The area of Spiritual gifts is one which holds great interest for me. The thought that the different areas of effectiveness and skills are from God is interesting. I grew up with the teaching that we had God given abilities but never equated these with "spiritual gifts". They were just skill that we had been born with. I felt that our genetics and social conditioning had as much to do with these "gifts" as the Holy spirit did. Since there are non-Christians who exhibit these same abilities and gifts and when I was not a Christian I still had the desire to encourage others (encouragement is my spiritual gift). So I guess that I just never thought of these as spiritual gifts.
I have been wondering for a few years now about what my spiritual gifts are. Although I have been intrigued by them, I was unsure of the method to use to discover them. The truth is, the thought that I did not know never really concerned me. The lack of understanding my spiritual gifts did not keep me from ministering. In a way I guess that they were already evident to me. The only thing I was missing was the "Christian" terminology for them. I would still be content not to know what the spiritual gifts I have are, but the elective I took gave me the opportunity to explore and discover the spiritual gifts I possess. My involvement in the discovering of my spiritual gifts is purely by God's design, so I assume that the time is right for me to be aware of them. The class module has been informative and interesting, and has revealed to me the gifts that God has blessed me with.
The biggest concern I have regarding knowledge of our spiritual gifts is the temptation to misuse them and to a smaller degree to let ourselves be constricted in what we do in our spiritual lives because the task may lie outside of our "gifts". The thought that people use this as an excuse is disappointing to me. That tells me that they do not have a full understanding of who our God is. To limit oneself to the spiritual gifts that are evident is in a sense limiting God. When We become Christians is purely because of what God has worked in us. Throughout the life of the believer the continuing work of the Spirit is evident in our lives, or should be if the believer's relationship with God is healthy.
... spirituality when they are at risk for developing spiritual distress, I may potentially save my clients life, decrease their emotional instability and help them develop their own abilities to cope.
Spirituality hasn’t played an important role in my life thus far, as my initial understanding of the concept has always been related to religion. Growing up, my mother’s sides of the family were firm believers in god, and Christianity. Neither my mother, nor my father ever included religion into their lives, or mine. In fact, religion created a barrier within our family dynamics for as long as I can remember. My aunt was married to a priest and during our family dinners he would pull me aside to read bible versus. My parents were not happy once they realized that my uncle was doing this with me behind their backs. This marked the beginning of divergence between my mother and aunt’s side of the family. It wasn’t until my grandparents passed
Vrkljan, B. (2000, March/April). The role of spirituality in occupational therapy practice. Retrieved September 25, 2011, from Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists: http://www.caot.ca/otnow/rch2000-eng/march2000-eng.cfm
...sense? My next biggest thing would be the knowledge of what is wrong but giving into the flesh. I guess that would be what the people standing around the cross were doing.
The importance of considering an individual's spirituality and the confusion over definition have been emphasised by the interest shown in this subject over the past decade. A working definition to help to reduce confusion was presented at the College of Occupational Therapists' annual conference in 2004 and it was felt that it would be useful both to review the attitudes and practices of occupational therapists in this area and to evaluate how they assess and meet spiritual needs. It appeared that practical spiritual needs were often thought of only in terms of religious and cultural traditions or rituals and, as a result, the potential of everyday meaningful occupations was not considered fully. Therefore, the use of occupation was reviewed in relation to meeting spiritual needs. Finally, the perceived barriers to incorporating spirituality into practice were investigated. The review showed that: (1) Although a majority of participants recognise the importance of spirituality to health and illness and the potential benefits to treatment, the number of therapists actually incorporating spiritual needs into daily practice does not demonstrate this recognition; (2) Some occupational therapists feel confident about addressing and assessing spiritual concerns explicitly, but this tends to be situation based and dependent on factors such as client-therapist relationship, therapist awareness of spiritual issues and the expression of spiritual need by the client; (3) Further exploration of the potential of everyday occupations that address the spiritual needs of both religious and non-religious clients needs to be undertaken; and (4) Spirituality needs to be addressed more fully in undergraduate occupational therapy programmes (Johnston...
The Church as a whole debates many concepts that are in the Bible, in both theology and in practice. One of these debates surrounds the gifts that are spoken of in the Bible. In one corner are those who believe that charismatic gifts are alive and well in the church today. The Continuationist view believes that the gifts have continued on through Biblical times and are still relevant for today. In the other corner are those who believe that particular gifts have ceased to be used in the modern church and that they were only given for a particular reason in Biblical times. This view is called the Cessationist. Today each view, and other views in between, and the practice of the gifts in the current culture will be examined for truth, validity, and application by searching through each view and holding fast to the scripture as the final word of authority.
