Page 216 - Nursing: The Philosophy and Science of Caring

a dmi ni st ering sacr e d nu rs i ng a ct s
Thus, we all are simultaneously caught in a worldview or cosmology
that continues to place sovereignty over external aspects of the mate-
rial and natural worlds, disconnecting us from our shared humanity in
the universe.
We need a larger cosmology to allow for both private and per-
sonal self-actualization and to connect with and open to the energy of
God consciousness, evolving consciousness, referred to as the spiritual
connector (Myss 1996).
Our recent history in an evolving Western culture allows for abun-
dant private and personal self-actualization efforts. We see, for exam-
ple, a multitude of spiritual practices in the areas of self-growth and
self-awareness pursuits, for example:
[E]thical service and humanitarian compassion, an inward turn
toward meditation, prayer, monastic withdrawal, spiritual pilgrim-
ages, involvement with great mystical traditions and practices from
Asia (Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi), and diverse indigenous and
shamanic cultures (Native North American, Central and South
American, African, Australian, Polynesian, Old Europe). Recovery
of various Gnostic and esoteric perspectives and practices . . . devo-
tion to creative, artistic expression as a spiritual path, or renewed
engagement with revitalized forms of Jewish and Christian mysti-
cism, traditions, beliefs, and practices. (Tarnas 2006:31)

At the same time, these practices and personal pursuits for deep-
ening our humanity and the human evolutionary experience are “tak-
ing place in a cosmos whose basic parameters have been defined by the
determinedly non-spiritual epistemology and ontology of modern sci-
ence” (Tarnas 2006:31). In this dominant focus, these very rich, noble,
human spiritual pursuits are pursued in a universe whose nature it is
“to be supremely indifferent to these very quests” (Tarnas 2006:31).
This is a dilemma not only for the evolved human but also for
humanity and the cosmos. It is and has been one of the unnamed dilem-
mas of modern nursing. As Richard Tarnas (2006:31) put it: “The very
nature of the objective universe turns any spiritual faith and ideals into
courageous acts of subjectivity, constantly vulnerable to intellectual
negation” [original emphasis]. Put another way, both the contempo-
rary soul and our evolving consciousness pursuits of self-actualization

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