Religion and the Elderly - Case Study Example

Religion and the Elderly Mrs. Pamela Miller is the elderly octogenarian whom I have selected for my research regarding the religious and spiritual inclination of this elderly lady in the path of her life; it was my serious effort to read the mind of Mrs. Miller. Before approaching her, I had no idea how she would react to my interviewing sort of initiative, therefore, when I first visited her, I made my purpose clear to her that being a student, I wanted to have a glimpse of the various shades of her life only for my academic interest. She showed her affirmation but told me to come after some days, as she won’t be able to give enough time. I made three intermittent visits to her residence to seek her reflections on various aspects of her life pertaining particularly to her outlook on religion and spirituality. A Brief Biographical Sketch of Mrs. Miller When I asked Mrs. Miller to recall from childhood till now her experiences with life, she took a two minutes pause before starting but once she began, she continued without break. She was brought up by her grand-parents most of the time. She lost her father when she was three years old but she remembered the face of her mother, full of affection. Her mother’s untimely death permanently deprived her from motherly affection when Mrs. Miller was hardly eight years. She was a brilliant student, which helped her in selecting and pursuing the teaching career. It was during one of her professional trips that she met Mr. James Miller, her husband. After her marriage with Mr. Miller, life didn’t spare any time for specific religious or spiritual pursuits other than a weekly visit to the Church along with family constituted of two sons, and her husband. It was an ideal family; she got full emotional, financial, and work-support from her husband in making secure the careers of both the children who were settled in distant lands due to career compulsions. The sudden death of Mr. Miller due to heart failure left Mrs. Miller alone. These five years without the company of Mr. Miller could have shattered her belief in happy life had she not taken the additional courage to involve herself with the outer and inner world routine, immersing herself in various social, religious, and spiritual activities. She joined yoga and meditation classes to learn the art of living joyfully. Mrs. Miller’s Religious and Spiritual Practices According to Mrs. Miller, she started finding a religious and spiritual touch in her day-to-day functions. Earlier, she never attempted to know how both the terms differed in meaning but when circumstances provided the time and need to analyze these terms, she preferred to spend time to serve the poor. She found a new meaning of religion by tutoring poor school-going children in free. She started finding solace in serving the poor students by taking extra free classes in the evening. It was her way of supporting the cause of humanity, as education and knowledge had been her intangible properties, which according to her, would not decrease if she served the needy students. Mrs. Miller did not get rid of her religious affiliations. She had been in the habit of visiting the Church on week-ends. After the death of her husband, her visits to the Church increased, as she had more free time to sit there and engross herself silently in meditation. Although she had not been a worshipper of oriental spiritual practices in her past life but later, she developed a liking for the Indian tradition of yoga for health and spiritual attainment. Mrs. Miller started attending the yoga and art of living classes for her spiritual growth. She started having a firm belief that to march ahead on the path of spirituality, first thing one needs to do is to cleanse the heart from the impurities of hatred, enmity, greed, and avoiding any such act that promotes negative energy. It realized to her that in stead of spending and wasting too much time in daily busy chores, it was important to learn to do good deeds to cleanse the soul of the impurities of one’s actions. Her horizon of religion and spirituality had broadened by not limiting her spiritual pursuits to one religion. Being an educationist, she found it more critical to read the holy books of leading religions. Although she was never a fundamentalist in religious outlook but started researching on the larger purposes of life, as loneliness inspired her to seek the company of Almighty in various positively good deeds. Mrs. Miller sees religion not same as spirituality. She sees an institution in religion, formed from the years of traditions and specific beliefs and rituals. Spirituality is the qualitative aspect, more related to intangible qualities to be nurtured outside the limits of an organization, i.e. religion. She could easily relate her inner insights, views, experiences, and her actions, relating them with soul or the process of searching within for the sacred presence of the omnipotent, called god. Her views resemble more with spiritual heightening, which she links through her kinship with the Almighty, prayers to God rather than paying regular visits for performing religious services. Thus, Mrs. Miller has been practicing meditation to develop inner spiritual power, to stand as a support in the lonely time when she is not in the company of others. Her focus on the spiritual component of religion has added to her inner strength; she feels healthy from the inside. According to Mrs. Miller, the spiritual health and well being of a person adds to the physical well-being but at the same time she feels that journey of life during the last leg that her age represents, needs a companion. Had her husband been with her, her spiritual path would have been more stable. Assessment of how religious beliefs and spiritual practices (or lack of same) have affected