Paul declares in 1st Corinthians that to each of God’s children a spiritual gift has been given. Over the years of my walk with the Lord I have concluded that I possess the noticeable gift of speaking in tongues and perhaps the gift of discerning spirits. As we have been learning about our proclivities towards certain strengths, I have been thinking about different ways mine are useful in and for the Church. Analytical is in my top 5 and it greatly assists my ability to learn and discern during the teaching of the Word. As Gallup puts it on their website, I have a “prove it” mentality. Therefore, habitually, I scrutinize everything the speaker says and cross-reference it against my bank of theological knowledge. However, I realize that I
...ake myself accountable to seeking wise counsel (Proverbs 1:5, 11:14, 15:22), recognizing 1Thessalonians 5:21, “Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good;” thus, earnestly applying pertinent scientific methods and submitting to peer review (Entwistle 2010). I will continue to seek education in the disciplines of psychology and theology. I will progress to build upon the biblical foundation established, through my bachelors’ degree (a double major in Education and Bible), by means of continued reading in the disciplines, scripture, and through observation of the world around me. Ultimately, may all I do reflect my love for God with all my heart, soul, and mind and may I love my neighbor as myself (Matthew 22:37-39).
Spiritual formation is a process that morphs as we grow and change. There is no one singular correct path this type of journey takes because each journey is as individual as the person who is experiencing it. Most obvious, the journey will be different from those who identify as religious and those who do not and will diversify with in each category. For example, the spiritual journey a Buddhist takes will be different from that of a believer in Judaism or Christianity. In fact, the journey will continue to diversify between Christians, male and female, age groups, even by demographic location. Consequently, the spiritual formation process is as diverse as it is intricate and we may never be able to discover all the journey options. Although individuals may not actively recognize they are experiencing spiritual formation it is a process that affects all. Because it is in human nature to question, learn, grow, and act, everyone to a certain extent is exposed to a unique spiritual formation journey.
Spiritualism is the system of religious beliefs centered on the presumption that communication with the dead, or spirits, is possible (Grolier '97). Spiritualism challenged dominant cultural beliefs of the 19th century (Paul) and is still in practice today.
I’d like to state the most obvious observation that I’ve made about spiritual formation; that is that I will always need to be seeking for ways to nurture my personal spirituality throughout my life. I know that to most people this may sound like a “duh” statement, but for me it has truly become a reality and one that I must admit I have been struggling to embrace. I was brought up in a church that, like most traditional churches, stayed happy living in the “comfort zone” of their Christianity. They took everything that the Bible said at face value without digging in to find out why they believed what they believed. I had never been challenged to look deeper into the text. In the past few years I have felt the need to tunnel out of this cave of what I feel is best labeled “Christian ignorance”. In the process though, I have had to come to terms with letting go of the things that brought me comfort and provided me with what I thought it took to have a close relationship with God. Some of those things were tangible. Most were not. The things that were the least tangible actually ended up being the hardest to let go of.
The Spiritual Exercises: not only speak to the Jesuits but also to the religious of other congregations; not only to the religious but also to the laity; not only to Catholics but also to the Protestants. In other words, the Spiritual Exercises speak to all who believe in God and base their spirituality on the gospel message. First I will define what a spirituality of vocation is. Second I will explain what the Spiritual Exercises mean. Third I will try to show how the Spiritual Exercises are a representation of a universal call to the Christian gospel. Then I will conclude by stating my stand.
Spiritual health is the capacity and ability to seek, experience, and express meaning and purpose in our lives often through love, hope, gratitude, forgiveness, peace, and community in order to enjoy a sense of the Sacred (as you understand it). Spiritual health provides the sense that life is meaningful and has a purpose and is defined by the ethics, morals and values that guide you and give meaning and direction to your life.
... into our lives and into the lives of the youth that we minister to. Hopefully with an understanding of these areas of theology we will be able to help our students grow in spiritual formation.
“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” According to Buddha, everyone needs some form of spirituality to define his or her life and existence. Webster Dictionary defines spiritualism as “a system of beliefs or religious practices based on supposed communication with the spirits of the dead, often times through mediums.” Though this is one general definition of spiritualism, this concept is one that does not hold a conclusive meaning. Each and every single person has the ability and right to create and practice their own idea of spiritualism. From ancient times to present day, the term and practice of spirituality has transformed, particularly from region to region. Despite the discrepancies in practices and overall understanding of this idea, spirituality has had an effect and impact upon all of humanity since the creation of time. This religion that is believed to have been established in the early eighteen hundreds, after two little girls claimed to have the ability to talk to spirits, sparked interest in this spiritual movement, allowing it to spread rather rapidly over many geographical locations. Aside from being recognized as a religion, spiritualism is also believed to be a form of philosophy and a science in which spiritualists believe that there is life after death and try to demonstrate this through the ability of attempting to communicate with those that have passed on. Spiritualism was socially different from other religions in existence at the time because it presented followers with a more tolerant belief system that assimilated the principles and facts from a selection the world's religions. Spiritualism also made it acceptable for women to play a disti...