A Conversation in Sacred Space

Abstract

This chapter concludes the book, Meeting in Sacred Space: Engaging with Spirituality in Family Therapy, an edited volume whose chapters are written from the authors’ diverse perspectives informed by Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Native American spiritual practice, Sikhism, Southern and Eastern African spiritual traditions, and Taoism. The reader is invited to imagine joining the conversation among the authors over the course of three years writing the book. The conversation embodies our experience of generating “sacred space,” a collective experience of spiritual vitality that emerges when people immersed in diverse particular spiritual/religious traditions engage respectfully in dialogue. We have challenged ourselves to generate ideas about a global culture that respects human spirituality, as an alternative to the current dominant global discourse of materialist individualism. The conversation includes our shared experience of sacred space that emerges from our polyphonic reflections on the work of contemporary prophetic theologian Neale Donald Walsch. We explore the limitations and possibilities of language in spiritual experience. We develop the idea of sacred space, drawing on the stimulation of our spirituality that comes from sharing our diverse spiritual/religious perspectives, and from Bakhtinian perspectives on generative dialogue. We consider the many ways that family therapy can contribute to a global spiritual culture that respects human differences. We acknowledge the complex relationships between religion, pain and suffering.