What is it about?
This paper portrays the nature and experience of presence and in particular captures the art of presence as spiritual care. The self-narrative (autoethnography) and three additional narratives enable the expression of first-person experience in all its richness, complexity and multiplicity. The patterns and meanings of the lived experience of presence, in the four narratives, emerge beyond the narrative realms of writing, extending into the symbolic realms of art, poetry and music.
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Why is it important?
This paper offers an invitation to contemplate and cultivate the art of presence as a powerful expression of spirituality and spiritual care.in various spiritual care contexts. Practitioners in spiritual care, education and healthcare can support each other in developing the art of presence in their diverse settings. Findings show that science and humanities have mutually enriching contributions to make to the ongoing exploration of the phenomenon of presence. Narrative approaches to the phenomenon of presence have a capacity to unearth neglected dimensions of this reality.
Perspectives
Writing this article with Professor Bernadette Flanagan, my co-author and Research Supervisor, was a profound and spiritual experience. This article gives voice to and honours the human story and lived experience of presence - a tapestry of themes - woven on and of the fabric of life. The sacred symbolic suggestiveness of the artistic and poetic strands are particularly rich in tone and texture. I hope you find this story of presence (in the presence of story) as enlightening as I do, in contemplating and cultivating the art of presence as spiritual care.
Martina Corrigan
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The phenomenon of presence in spiritual care: a tapestry of themes, Spiritual Care, March 2018, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1515/spircare-2016-0203.
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