BOOKS
There is actually no such thing as “losing your faith”. Faith is the dynamic between one’s spirituality and one’s religion. When one’s religion no longer reflects and supports one’s spirituality, the feeling is that of “losing one’s faith”.
This booklet explores the dynamics of spirituality and of religion to help the reader understand what they are experiencing. With insights from developmental psychology, the psychology of religion, classical mystical theology, and the psychodynamics of spirituality the reader will gain a better understanding of their distress, their anger, and learn to appreciate this painful experience as a time of exciting growth.
I’ve heard Richard Rohr say it. I’ve heard Ilia Delio say it. I’ve heard Matthew Fox say it. Art is a valuable vehicle for faith deconstruction/reconstruction. But how, actually, can it do that?
In this book I discuss the potential of art in faith development as well as sharing my own explorations in using art in the deconstruction and reconstruction of my faith. I do two things here:
1. I share how the producing of art has shaped my own faith deconstruction and reconstruction. Hopefully, my own process will help artists be more conscious of how their work is impacting their spirituality and how their spirituality is impacting their art. Perhaps this book will encourage those who don’t consider themselves artists to try their hand at some sort of creative endeavor.
2. I suggest ways in which artists and non-artists can see existing art through the lens of their own spirituality and with an appreciation of the artists’ spirituality.
The first part of the workbook gives a highly readable overview of research in aging, with an emphasis on psychological well-being. The second part consists of ten exercises to help the reader gain a deeper understanding of their own aging process and feel some sense of control over the direction of this stage of their life. The third part presents five “thought experiments”. These are short topics designed to help you ponder who you are as you age.