Search For Meaning Of Life Research Articles

Euro-Gott im starken Plural? Einige Fragestellungen für eine europäische Religionsgeschichte des 20. Jahrhunderts

Euro-God as a Beneficent Plurality? Some approaches for a history of European religion in the 20th century Since the 1980s, general historians in the German-speaking parts of Europe have begun intensively to research the history of religion in the contemporary era. Earlier concepts such as «dechristianisation» and «secularisation» have been replaced by a new receptiveness for the formative influence of the manifold interpretations of the world and the search for life's meaning in this modern world. Astonishingly enough, this new approach to the history of religion has not led to debates about methodology. Approaches have been developed leading to a better understanding of the transformation in religion as it is affected by the specific modernity of 20th century Europe. How can historians describe the great flexibility of the symbolic languages of religion and the interplay of adaptability and formative power of religious institutions? Is there a specific pan-European development of deinstitutionalisation of religion? What role do the history of theological ideas and the theological disciplines in the history of 20th century religion play? How may the role of the Churches as the traditionally most important religious megainstitutions in European society be described? Which analytical means promise especially enlightening insights?

Studentų – būsimųjų religijos švietėjų – dvasingumo raidos veiksniai

Straipsnyje apibūdinami būsimųjų religijos švietėjų dvasingumą lemiantys psichopedagoginiai veiksniai. Svarbiausi išskiriami šie veiksniai: studentų požiūris į religinio švietimo tikslus, religines studijas universitete, dėstytojų kompetenciją ir dvasinę brandą, taip pat studentų įsitraukimas į neakademinę veiklą. Tiriant studentų įsitraukimą į neakademinę veiklą nustatytas tiriamųjų pasitenkinimas savo veikla, jų veiklos tikslingumas kaip studentų veiklos galimybių prasmingumo supratimas.

Response to Irvin Yalom

First, I would like to applaud Committee on Psychiatry and Religion for its selection of Dr. Yalom to be recipient of this award-not for stated reason that he dedicated himself to religious questions (though with antireligious perspective), but because they knew deep down that he is a believer. In fact, everyone is a believer, doubters and negators being real believers. As Jung said, are all wired for God; we all need God. The atheists too need a God, however nonexistent He might be. Marathon swimmer and author, Lynne Cox, a confirmed nonbeliever, has a charming anecdote: Late afternoon. I am standing above Western Wall, also known as Wailing Wall, in old section of Jerusalem. All cracks [in Wall] are filled with paper. Some are brittle and yellow, some are mere fragments, and some are in airmail envelopes and hotel stationery. I could see a few with words exposed: there was one in French, others in German and Hebrew and Russian and English. I wondered what these prayers were all about. Were they praying for someone who was ill, for friends, for family, for peace or prosperity? What were their hopes and dreams? Did they really believe they could get a message to God through this wall? Every single crack in wall to my right and left, above my head and beside my feet was filled with paper. I kept looking. Three meters above my head was a hole size of a tennis ball. I crumpled my note up into a tight wad, looked around, hoping that no one was watching. I leaned back and tossed my message. We negate God, we complain about Him, we accuse Him of all sorts of things. But, at end of day, we still pray that He exists. Similarly, Karen Armstrong tells a story of Jews in concentration camps who decide one afternoon to put God on trial. God is brought up on charges of cruelty and betrayal. Despite believing that God is supposed to counter evil, this impromptu death-camp court finds no evidence of divine intervention in their horrible world nor any extenuating circumstances that relieve God of culpability. The Rabbi announces verdict: God is guilty as charged. But then Rabbi glances up at those assembled and announces that trial has concluded, It is time for evening prayer. Not unlike this Rabbi, after a very persuasive argument negating God's existence, Dr. Yalom glanced up at us and said, I quote, Divine Essence. Now that we have firmly established that Dr. Yalom is a believer, let me move on to content of his talk. Based on his early experiences, Dr. Yalom grew up to consider faith as a burden. God brings no burden. The distasteful training cloaked in rigidity and authoritarianism that he was unfortunately subjected to is commonly practiced religionism, not religion. We all know that, if anything, all religions teach tolerance, love, and compassion. God brings no burden. Sophists say, in fact, that man and God are like a bird and its wings. Imagine if a bird were unaware that its wings enabled it to fly; they would only add extra burden of weight. Dr. Yalom says his understanding of existence led him to inescapable scientific world view, however lamentable it was. Extraordinary claims of religion require extraordinary evidence, he says: facts! As far as I am concerned, it is facts that require explanation. Even Stephen Hawking is yearning to know the mind of God. There is a cap on actual knowledge we have about ourselves, obtained via psychology, philosophy, or science. In fact, there is a potential for a degenerative process. The search for meaning of life through these avenues has brought man to impasse, because Man is fundamentally more than he can know himself, Victor Frankl says, an existentialist, mind you ...... The existence of God can neither be proven nor disproven, because proof and disproof are exercises of logos (logic), which is human attempt to master reality through language. …

Causal Attributions and Recovery from Rape and Other Stressful Life Events

The purposes of this study were (a) to examine a new model of the relations between attributions and long-term recovery among rape survivors and (b) to test the applicability of this model to other life events that differ in terms of controllability (i.e., bereavement and relationship loss). Among rape survivors, both behavioral and characterological self-blame were associated with poorer recovery, as was more often thinking about why the rape occurred; the belief that future assaults are less likely was associated with better recovery; and beliefs about past control were unrelated to beliefs about future control. Self-blame was associated with poorer recovery and perceptions of past and future control were unrelated for both bereavement and relationship loss

Understanding the cancer patient??s search for meaning

The period following a cancer diagnosis has been described as a time when concerns about life and death predominate. However, little is understood about how persons recently diagnosed with cancer deal with such issues as finding meaning in their lives, their illness, and their impending death. The purpose of this study is to describe what is involved in the process of the personal search for meaning conducted by the patient who has been recently diagnosed with breast, lung, or colorectal cancer. Six major themes were identified from interviews of 30 patients: seeking an understanding of the personal significance of the diagnosis; looking at the consequences of the cancer diagnosis; reviewing life; change in outlook toward self, life, others; living with the cancer; and hope. Two significant factors were found--faith and social support. With an understanding of the components in an individual's search for meaning of life, the nurse can facilitate the process by which patients explore what the cancer means for their lives.