Spirituality or Religion?

The issue of religion or spirituality has come up several times thus far in the book. The term "religion" is preferred in academic circles of religious studies and theology, while "spirituality" is more often used in the health care field. Miller and Thoresen (1999) offer a helpful distinction, suggesting that religious factors are focused more on prescribed beliefs, rituals and practices as well as social institutional features. Alternatively, spiritual factors are concerned more

66 Creativity, Spirituality, and Mental Health

with individual subjective experiences, sometimes shared with others. Miller and Thoresen state:

Religion is characterized in many ways by its boundaries and spirituality by a difficulty in defining its boundaries. Religion involves an organized social institution with, among other things, beliefs about how one relates to that which is sacred or divine. Spirituality does not necessarily involve religion. Some people experience their spirituality as a highly personal and private matter, focusing on intangible elements that provide meaning in their lives, (p. 6)

Today sometimes a sharp distinction is made between religion and spirituality. At a journal club meeting recently in Canada in which an article by Kenneth Pargament was being discussed, the presenter remarked, "Americans are very religious, while Canadians are more spiritual." As an American expatriate, I wondered what he meant. In certain cultures people are wary of religion because of the connotation of dogma. Yet Miller and Thoresen point out that when William James wrote The Varieties of Religious Experience (1902/1961) over a century ago, he was in fact describing a broader domain now encompassed by "spirituality." Today religion for many refers to prescribed beliefs and practices, yet spirituality, I believe, can include both social and private dimensions.

Turning to Pargament's book, Spiritually Integrated Psychotherapy: Understanding and Addressing the Sacred (2007), we find spirituality defined as the "search for the sacred." Religious study and practice are among the "pathways" to the sacred, but they are not the only ones. Pargament states: "In the broadest sense, spiritual practices encompass whatever people do to preserve and protect the sacred in their lives, including those activities that may not be perceived as spiritual in nature" (p. 83). To illustrate, he explains that people who perceive the environment as sacred are more likely to act in environmentally friendly ways such as engaging in recycling. Secular activities can thus be laden with spiritual value and meaning.

Concerning imagination, Pargament (2007) indicates that at the core of the sacred lie concepts of God, the divine, and the transcendent. Concepts of God originate from many sources, among them religious readings, education, ritual, and experience. Attributes of transcendence, boundlessness, and ultimacy are mere words without an image to sustain them and give them form. Recalling a trip with his son, Pargament uses the image of the Grand Canyon to capture these terms. Since according to most religious traditions, the divine or transcendent is inherently mysterious, elusive, and indescribable, language, symbols, myths, and stories become necessary in the attempt to articulate sacred meaning.