Spirit, Awe, Connection, the ‘More Than’
asking
“I asked the earth, I asked the sea and the deeps, among the living animals, the things that creep. I asked the winds that blow, I asked the heavens, the sun, the moon, the stars….My question was the gaze I turned to them. Their answer was their beauty.” – St Augustine.
elegance of grace
“Don’t push the river,” a friend of mine reminded me. Recently I have been thinking about how grace makes its way through me, in my life. These words helped me.
John O Donahue, in his book Beauty, wrote, “Grace is one of the most majestic words in theology. It suggests the sublime spontaneity of the divine which no theory or category could ever capture. Grace has its own elegance. It is above the mechanics of agenda or operation. No-one can set limits to the flow of grace. Its presence and force remain unmeasurable and unpredictable. Grace also suggests how fluent and seamless the divine presence is. There are not compartments, corners or breakages imaginable in the flow of grace.
“Grace is the permanent climate of divine kindness. It suggests a compassion and understanding for all the ambivalent and contradictory dimensions of the human experience and pain. This climate of kindness nurtures the sore landscape of the human heart and urges torn ground to heal and become fecund. Grace is the perennial infusion of springtime into the winter of bleakness.”
Interviews and podcasts:
Are you Spiritually Connected?, Australian Broadcasting Company: Hour long Interview on “The Spirit of Things.” Sunday 26 March 2017
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/spiritofthings/are-you-spiritually-connected/8376242
Eps 138: The Rewards of Measuring Spiritual Experience. Guest, Spark my Muse podcast. https://lisadelay.com/blog/eps-138-the-rewards-of-measuring-spiritual-experience-guest-lynn-underwood-phd/
Conflict Resolution and Ordinary Spiritual Experiences.George Mason University Center for Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Arlington Virginia. November 1, 2013. Interview by Jacqueline Greiff, the Executive Director of their Center for Peacemaking Practice. You can hear an audio of the interview on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sxpehw9jTfY
The Spirit of Things, ABC Public Radio Australia, Interview by Dr Rachael Kohn, March 26, 2017. To hear the interview click here . It can also be heard on iTunes podcasts.
Book
Spiritual Connection in Daily Life
Awe, joy, gratitude, giving and receiving compassionate love, deep inner peace. These are some of the everyday experiences that add zest and depth to life and give us renewable inner resources. These ordinary experiences can enhance our sense of the ‘more than.’
Lynn wrote Spiritual Connection in Daily Life to use sixteen questions that she developed, the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, to draw our attention to these experiences, cultivating awareness of flavors that are already there in daily life but that we are somehow missing. The scale has been translated into 40 languages and cited over 2000 times.
This book has been used in clinical, therapeutic and pastoral contexts. It can help people with many different kinds of spiritual beliefs cultivate richer, deeper, and more satisfying lives and help with burnout, addictions and PTSD. Link here for more book information and reviews of the book. Link here for details on the scale.
A revised audiobook is available through Audible and Payhip ,with the workbook included. Other sources for the audiobook are: Chirp, Audiobooks.com and Applebooks.
The paperback and e-book are available at Amazon, Barnes and Noble, Rutgers University Press,
Presentations
“Integrating Spirituality into Personal and Professional Coaching.” International Coaching Federation meeting, co-presentation with Anne Papinchak, Broadview Hts, Ohio, November 8, 2020.
“Addiction Prevention and Recovery: Ordinary Spiritual Experiences as a Stress Buffer.” September 14, 2018. Medical Humanities Conference, Western Michigan University. Abstract here
“How can the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale questions be useful for staff that care for high-risk youth?” Conference of the National Association of Chaplains with High Risk Youth, Quincy, Illinois, September 26, 2017.
“Finding Spiritual Connection: Questions That Work,” Fetzer Institute, Michigan August 1, 2017. Workshop with Staff and external consultants.
Presentation on Ordinary Spiritual Experiences for the National Consortium on Psychosocial Stress, Spirituality and Health, Harvard Institute for Health Policy, Boston April 14-16, 2016.
