M=84.47, SD= 7.551); t (16) = -.769 p= .453. However, in comparison, the qualitative analysis revealed that the spiritual life review does influence ego-integrity in some participants. Additionally, the spiritual life review confirms gerotranscendence and contributes to information about spiritual development in the lives of older adults. The conclusion offers a discussion about the study's limitations, strengths, implications for future research, and suggestions for clinical practice.</p>

<p> In a child's life, the church has minimal time to make a maximum impact. The time children are in church must not be wasted, but should be spent in valuable and life changing ways. Stories have long been included in Christian education, but is the practice of telling stories something that is continued merely because "we've always done it this way," or is there merit in continuing their use? Story is a wildly popular theme in Christian education today and children love stories, but there is more to a story than mere amusement? Parents and Christian educators wrestle with questions such as "How do stories have lasting meaning and life changing influence on children's lives?" "How can stories be used to affect children's spiritual growth?" "What kinds of stories should be included?" These are important questions to consider as Christian educators set pedagogical goals and specific methodology is followed. </p><p> This research attempts to address these questions by investigating empirical, theoretical, and theological literature related to two domains: (a) what characterizes the spiritual life and development of children, and (b) how story can be used by Christian educators and parents to benefit the instruction and spiritual growth of children. Beginning with an analysis of the spiritual life of children, it will then be shown how story affects the whole person, rendering it a very powerful medium. Using Luke 10:27 as an organizing principle, story is analyzed as to how it affects the heart, the affective realm; the soul, the spiritual realm; strength, the behavioral realm; the mind, the cognitive realm; and loving neighbor as oneself, the social realm. These realms, together, comprise a faith that involves a totality of commitment. Recommendations are then made as to how parents and Christian educators can use the power of story to benefit the instruction and spiritual growth of children. The use of story can be a spark for children's spiritual growth and holds great potential benefit for the church and for the children who are a part of the community of faith. </p>

<p>Westerhoff (2000) reminds Christian congregations that children become members of the Christian Church from the moment they are baptized. Therefore, infants and young children should be present during congregational corporate worship services. It is through mentoring and modeling of the Christian faith that young children have optimal opportunity to grow in their relationship with God. </p><p> The goal of this qualitative case study was to look at what happens during corporate worship from the perspective of young children. Data were gathered from thirteen worship participants (ages five-nine) from two Lutheran congregations in order to determine the elements of corporate worship that help them encounter God. </p><p> The findings reveal that intergenerational corporate worship provides an opportunity for the mentoring/modeling dynamic that is central to Westerhoff's (2000) theory. The participants in this study report having meaningful encounters with God during church through various elements. Future research should replicate this inquiry in Christian congregations of other denominations. </p>

Health research and services are dominated by a biomedical model which understands health as the absence of disease in the physical body. The dominance of this approach has resulted in the absence, silence and refutation of lay perspectives on health, particularly those of visible minority groups. Using qualitative interview methods, this study provides an avenue to hear the voices and stories of church-going, low-income Black women who live in Toronto, Canada. Analysis of the data shows that for this group of women, the meanings of health and the way it is experienced can be seen as an amalgamation of spiritual principles which holistically touches the various domains of their lives. The women in this study experience health as emotional, social, communal, personal, physical, material and above all in spiritual dimensions. These findings would be useful in guiding the development of meaningful and effective health care services that are sensitive to the diverse experiences of health. / Thesis (Master, Kinesiology & Health Studies) -- Queen's University, 2007-11-12 20:58:32.724

The purpose of this research was to explore vocal pedagogy that places development of self-knowledge at the center of the investigation. I looked at the personal growth that occurred as a result of the distinctive qualities inherent in singing lessons that included spiritual practices. The goal for unity of body, mind, and spirit in performance bears a close resemblance to the basic meditative practices of mastery through repetition, intense listening, and deep connective breathing that have been used for thousands of years in all mystical traditions. The singing studio is a place where self-discovery can be encouraged and held with respect. This exploration examined vocal pedagogy as a means to finding one’s personal voice. Little literature exists on voice and self-knowledge, and a search for relevant sources revealed that there appears to be no professional training available in the area of voice and self-knowledge, although many people appear to be developing their own strategies for this purpose. My own experience and practice as a voice teacher with a strong spiritual identity, places me as someone who may benefit from further information about voice and self-development. The study consisted of two phases. Phase one consisted of interviews with three educators who use singing lessons as a tool for development of self-knowledge. The findings of these interviews informed phase two, which was a series of ten singing lessons given to one female adult student who had requested a type of singing study that would promote self-knowledge. The lessons used both traditional vocal techniques and spiritual practices. I discovered that the use of spiritual practice combined with traditional vocal technique deepened the experience of the lessons and enhanced every aspect of my traditional vocal pedagogy. Research that involved the researcher and the process of research so intimately allowed a pedagogy to emerge that is responsive, deliberately non-linear, in which curriculum is shaped dialogically by both student and teacher in an intimate evolving relationship. / Thesis (Master, Education) -- Queen's University, 2009-06-26 18:29:47.772

No description available.

