It takes a village

It Takes a Village… When most people hear the word spirituality, the assumption is usually that it is referring to religion. We know now though that spirituality can mean many different things to many different people. Each individual person holds their own interpretation of what is spiritual in their lives. In some people, spirituality is being in touch with nature through a sunset or through the ocean’s tide. For others, spirituality is being close to family. It is also very common to see that religion is where most people find spirituality. Throughout my life, my spirituality is found in my relationship with Jesus Christ. Often times though, things like a sunset or spending time with my family contribute to my spiritual health. Spiritual health has gained much more importance to me over the last few years. Because of my experiences in hospital settings, I understand that it is not only important for us as individuals to be spiritually healthy in case of unexpected circumstances, but also for health care professionals to have a strong understanding of spirituality and how it differs among various people. For most people, spirituality is found in the vital center. A person’s vital center can be anything from love for serving people, worshipping in a service with 10,000 others at Breakaway, to being alone sitting on a beach. When a person is feeding or supplying their vital center, they are much closer to being spiritually healthy. When a vital center is not getting attended to, the other dimensions of a person’s health, such as emotional health or physical health, suffer. My own vital center has taught me a lot of things about my spiritual health, and also the spiritual health of a special group of people that I work with. I feel the most spiritual when I am working with the sweet faces of the people living in Gilbert, Haiti. I have never felt more joy and peace in any other situation in life, or any closer to living within God’s will for me than I do when