Joy and Human Flourishing, Yale University, October 28-29, 2016
“Exploring Spiritual Connection in Everyday Life.” Widener University, Philadelphia, Nov 4 2016. See brochure here.
“Perspectives on Compassionate Love: Science, Spirituality and the Arts.” The Meaning of Love Conference, Biola University, May 6-7, 2016, Los Angeles, California. See link here for a video of the talk.
Relevance of personal experience of transcendent connection to research on stress and health. National Consortium on Psychosocial Stress, Spirituality, and Health, Harvard Institute for Health Policy, Boston Massachusetts. April 14-16 2016.
Assessment and Evaluation of Contemplative Practices in Higher Education, March 31-April 3, 2016, Kalamazoo, Michigan.
“Investigating Spirituality in Daily Life: Resilience, Stress-buffering and Burnout” University of Southern California, Department of Occupational Therapy, January 28-29, 2016. Presentation to Physical Therapy and Occupational Therapy students and staff.
“Investigating and Exploring Spiritual Connection in Daily Life,” Workshop and Presentations, Pittsburgh Pastoral Institute, October 29 and 30, 2015.
“Measuring Ordinary Spiritual Experience in Diverse Populations using the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale.” Harvard University Center on Genomics, Vulnerable Populations and Health Disparities, Boston, December 4, 2014
Discover the “More Than” in Daily Life. Public Presentation Dubuque, Iowa, October 28, 2014
The “More Than” in Daily Life: 16 questions to explore spiritual connection. Presentation and Workshop for Leaders, Hillcrest Family Services, Dubuque Iowa, October 28, 2014.
Spiritual Connection: 16 Questions to Help Caregivers. Two presentations for School Staff and Residential Care Staff, Hillcrest Family Services, Dubuque, Iowa, October 29, 2014
Full Spectrum Living: The “More Than” in Daily Life, Full Day Workshop, Community of Caregivers Conference, September 19, 2014, Kalamazoo, Michigan. Various CEU’s. Brochure
From the brochure: “Developing the inner life opens us to full spectrum of daily experience, which is ever-present, but often overlooked. Most people sense that spirituality has a positive impact on the quality of life: less burnout, fewer addictions, better relationships, and greater equanimity to name a few benefits. In this conference we will explore a tool for measuring what was once considered unmeasurable, using the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale. This scale invites us to greater awareness, and can help us recognize sources of sustenance and learn from and encourage one another. The language used in the scale can bridge differences for people who are deeply religious from different faiths and those not comfortable with any religion. We will identify ways it is being used practically in workplaces, and in settings with family, friends, and groups. The day will include times of quiet reflection, opportunities for expressive writing, and a chance to share with others.”
Flourishing in the Midst of Life’s Challenges. Full day Retreat, Shaker Heights, Ohio, October 4, 2014.
From the brochure: Overwhelming responsibilities and duties, an exhausting daily life, physical and mental disease, aging, loss of any kind…. How do we flourish in the midst of life’s challenges? This retreat provides space to become more open to how limitation and hard times can actually enable us to live more fully. Challenge and difficulty can pull the wool from our eyes, the wool of illusions about life on the surface, calling us to have a more realistic view of life – one rich with meaning and blessing. Resources that can help will be explored such as humor, the arts, silence, community, and spiritual writing.
Spiritual Connection in Daily Life: Focus on the “More Than.” North Royalton Library. July 9, 2014.
A Day of Refreshment for Caregivers, Workshop/Retreat June 20, 2014, Healing Services and Spiritual Care Department, Cleveland Clinic. Bolton House, Lyndhurst, Ohio.
This was a day of rest and renewal, inspiration and sharing, for those who provide spiritual care and support in the midst of illness in hospital settings. We explored our own relationships with the transcendent through poetry and music and learned more about each other in the process. I led some exercises that could also be carried into our ordinary daily life beyond the retreat, and I provided some methods and tools for deeply listening to compassionate love for each of us in the midst of the rough and smooth of our daily lives.
