Importance of relating with God for spiritual well-being
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis
- Full Text:
- Description: The importance of relating with God for Spiritual Well-Being Twenty years of research in spiritual health/well-being culminate in this thesis. My PhD (1998), University of Melbourne, presented a Four Domains Model of Spiritual Health/Well-Being. This formed the theoretical base for several spiritual well-being questionnaires, presented in my EdD (2009), University of Ballarat. The main instrument, Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM), proposed a novel method of assessing quality of relationships which are posited as reflecting spiritual well-being. These relationships are of each person with themselves, others, the environment and/or with a Transcendent Other (God). Instead of just investigating lived experiences, SHALOM asks for two responses to each item. Each respondent’s lived experience is compared with their stated ideals. Studies presented herein show that this double-response method, comparing ideal with actual, provides a statistically stronger measure of quality of relationships than lived experiences alone, thus spiritual well-being. Eighteen publications included in this thesis relate to studies of spiritual well-being in educational, healthcare and general community settings. A total of 52 studies, using SHALOM with 41686 people from 27 countries, have shown that, of the four sets of relationships measured by SHALOM, relating with God explains greatest variance in spiritual well-being, so is therefore most important. An international study with people involved with, as well as some opposed to, spirituality and religious education led to a generic form of SHALOM, in which the theistic words were replaced by ‘Transcendent’, with 19 alternatives provided from which to select preferred Transcendent, or none. This project revealed that relating with God, as Transcendent, provides greatest support for a person’s relating with self and others, in contrast to help provided by non-theistic and non-religious Transcendents and not believing in Transcendents. This research implies that researchers need to investigate relationship with God in any study of spiritual well-being, whether or not it fits their personal worldview.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Fisher, John
- Date: 2014
- Type: Text , Thesis
- Full Text:
- Description: The importance of relating with God for Spiritual Well-Being Twenty years of research in spiritual health/well-being culminate in this thesis. My PhD (1998), University of Melbourne, presented a Four Domains Model of Spiritual Health/Well-Being. This formed the theoretical base for several spiritual well-being questionnaires, presented in my EdD (2009), University of Ballarat. The main instrument, Spiritual Health And Life-Orientation Measure (SHALOM), proposed a novel method of assessing quality of relationships which are posited as reflecting spiritual well-being. These relationships are of each person with themselves, others, the environment and/or with a Transcendent Other (God). Instead of just investigating lived experiences, SHALOM asks for two responses to each item. Each respondent’s lived experience is compared with their stated ideals. Studies presented herein show that this double-response method, comparing ideal with actual, provides a statistically stronger measure of quality of relationships than lived experiences alone, thus spiritual well-being. Eighteen publications included in this thesis relate to studies of spiritual well-being in educational, healthcare and general community settings. A total of 52 studies, using SHALOM with 41686 people from 27 countries, have shown that, of the four sets of relationships measured by SHALOM, relating with God explains greatest variance in spiritual well-being, so is therefore most important. An international study with people involved with, as well as some opposed to, spirituality and religious education led to a generic form of SHALOM, in which the theistic words were replaced by ‘Transcendent’, with 19 alternatives provided from which to select preferred Transcendent, or none. This project revealed that relating with God, as Transcendent, provides greatest support for a person’s relating with self and others, in contrast to help provided by non-theistic and non-religious Transcendents and not believing in Transcendents. This research implies that researchers need to investigate relationship with God in any study of spiritual well-being, whether or not it fits their personal worldview.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
- Authors: Bullen, Heatheranne
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Thesis , PhD
- Full Text: false
- Description: Reverend Coledge Harland’s camel journeys through the Lake Eyre Basin in Central Australia in this thesis form a concise account of his sojourn as a camel patrol padre for the Australian Inland Mission (AIM) between 1919 and 1922. The journeys intersect significances in alternate timeframes as they traverse ancient pathways where events interrupted history before, after and during the research period. With this, Harland’s archive tells of his achievements but also becomes a conduit to multiple concurring and conflicting experiences. The effects of interactions are uncovered in a rich social, cultural and environmental history that considers cultural practices and adaptability, culturally distinct interactions, culture and religion. What appeared to be the journey of one man is the experiences on country of generations of people, forming a complex narrative of travel across ‘shared’ storyline pathways in the Lake Eyre Basin. Evidence for the thesis draws on Harland’s extensive private archive supported by published and public records. Underpinning the archive is 12 years of research and numerous visits to the research area. Importantly, the photographs and documents from the Harland archive form a scaffold of places, events, names and dates that unlock diverse experiences of numerous peoples on country in a much broader timeframe. First, the deep interpretation of a private archive of photographs, documents and maps penned 100 years ago by Harland forms a micro-history that fills a knowledge gap. Framing this place-based thesis is the comprehensive theory of landscape experience, complemented by Indigenous métissage that enhances the navigation of alternative worldviews. The evidence includes and highlights people, systems and organisations of national significance for numerous cultural groups. Notably, it exposes evidence of sustainable and unsustainable practices and harmony and disharmony because of previous landscape conventions. It also contributes to knowledge of life in Australia’s desert zone, the driest inhabited place on Earth, where lifestyles differ remarkably from most of the Australian population. Initially, I questioned the role of Harland and Williamson as Christian missioners in Central Australia. However, while travelling to the places they went and talking to the people there, the concerns soon turned to pride and inspiration because their work and gift involved far more than religion as this thesis will demonstrate. The memory of their involvement in Central Australia prompted the research and a commitment to the country and peoples of inland Australia. This thesis delivers a snapshot of life and landscape in central Australia exposing information on Australia’s relatively short colonial past, the deep and everpresent interconnections of Aboriginal peoples with country and the links and entanglements in the present. The thesis also highlights the importance of sustainable management of scarce resources and informs future discussions on sustainable practices across Australia in the drying climate.
- Description: Doctor of Philosophy
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