Spirituality and Deep Connectedness

Views on Being Fully Human

Edited by Michael C. Brannigan - Contributions by Fred Boehrer; Michael C. Brannigan; Fran Grace; Daniel K. Hall-Flavin; Veena R. Howard; Frank Bryce McCluskey; Wayne Shelton and Richard White

What is spirituality? Does it enable us to be better persons? Is spirituality related to religion? These days, is it even relevant? On college campuses, does it promote student well-being? Does it further moral growth? Can spirituality make a difference in healthcare? What about social justice and service to the marginalized?
This rich collection of essays by respected scholars and practitioners in diverse fields in academic, healthcare, social justice, and interfaith contexts addresses these questions in strikingly profound and meaningful ways. Their voices offer alternatives to the prevailing notion of spirituality as a purely private matter, and make a case for living spiritually through deep and genuine engagement with others, bridging our inherent and original fault-line of Self and Other. Their keen observations resuscitate the spiritual fabric of defiance against and liberation from forces of oppression which show their face not only through chronic inequities and social injustice but in consumer capitalism’s grip on our souls.
This volume’s dispatch to our minds and hearts is timely in an age of looming cynicism, pessimism, fear, and distrust. In carving out a renewed sense of what lies at the heart of living a life of the spirit, or spirituality, it offers an antidote to our widespread hermeneutic of suspicion. None of the authors claims to encapsulate one, pure meaning of the spiritual. Yet they share one collective voice: spirituality is indeed genuine when it calls forth compassion and wears the worn and tangled face of humaneness, freeing ourselves from the prison of ego. Here we find messages of hope, much needed in a time when our society seems increasingly shadowed by dark clouds. These essays remind us of what’s right in the world.

Lexington Books

Pages: 156 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4985-6592-9 • Hardback • September 2018 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-6593-6 • eBook • September 2018 • $105.50 • (£82.00)

Subjects: Religion / Spirituality, Religion / Buddhism / Zen, Religion / Christian Ministry / Pastoral Resources, Body, Mind & Spirit / Spiritualism, Psychology / Grief & Loss

Spirituality and Deep Connectedness

Views on Being Fully Human

Hardback

eBook

Summary

What is spirituality? Does it enable us to be better persons? Is spirituality related to religion? These days, is it even relevant? On college campuses, does it promote student well-being? Does it further moral growth? Can spirituality make a difference in healthcare? What about social justice and service to the marginalized?
This rich collection of essays by respected scholars and practitioners in diverse fields in academic, healthcare, social justice, and interfaith contexts addresses these questions in strikingly profound and meaningful ways. Their voices offer alternatives to the prevailing notion of spirituality as a purely private matter, and make a case for living spiritually through deep and genuine engagement with others, bridging our inherent and original fault-line of Self and Other. Their keen observations resuscitate the spiritual fabric of defiance against and liberation from forces of oppression which show their face not only through chronic inequities and social injustice but in consumer capitalism’s grip on our souls.
This volume’s dispatch to our minds and hearts is timely in an age of looming cynicism, pessimism, fear, and distrust. In carving out a renewed sense of what lies at the heart of living a life of the spirit, or spirituality, it offers an antidote to our widespread hermeneutic of suspicion. None of the authors claims to encapsulate one, pure meaning of the spiritual. Yet they share one collective voice: spirituality is indeed genuine when it calls forth compassion and wears the worn and tangled face of humaneness, freeing ourselves from the prison of ego. Here we find messages of hope, much needed in a time when our society seems increasingly shadowed by dark clouds. These essays remind us of what’s right in the world.

Details

Lexington Books

Pages: 156 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4985-6592-9 • Hardback • September 2018 • $111.00 • (£85.00)

978-1-4985-6593-6 • eBook • September 2018 • $105.50 • (£82.00)

Subjects: Religion / Spirituality, Religion / Buddhism / Zen, Religion / Christian Ministry / Pastoral Resources, Body, Mind & Spirit / Spiritualism, Psychology / Grief & Loss

Author

Michael C. Brannigan is Dean of Spiritual Life and the George and Jane Pfaff Endowed Chair in Ethics and Moral Values at the College of Saint Rose.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Resuscitating Spirit
Michael C. Brannigan

1. From the Cave to Enlightenment
Richard White
2. Spirituality in Higher Education
Fran Grace
3. Spirituality in Healthcare: Caring for the Patient as a Unity of Mind, Body, and Spirit
Wayne Shelton
4. The Quality of Mercy
Daniel K. Hall-Flavin
5. Gotta Serve Somebody: Dorothy Day, Spirituality, Service, and Social Justice
Fred Boehrer
6. Gandhi’s Experiments in Spiritual Disciplines: Hermeneutic to Disrupt Structures of Violence and to Create Interfaith Understanding
Veena R. Howard
7. Zen: One Breath at a Time
Frank Bryce McCluskey

Conclusion: Spirituality and Moral Grit
Michael C. Brannigan

Reviews

The breadth of the book’s contributions attest to the diversity of spirituality, and its outcome attests to the rich depth of what is possible. It engages with writers from the academic spheres, education, and health professions . . . One hopes for a follow-up volume.
— Reading Religion

These intelligent and searching essays reveal that spirituality is only truly significant when it enters the wider world of social relations. A lovely book and a valuable contribution.
— Roger S. Gottlieb, Worcester Polytechnic Institute