Monthly Series: Spiritual Connection in Daily Life, Church of St Dominic, Shaker Heights, March 30, April 27, May 18, June 8, 2014. 1) Transcendent sustenance in the midst of the ordinary, 2) Perceiving love in our lives, 3) Blessings in the midst of the ordinary, 4) Asking for help .
Spiritual Connection: Support for Caregivers. Grand Rounds, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, Ohio, November 21, 2013
“The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Uses for Inter-religious and Religious-secular Dialogue.” Presentation at the George Mason School for Conflict Resolution and Analysis. Arlington, Virginia. Abstract. April 2, 2013.
“Spiritual Connection: A Resource for Professional Caregiving,” Plenary Speaker, United Methodist Association 73rd National Conference. March 5, 2013: Orlando, FL.
Enhancing Communication and Understanding in Health Care, October 20, 2012, American Society for Bioethics and Humanities, Washington D.C.
Ethical Implications of the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale, Bioethics Grand Rounds, Cleveland Clinic, September 11, 2012.
Enhancing a Sense of Spiritual Connection through Poetry in a Secular Context. University College London. Institute for Advanced Study, Senate House, June 29, 2012.
Using the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale to Improve Patient Care. Psychiatry Conference: Sympozion National al ARSP cu Participare Internationala. Sponsored invitation to speak. Targu Mures, Romania. 31 May – 3 June, 2012.
World Health Organization Measure of Subjective Quality of Life: Inclusion of values, meaning and spiritual aspects of life: Instrument development and testing, International Society of Quality of Life Research, Amsterdam, Netherlands, November 7, 2001.
Measurement Issues in the Study of Spirituality/Religiousness and Alcoholism, Workshop for Research Initiatives on Spirituality and Alcohol, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, Washington, DC, May 2001
Definitional Issues in Spirituality and Religiousness for use in Research and Practice, Federal Chaplin’s Workshop on Spirituality and Treatment Plans, Army, Navy, Airforce Chaplains at the NIH Clinical Center, Washington DC, September 12-13, 1996.
Spiritual and Religious Perspectives in Coping Research, Symposium at APS Annual Meeting, March 1-4, 1995.
Role of Religiousness and Spirituality among Persons with Disability: Applications to Daily Living, Roles of Religiousness and Spirituality in Medical Rehabilitation and the Lives of Persons with Disability Conference, National Institute for Child Health and Human Development, Washington, DC, May 1995.
Articles
“Refining Research on Joy.” Underwood LG (October 2019), Journal of Positive Psychology, https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2019.1685575. click here to view. Reprint: Underwood_Joy_Positive_Psychology_2019_ RE editsLGU edit
“The Daily Spiritual Experience Scale: Overview and Results.” Underwood L, Religions. 2011; 2(1): 29-50. Click here to view.
“Sadness, Depression, and the Dark Night of the Soul: Transcending the Medicalization of Sadness.” Lynn G. Underwood (2021), Journal of Disability & Religion, DOI: 10.1080/23312521.2021.1895954
“R|S Atlas: Identifying existing cohort study data resources to accelerate epidemiological research on the influence of religion and spirituality on human health.” (2021) Schachter AB, Argentieri MA, Seddighzadeh B, Isehunwa O, Kent BV, Trevvett P, Michael McDuffie M, Mandel L, Pargament K, Underwood LG, McCray A, Shields AE. BMJ Open (2021) 11: e043830. doi:10.1136/ bmjopen-2020-043830
“Religion and Spirituality among American Indian, South Asian, Black, Hispanic / Latina, and White Women in the Study on Stress, Spirituality, and Health.” Kent, Blake Victor, James C Davidson, Kenneth I Pargament, Tyler J Vanderweele, Harold G Koenig, Lynn G Underwood, Neal Krause, and Shelley A Cole. (2021) Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion (January): 1–18.
Validation of the Spanish version of Underwood’s Daily Spiritual Experience Scale in Mexico. 2013. Mayoral, E., Underwood, L.G., Laca, F., & Mejía, J.C. International Journal of Hispanic Psychology, 6(2), 191-202.
