People Feel Spiritual What They Encounter In Their Daily Lives

People Feel Spiritual What They Encounter In Their Daily Lives



People Feel Spiritual What They Encounter In Their Daily Lives

Introduction

The Eastern Orthodox mystics took note of what the Spirit can do to one's senses: they could smell, feel, taste, and see in a livelier or more attentive way, (Zajonc 2004) sensing what they could not sense before, in ways powerful and subtle.

God wants us to have feelings to be moved to sadness and joy and weeping and arousal. God put them there. God gave you soul. Our feelings will tend to run amok in what we do, because they're as broken and smelly and obsessed as anything else in this world. We keep hearing, 'Go with your feelings', but that can only be done when we know the limits of our feelings. (Wilkinson 2007)

When the feelings aren't there inside you, God's still busily loving you. When the feelings are there, it's okay to rejoice to laugh out loud, to sing, to bliss out. Even if other people will think you're weird. However, please think enough of other people to do it in a way that doesn't get in the way of whatever others are doing at the time -- yet not so much that you don't appropriately celebrate. For instance, if you are at a typical church's service (where they're not used to this sort of thing) and this happens, send thyself out of the sanctuary into some place inside where you will not be heard much. Bliss out there. If you need help to do that, ask the usher. (Schmidt 2005)

Research Question

Do people feel spiritual about what they encounter in their day to day lives?

Sub-Question

DO THEY FEEL STRESSED OR SKEPTICAL? HOW IT AFFECTS THEIR HEALTH ETC

Literature Review

We've all known people who, despite the challenges and stresses they face in their daily lives, manage to project calmness and serenity that belie the surrounding maelstrom. Have you ever wondered how they achieve such tranquility? Indeed, our daily world is full of stimulation, multitasking, (Roberts 1972) and long working hours and at the end of the day, many of us arrive home to more demands and unanswered phone calls. It's no wonder we are exhausted-and anything but tranquil.

Rituals performed on a daily basis remove us from our usual routines and create meaningful markers in our day. They open us to the awareness of the blessings in our lives and bring us to a place of gratitude and personal healing. (Roberts 1970)

Stepping Out

Rudiger Dahlke, MD, PhD, in his book Everyday Initiations, How to Survive Crises using Rituals (Bluestar Communications, 1999), says that “rituals are like a time-out-of-time that makes it possible for us to step out of the linear flow of time, establish contact with our innermost needs, and recognize and seize the chances inherent in new phases of life.” Rituals pull us out of the faint fog that blinds our eyes. They wake us up to our connection with what we really want and ...