Nurturing the spirit
02/05/19 04:28
One of the important parts of my life is that my work allows me to spend time with people in many different phases of their lives. Yesterday I spent time with two different women who are being cared for in a health care facility. Both of them have recently experienced severe injuries. Both of them are widows. In other ways they are very different from one another. The children of one of the women all live in distant places. Some of the children and grandchildren of the other live close enough for frequent visits. One of the women has been widowed for more than a decade, the other lost her mate more recently. One can barely hear the other’s hearing is very good. One struggles with significant memory issues. The other’s memory is very clear and accurate. They have similarities, but they are very different from each other.
Tomorrow I will be spending some time with a half dozen young people who are in their twenties. This particular group tends to be people who are in excellent physical condition and who work out regularly. Most of them engage in cross fit training multiple days every week and they all have jobs that require a certain level of physical conditioning. They, too have lots of differences. It would be a mistake to consider them to all be in the same category.
As a result of my experiences, I’m suspicious when I hear people talking about generational theories. Sure there are shared experiences that shape us. We who cannot remember Pearl Harbor as an event in our lives, but can tell you exactly where we were and what we were doing when the news of President Kennedy’s assignation reached us are different from those who were born after the September 11 attacks. Those who can remember the great depression are shaped by heir common memories. But within the generations there are great variations, not the least of which is that our capacity to remember makes us different from one another.
We like to think that our memories are accurate, but researchers tell us that we actually aren’t very accurate in what we remember. The memories that are most familiar to us and the stories that we tell most often are most likely to have been altered in the remembering and the telling. I am only half joking when I say that my brother either didn’t grow up in the same household as I or he is a liar. There are moments when we are together when our memories of similar events and times are so divergent that I question not only the veracity of his memories but also my own.
So each of us is unique. The impact of various experiences shapes us.
One of the things that I’ve noticed is that makes me a bit of a strange character in relationship to many people whom I meet is that one of the main focuses of my twenties was spiritual discipline and development. I confess that I allowed my physical conditioning to slip as I transitioned from youth to adulthood. I remained active, but I didn’t belong to a gym. I didn’t have a personal trainer. I didn’t work out as a regular part of my routine. Unlike many young people I know today, I focused on my academics almost exclusively. I spent most of my spare time reading. I went to church every week. I attended mid-week worship services. I thought a lot about religion and how to live a religious lifestyle. That’s fairly different from the focus of the lives of many of the young people I know.
Our society in general puts significant energy into helping young people develop their physical bodies. Scientists have studied the relationship between regular physical exercise and dementia. We can speak of the importance of physical conditioning. Nurturing young minds is also a priority in our society. I’ve read several recent studies that seek to understand the connection between having books read to them and learning to read in early childhood and neuroplasticity.
What is less common in contemporary society is an emphasis on the spiritual development of children. It is not that there aren’t resources available. The studies of Robert Coles and the writings of Sandy Eisenberg Sasso remind those who read them that spiritual development is critical not only to the joy of life an individual experiences, but also to the very fabric of society. When spiritual and moral development is ignored the consequences for all people are severe.
When I am with young adults, I don’t spend a lot of time asking them questions, but rather try to observe and develop relationships with them that are based on my learning to understand and make connections. But I have been known to challenge them from time to time to consider what really matters in their life. When first asked, they often respond in economic terms. They speak of earring a living. I have been blessed with meaningful work and I understand the value of having a way to earn a living that also contributes meaning and value to life. But I want to challenge all people to think about things that are more important than going through a daily routine. What is really precious? What is most important in your life?
Sometimes I tell them about a young man I know who was at the peak of his physical conditioning when he fell from a ski lift and woke up paralyzed from the waist down. Or a woman, not yet 30 who was injured in a construction accident. One of her legs was amputated. She will use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Sometimes I speak of another twenty-something I know who was struck by guillain barre syndrome. One day he felt flu-like symptoms. Within a week they were considering placing him on a ventilator to keep him alive. Three months of hospitalization followed.