Cultural adaptation and validation of the Underwood Daily Spiritual Experience Scale-Brazilian version. (2012); Kimura, M., Lima de Oliveira, A., Mishima, L., & Underwood, L. G. Revista da Escola de Enfermagem – USP, 46, 99–106.
“A Balm for Gilead: Meditations on Spirituality and the Healing Arts.” Review, Underwood Lynn G., Journal of Religion, Disability & Health, (2010) Volume 14, Issue 2, 2010, pp 218 – 219.
“A Cross-Cultural Study of Spirituality, Religion, and Personal Beliefs as components of Quality of Life,” written on behalf of the WHOQOL SRPB Group by Underwood, O’Connell and Saxena, Social Science and Medicine, 62 (2006) 1486–1497.
“Measuring Multiple Dimensions of Religion and Spirituality for Health Research,” Ellen L. Idler, Marc A. Musick, Christopher G. Ellison, Linda K.George, Neal Krause, Marcia G. Ory, Kenneth I. Pargament, Lynda H. Powell, Lynn G. Underwood, David R. Williams, Research on Aging: 2003, 25(4): 327-365.
“Initial steps in developing the World Health Organizations of Quality of Life Instrument (WHOQOL) module for international assessment in HIV/AIDS,” as part of the WHOQOL HIV Group, AIDS CARE (June 2003), Vol 15, No.3, pp.347.
“Psychometric Testing of the Daily Spiritual Experiences Scale Among African Americans in the Jackson Heart Study,” Loustalot F, Wyatt SB, Sims M, Ellison CG, Taylor HA, Underwood L. (August, 2009). Journal of Religion and Health. 1-11.
“Measuring Spirituality,” Underwood, Lynn G. in The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, Volume 196, Number 9, September 2008, 715-716.
“Ordinary Spiritual Experience: Qualitative Research, Interpretive Guidelines, and Population Distribution for the Daily Spiritual Experience Scale.” Underwood, LG Archive for the Psychology of Religion/ Archiv für Religionspsychologie, Volume 28, Number 1, 2006, pp. 181-218. Ordinary_Spiritual_Experience_Qualitative_Research
Interviews with Trappist Monks as a Contribution to Research Methodology in the Investigation of Compassionate Love. Underwood LG. Journal for the Theory of Social Behavior, 35:3 (September, 2005), 285-302. Click here to view.
“Correlates of Self-Perception of Spirituality in American Adults,” with Shahabi, L et al., Annals of Behavioral Medicine 2002,24 (1):59-68.
“Living with Rheumatoid Arthritis: The Role of Daily Spirituality and Daily Religious and Spiritual Coping,” Keefe FJ, Affleck G, Underwood LG, Lefebvre J, Caldwell DS, Drew J, Egert J, Gibson J, and Pargament K, (2001) Journal of Pain, 2(2), 101-110.
“A Working Model of Health: Applications to Persons with Disabilities.” Underwood L, Journal of Religion, Disability and Health. Volume 3, 1999. pp 51-71.
Chapters
Expériences spirituelles dans la vie quotidienne : effets positifs sur la résilience, le burn out et les addictions. Underwood, L & Vagnini, K (2021). Dans N. Roussiau & E. Renard (Eds). Psychologie et Spiritualité : Fondements, Concepts et Applications. Dunod éditeurs : Paris. (“Ordinary Spiritual Experiences: Positive Effects on Resilience, Burnout, and Addictions,” Underwood LG & Vagnini K, in Spirituality and Psychology:
Foundations, Concepts and Applications. Roussiau, Nicolas (ed) (in French language in press). Dunod 2021.)
“Altruistic Love – Compassionate Love”. Underwood, L. In Encyclopedia of Human Relationships. Harry T. Reis & Susan Sprecher (Eds.), Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. 2009.
“Compassionate Love,” in Post, Stephen G. ed. 2004. Encyclopedia of Bioethics, 3rd edition. New York: Macmillan Reference USA, 483-488.
Website for the DSES : www.dsescale.org