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TENDING THE SOUL by Arlene VanHove

In the last few years there has been a lot of interest in spiritual development inside as well as outside the church. Still, it seems we are confused about what healthy Christian spirituality or healthy Christian faith development looks like. We used to think knowledge about Scripture and prayer as well as regular church attendance was the road to spiritual maturity. Now we know different. We may have lots of biblical knowledge and have the gift of prayer yet we know very little about how to treat others, especially our loved ones with respect, dignity and affirmation.

Healthy spirituality or faith development is about a way of being—a life-long process of discovering who we are and what it means to live life fully. It is a quest for meaning and the desire to live an authentic life. A life where the inner world (meaning and values, what/how we feel and think about ourselves, others and God) integrates with our outer world (words and actions). In other words, how we interact with others can be a reflection of our spiritual health. That means we don’t deny the process we need to go through towards restoration, but pray for courage to face ourselves.

If healthy spirituality or faith development is a process then our Christian faith is the path. Our faith in God and everything that comes with this worldview gives us a framework for our inner and outer development. Healthy Christian spirituality is to be REAL: in words and actions (inner and outer) that is in accordance with the Christian message.

Soul fitness could be another term for healthy faith development. Similar to physical fitness it is not something one develops on the spur-of-the-moment. It is gradually garnered from going through normal psychosocial/spiritual/moral developmental tasks juxtaposed with situational stresses in light of our Christian beliefs. It is about challenging ourselves to go THROUGH our struggles that normal life brings, rather than avoiding them and building upon our abilities developed from the stage before. And so, psychotherapy is about tending the soul and paying attention to becoming what God is encouraging us to be!