All of those particular people were forced to come face to face with their spiritual conditioning. All three have demonstrated remarkable resilience, maturity, and faith. They are, in their own ways, as wise as the seniors I visited in the care center. Each of us will face moments in our lives when our spiritual training, discipline and conditioning will be necessary. There’s no time like the present to engage in serious spiritual conditioning.
Tomorrow I will be spending some time with a half dozen young people who are in their twenties. This particular group tends to be people who are in excellent physical condition and who work out regularly. Most of them engage in cross fit training multiple days every week and they all have jobs that require a certain level of physical conditioning. They, too have lots of differences. It would be a mistake to consider them to all be in the same category.
As a result of my experiences, I’m suspicious when I hear people talking about generational theories. Sure there are shared experiences that shape us. We who cannot remember Pearl Harbor as an event in our lives, but can tell you exactly where we were and what we were doing when the news of President Kennedy’s assignation reached us are different from those who were born after the September 11 attacks. Those who can remember the great depression are shaped by heir common memories. But within the generations there are great variations, not the least of which is that our capacity to remember makes us different from one another.
We like to think that our memories are accurate, but researchers tell us that we actually aren’t very accurate in what we remember. The memories that are most familiar to us and the stories that we tell most often are most likely to have been altered in the remembering and the telling. I am only half joking when I say that my brother either didn’t grow up in the same household as I or he is a liar. There are moments when we are together when our memories of similar events and times are so divergent that I question not only the veracity of his memories but also my own.
So each of us is unique. The impact of various experiences shapes us.
One of the things that I’ve noticed is that makes me a bit of a strange character in relationship to many people whom I meet is that one of the main focuses of my twenties was spiritual discipline and development. I confess that I allowed my physical conditioning to slip as I transitioned from youth to adulthood. I remained active, but I didn’t belong to a gym. I didn’t have a personal trainer. I didn’t work out as a regular part of my routine. Unlike many young people I know today, I focused on my academics almost exclusively. I spent most of my spare time reading. I went to church every week. I attended mid-week worship services. I thought a lot about religion and how to live a religious lifestyle. That’s fairly different from the focus of the lives of many of the young people I know.
Our society in general puts significant energy into helping young people develop their physical bodies. Scientists have studied the relationship between regular physical exercise and dementia. We can speak of the importance of physical conditioning. Nurturing young minds is also a priority in our society. I’ve read several recent studies that seek to understand the connection between having books read to them and learning to read in early childhood and neuroplasticity.
What is less common in contemporary society is an emphasis on the spiritual development of children. It is not that there aren’t resources available. The studies of Robert Coles and the writings of Sandy Eisenberg Sasso remind those who read them that spiritual development is critical not only to the joy of life an individual experiences, but also to the very fabric of society. When spiritual and moral development is ignored the consequences for all people are severe.
When I am with young adults, I don’t spend a lot of time asking them questions, but rather try to observe and develop relationships with them that are based on my learning to understand and make connections. But I have been known to challenge them from time to time to consider what really matters in their life. When first asked, they often respond in economic terms. They speak of earring a living. I have been blessed with meaningful work and I understand the value of having a way to earn a living that also contributes meaning and value to life. But I want to challenge all people to think about things that are more important than going through a daily routine. What is really precious? What is most important in your life?
Sometimes I tell them about a young man I know who was at the peak of his physical conditioning when he fell from a ski lift and woke up paralyzed from the waist down. Or a woman, not yet 30 who was injured in a construction accident. One of her legs was amputated. She will use a wheelchair for the rest of her life. Sometimes I speak of another twenty-something I know who was struck by guillain barre syndrome. One day he felt flu-like symptoms. Within a week they were considering placing him on a ventilator to keep him alive. Three months of hospitalization followed.
All of those particular people were forced to come face to face with their spiritual conditioning. All three have demonstrated remarkable resilience, maturity, and faith. They are, in their own ways, as wise as the seniors I visited in the care center. Each of us will face moments in our lives when our spiritual training, discipline and conditioning will be necessary. There’s no time like the present to engage in serious spiritual conditioning.