Well-Being and Spirituality: Part II Understanding Religion and Spirituality

By Dr. I. David Morrison, Spiritual Care, Multidisciplinary Team, PEI Cancer Treatment Centre

Last Updated: Dec 1, 2005
Articles & News : Articles : Spiritual Care

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From a talk with the
English Speaking Cancer Association (ESCA)
Geneva Switzerland
October 22, 2005

The Cancer Journey: Caring for the Whole Person

Part II

Understanding Religion and Spirituality

THEN WHAT IS RELIGION?

 

 

 

Many many definitions exist for the term religion; from the Latin religio - meaning “to bind together.”   It is cultural and community based.   Most of us are what we are due to nationality and/or birth.   Major religions are well known:  Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Judaism, Sikhism and so on.   Religions are usually divided (denominations) - i.e.  Christianity has Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Anglicans, Protestants, other religions have similar divisions.  Within each part, there are less identifiable distinctions along liberal and conservative lines. 

 

 

 

But for us, religion is important for its rituals, symbols and stories.  These are important for many members of faith communities.  Religion is often the vehicle for spirituality and spiritual journeys.  Religious practice is an important comfort for people; ill and well, young and old.   This is why we have departments of Pastoral Care in most hospitals.

While spirituality and religion are separate, they are not unrelated.   The perennial quest of separating religion and spirituality is faced by both scholars and book store managers.   Certainly, most people trained in my own field of clinical pastoral education realize and preserve the distinction.  While the tendency of many would be to embrace a “secular view of spirituality,” there is the positive realization that “for many people, both therapists and clients, their primary means of expressing their spirituality is through organized religion... religious participation is a legitimate means of spiritual expression.” (McColl, p. 12)   It is certainly not the only means.  Religion is quite distinct from spirituality, yet often inter-related.   Religion remains an important vehicle for rituals, symbols and stories.  It is a vehicle for spirituality for many and provides a comfort zone.  Again, the notions of religion and spirituality are separate, yet often related.

I borrow from the health field to suggest a general distinction between religion and spirituality:  There is no general agreement on definitions of either spirituality or religion, but there is general agreement on the usefulness of this distinction.  Religion can be viewed as a specific set of beliefs and practices associated with a recognized religion or denomination.  Spirituality is generally recognized as encompassing experiential aspects, whether related to engaging in these practices, or to a general sense of peace and connectedness.  The concept of spirituality is found in all cultures and is often considered to encompass a search for ultimate meaning through religion or other paths.  Religion is highly culturally determined; spirituality is considered a universal human capacity, usually - but not necessarily - associated with and expressed in religious practice. 

Most individuals consider themselves both spiritual and religious; some may consider themselves religious but not spiritual.  Others, including some atheists (people who do not believe in the existence of God) or agnostics (people who believe that God cannot be shown to exist), may consider themselves spiritual but not religious.  One effort to characterize individuals by types of spiritual and religious experience identified the following groups, using cluster analytic techniques: religious individuals who highly value religious faith, spiritual well-being, and the meaning of life; existential individuals who highly value spiritual well-being, but not religious faith; non-spiritual individuals who have little value for religiousness, spirituality, or a sense of the meaning of life.  The last group 'failed' in all wellness scores.  Allow me to repeat the last line of that study: The last group ‘failed’ in all wellness scores.
 

Without making a judgment, many years ago in the academe it seemed to me that there were only two “types” of religion - healthy and unhealthy. A healthy religion unites existence, and unhealthy one divides it.   On the religious side, frequently it is the religious/ theological framework which supplies the feeling of hope, which as my colleague put it the other day - “hope is the oxygen of the human spirit.”   

Culture likewise plays an important role.  My own country is multi-cultural.  Geneva too is very multi-national.  In cancer situations one can only imagine how relevant this sensitivity is.  Understanding different cultures is important in that it is sometimes even more difficult to find those who can play a supportive role if they are not of the dominant culture.  For example, modesty among certain groups might deter women from performing and receiving breast examinations.

SPIRITUALITY

A medical journal article last year listed key words and phrases in spirituality literature: Meaning - making sense of life situation; deriving purpose from existence; Existential - searching for personal meaning within one’s life, death, and concerns about freedom and isolation; Value - cherished beliefs and standards of, for example, truth, beauty, behaviour, or thoughts; Transcendence - appreciation of a dimension beyond self; creating ability to rise above ‘here and now’ experience; Connecting - relationships and communication with self, others, environment, higher power, the sacred; Becoming - links to identity, personal growth, through reflection on life experience; Coping - means of using or developing strategies in critical life events, achieving inner peace; Spirituality - the search for existential or ultimate meaning within a life experience, such as illness. (This belief usually refers to a power other than the self, which people may or may not describe as God, higher power, or forces within nature, and with which they communicate.  The power helps the person to transcend the here and now, re-establish hope and the ability to cope); Religion - is an expression of spiritual belief through a framework of rituals, codes, and practices; the sense of otherness or a power being a deity or supreme being; Philosophical - relates to the same searching, but with a rejection of any influential power external to the self.”[P. Speck, I. Higginson & J. Addington-Hall. “Spiritual needs in health care,” BMJ July 2004:123-4.]

I heartily encourage the latest (6th) edition of the huge resource text, Cancer Nursing, which has just been published.  The new edition has a fine section on Spirituality, and one appreciates the centrality given to this area in critical nursing.   Does it surprise you that spirituality stands so central in the application of nursing principles?

WHAT IS SPIRITUALITY?

There are scores, perhaps hundreds of definitions of spirituality.  Spirituality is an integral component of healing.  It is a source of strength in the presence of distress.  It is at the heart of our well-being.  It enriches all aspects of our life: physical, mental, emotional and community.

Spirituality is a life force that promotes hope, encourages healing, helps us to embrace ourselves and others.  Spirituality is expressed in the attitudes, beliefs, and practices that influence people’s lives.  Spirituality enables us to experience the transcendent or higher power. Spirituality involves family and friends.  It embraces fullness, meaning, love and hope in the journey.

What are Spiritual Needs?:  MEANING - Who am I?  Why is this happening?  PURPOSE - When do I feel most alive? COMMUNICATION - With whom and how can I be open and honest? BELONGING - Who cares for me?  HOPE - Where does my hope lie?  VALUES - What are my guiding principles? CREATIVITY - Do I feel free to shape my own path? RELATIONSHIPS - How do I see myself now in relationship to myself and others?  FORGIVENESS - Am I forgiving and forgiven?

What are Symptoms of Spiritual Distress?

• fear
• pain
• anxiety
• confusion
• depression
• anger
• hopelessness
• loss
• apathy
• shame
• guilt
• grief
• withdrawal
• isolation
• resentment
• disbelief
• conflict
• regret
• loneliness
• powerlessness

Regardless of whether people with cancer experience spiritual stress or eustress, spiritual needs are an inherent part of living. (Taylor, EJ. “Spiritual Care: Nursing Theory, Research, and Practice.”  NJ: Prentice Hall, 2002.   One could also refer to Sparks & Taylor, Nursing Diagnosis Reference Manual, 2000, “Spiritual Distress,” pp. 308 - 311.

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