GM517
Banks/Holt
GM517: SPIRITUALITY AND EVERYDAY LIFE. Robert Banks and Simon Holt.
DESCRIPTION:
- In this course we will explore the fundamental connection between
spirituality and everyday life. While spirituality is always oriented to an
individual's personal life and often touches on certain features of daily life,
such as saying grace before meals, the daily discipline of personal devotions,
etc., it frequently overlooks many other routine and fundamental activities.
These activities include walking, chores, conversation, work, and recreation.
While creation is regarded as a context for spiritual exercises, other contexts
like the home and workplace are rarely understood as potentially sacred places.
Also, while spirituality is seen as an element in family life and friendship,
these are rarely viewed as spiritual disciplines in themselves. This course
will seek an integration of spirituality and these everyday places and
activities of life.
RELEVANCE FOR MINISTRY:
- Participants will gain a clearer understanding of the vital
connection between holiness and ordinary life, the opportunity to transform
various everyday activities and relationships into spiritual disciplines, and
an ability to communicate the essence of the Christian life more effectively
with the people of God.
COURSE FORMAT:
- A combination of lectures, individual and group exercises, field
reflections, communal meals, and student presentations. The course will meet
daily for four-hour sessions for two weeks.
REQUIRED READING:
- Banks, Robert. God the Worker: Journeys into the Mind, Heart and
Imagination of God. Judson, 1994.
- Boyer, Ernest Jr. Finding God at Home: Family life as a Spiritual
Discipline. Harper & Row, 1988.
- Dreyer, Elizabeth. Earth Crammed with Heaven: A Spirituality of Everyday
Life. Paulist, 1994.
RECOMMENDED READING:
- Bass, Dorothy. Practicing Our Faith. Jossey Bass, 1997.
- Moore, Thomas. The Re-Enchantment of Everyday Life. HarperCollins,
1996.
- Norris, Kathleen. Dakota: A Spiritual Geography. Tickner &
Fields, 1993.
ASSIGNMENTS:
- A journal kept throughout the course, with at least one substantial entry
each day, reflecting on class sessions, required reading and one additional
recommended book, field meditations, and serendipitous experiences that come
your way. Excerpts from this up to ten pages in length will be typed up and
handed in. This will be worth 40% of the grade for the course.
- A reflection paper dealing with any one of the main areas of everyday life
presented during the course, or to three related other aspects of life which
were the focus of class or field exercises. This will take account of relevant
reading from the bibliography accompanying the course and should be around 12
pages in length. The paper will be worth 40% of the grade for the course.
- Completing required reading and out-of-class field exercises (10%), and
interaction within the class, including involvement in class exercises
(10%).
PREREQUISITES:
- None.
RELATIONSHIP TO CURRICULUM:
- Meets M.A.T. (General Format) requirement in Spirituality (SPIR).
- FINAL EXAMINATION: None.