This thesis is an examination and assessment of the life and work of Evelyn Underhill. Particular emphasis is given to the development of her thought after she had written the classic, Mysticism: a Study in the Nature of Development of Man's Spiritual Consciousness. / After more than a decade of being virtually a non-communicating Roman Catholic, Underhill returned to the church of her baptism and confirmation, the Church of England. / The "shift" in her thought which led to this decision and subsequent commitment resulted in what she herself called her "vocation." This was followed by an involvement in the retreat movement and in an increase in the task of that classic art, called in the church, the "cure of souls." / To her writings on philosophy and religion she added collections of retreat addresses. Together with the correspondence between Underhill and Friedrich von Hugel, many of her works offer an important contribution to spirituality today--its history, theory and practice.

This thesis is a reflection on the importance of the inspirited school and the value of living the great mythic questions. I am suggesting that we are living in a mythic and spiritual crisis that stems from an education informed by an uninspiring myth. While our traditional pedagogical aim has been to further the education of students, to develop their minds into keen and sharp tools capable of contributing to our economic society, we have forgotten to ask what that means exactly: what does it mean to be educated? Through an exploration of the roles spirituality, authenticity, and narrative play in education, this thesis proposes a vision of the inspirited school providing a rich alternative to the present myth. With authenticity as the goal of inspirited education, narrative and the writing process are the means by which to achieve this goal.

<p> More people in the United States are approaching retirement age, a trend which has resulted in increased study on life satisfaction and psychological well-being of the elderly. Previous researchers have focused on the relationship between religious social support and life satisfaction; however, there remains a gap in the literature regarding how race and gender may influence this association. Knowledge of interactions between religiosity, gender, and race will enable counselors working with different groups of religiously inclined clients to develop and implement religious-based interventions specific to their clients. Guided by the social ecological model, the purpose of this study was to examine how gender and race influence religious social relationships and psychological well-being, optimism, and self-rated health among the elderly, using data from the Religion, Aging, and Health Survey. Pearson bivariate correlations and hierarchical linear regression were used to examine multicollinearity among variables and whether the association between the religious variables measured and the psychological well-being of the elderly varied by gender and/or race. All 3 religious constructs significantly predicted positive well-being outcomes. However, only gender and race interactions were significant for the religious-based relationships with others variable. Income and marital status were found to be significant covariats for this study. Also, both income and marital status were significantly associated with the relationship between religious variables and the psychological well-being of the elderly. Findings from this study can aid religious leaders and public health practitioners in developing programs and policies to improve perception of health and psychological wellbeing among the elderly.</p>

This dissertation considers how American women writers responded to the changing perceptions about feminine nature, to an increasingly modern society, and to the shifting religious landscape in nineteenth-century America. The complex relationship between nineteenth-century women and religion is firmly illustrated in the works of three writers who were widely read during their time and yet have a very limited readership today: Mary Hallock Foote, Sarah Orne Jewett, and Gertrude Bonnin, also known as Zitkala-Ša. Each figure held a prominent position in the high-literary establishment of the late nineteenth century, and I show how each experimented with regional and sentimental literary conventions in order to entertain and appeal to a readership largely dominated by urban, upper-middle-class women. I argue that each of these writers constructed shared regional spaces and articulated spiritual values of place in order to dramatize differences between rural and urban cultures, to reflect concerns about America’s increasingly industrial, materialistic, and cosmopolitan mainstream society, and to create an anti-modern argument for a society grounded in Christian beliefs and practices. Despite the variety of their religious backgrounds and experiences, these writers all depict nuanced versions of Protestant tradition that both reflect the malleability of cultural religious constructions and re-assert Christian values of love, equality, family, and community. Moreover, through their descriptions of place—of the beauty, grandeur, isolation, and inherent risk of the natural world—these writers reveal phenomenological experiences and illuminate intricate connections between religion, place, and culture that contemporary scholars of religion and geography have only recently begun to explore.