quality of life Making an assessment of the religious beliefs and spiritual practices, how they impact quality of life could be varied from person to person, as in the case of Mrs. Miller who has felt the presence of a dividing line between religion and spirituality. She has turned inward through meditation, searching a deeper meaning of human existence. Her quest on the spiritual path has provided her additional strength to live the rest of her years with a superior aim of knowing the unknown through service and meditation. Reflections on spirituality from the academic perspective, according to Daniel Moberg, spirituality is limited to inner springs, particularly it is related to a person’s final concern. It is the fundamental value around which rest of the values rest. It is the basic philosophy of life, irrespective of the fact that it is religious, non-religious or anti-religious, thus leading and guiding behavior. Spirituality leads to the non-physical level of human nature, to the extent of super-natural (Fox, 1985). Finding a connection between religion and spirituality, according to Dr. Aitken (1990), religion is represented through beliefs and rituals, sacred books, and holy people. One can trace spirituality underneath these religious representations but institutionalization of religion distances spirituality from religion. Spirituality adds to the health of mind like food and water make a body healthy; spirituality is the basis for explaining life. According to Leo Buscaglia (1978)), normally behaving people have a great acumen towards spirituality. Their own intuition tells them that they are not fully capable of realizing the mystic realities of the universe. Even then they should tread on that mystical path if they want to know the unknown; they need to think and know beyond the physical self. Normally functioning people have an un-escaping feeling of something not accomplished yet. They know that the affairs of the physical world are not managed by them but the whole universe is under the control of a power that is present in all living beings, and nothing is impossible and ungovernable under the impact of that superior power that can not be named (Fox, 1985). Mrs. Miller’s quest reflects her desire for that spiritual unification with the supreme power. According to Fox, the soul is one with the breath, the wind. One can feel the presence of soul with each breath taken. It is a life-filled path, not trodden in rush. When one is going ahead on a spiritual path, all other paths need to be discarded. A spiritual path does not end in the realization of the goal; it is the path, which is the goal in itself. This indicates the limitation of a man in the sense that life can offer the opportunity to walk on a selected path, not promising that you will reach the destination because destination is not important; what is important is the spiritual path (1985, p. 38). Thus, a spiritual path is critical to know the unlimited and be willing to learn, as attempted by Mrs. Miller. The path of knowledge may not provide answers to all questions but it connects with the divine power and relinquishes one from the feeling of hatred for others. Feelings such as anger and bitterness have no place for a person pursuing a spiritual path, as Mrs. Miller is trying to be truthful to her. Charismatic about the spiritual path is that one cannot walk on this path with negative emotions, and the walking itself relieves one of the negativity. A spiritual path not only strengthens the walker intrinsically but it boosts the person to share his joys and sorrows as well. Actually, all paths lead to the same, so all paths are equally important. The path of spirituality takes one away from the superficial to the inner self (Fox, 1985, p. 38). Quality of life is directly and indirectly, both ways, impressed by the spiritual journey, as man gets rid of the impurities and negative emotions. Man showers love and gratitude and leaves behind feelings of bitterness and anger. This heightens the quality of life all around, creating a serene environment. Conclusion There is no doubt that a clear-cut line can be demarcated between religion and spirituality. Generally, it is observed that the elderly are more drawn to spirituality than the younger people but such a statement can not be a sweeping statement, as knowledge seeking inspires all age-groups to experience the spiritual reality. The needs and responsibilities of young people may not allow them sufficient time to indulge in spiritual pursuits unlike Mrs. Miller but if they save some time on the path of spirituality, they can attain more spiritual knowledge when they reach the age of the elderly. Spirituality can be a strength-building exercise to help boost the morale of the elderly when they are alone like Mrs. Miller who started devoting more time for the good of not only society but on finding the deeper meaning of life and human existence. Thus, we can say that religion and spirituality both are prompting and encouraging Mrs. Miller to move forward with life by getting inner strength and meaning in life. Life can be an amazing experience if the blessings of Almighty get showered through mystic revelations. The path of spirituality is not easy, as it demands incessant power of concentration and meditation to be practiced regularly ut it does not mean that religion as no intrinsic value in the life of a person whatever the age may be. Both are interconnected at the initial level of growth, as the less traveled path of spirituality is based on religion that identifies the difference between good and evil. References Dr. Aitken, Brian W.W. (1990). Responding to the spiritual needs of the elderly. Huntington University. Sudbury, Ontario, Canada. Appendix 5. Fox, Mathew. (1985). Reflections on spirituality. Coming of the Cosmic Christ. Appendix 3. Read More