Prayers of Love and Mourning: The Experience of Spiritual Questioning in My Personal Writing
Date
Author
Institution
Degree Level
Degree
Supervisor / Co-Supervisor and Their Department(s)
Examining Committee Member(s) and Their Department(s)
Citation for Previous Publication
Link to Related Item
Abstract
Like many people living in this current era, I have been victim to the cultural stance of alienation from our essential spiritual centers. My personal writing, that spans the decades of late teens to early fifties, holds questions I was unknowingly asking about the nature of spirituality. This questioning took place even as I denied the existence of anything greater than the scientific world in which I lived. In this research I engaged in a heuristic self- study, using a phenomenological viewpoint to tease out the nature of my questions. The intention of this study is to generate an understanding that, parallel to my own experience, many individuals seeking support in our society deny any need to explore spiritual questions even when spirituality is the most pertinent puzzle piece missing in their lives. The illumination of this paradox can be helpful to care- givers to assist those in need to be open to spiritual conversation.