‘Re-souling daily life’ – towards a restored spirituality of the Sabbath as a cure for ‘societal madness’

In a world of busyness bordering on ‘madness’ (referring here to fanatical and foolish behaviour and not to serious mental illness), technological dominance, and constant, unreflective activity, a renewed spirituality of the Sabbath is essential for a flourishing, fulfilling and spiritual life, for both children and adults. The topics of silence, leisure and to a smaller extent Sabbath, have been treated in a limited number of articles within this journal – hence the relevance and timeliness of this contribution. This article begins with working descriptions of spirituality. It then proceeds to an examination of the nature of societal ‘madness’ as insanity. The article also explores Jewish, Christian and Benedictine perspectives on the topic, and points throughout to a range of values and disciplines that might assist the reclamation of a sustained Sabbath consciousness and the ‘re-souling’ (renewing, re-Spiriting) of everyday life, such as ‘mindful walking’

Social work and spirituality in a secular society

&bull; Summary: In an increasingly secular era which finds only a small minority of the population regularly participating in organized religion, there is emerging interest in how spirituality can be incorporated into social work practice. This article proposes one way in which this might occur in `deliberately secular\u27 nations such as Australia.&bull; Findings: A framework in which spirituality is considered to be an aspect of lived experience is proposed. Dimensions of life which can be incorporated into such a framework include life rituals, creativity, social action, and sense of place.&bull; Applications : Conceptualizing spirituality in a way which does not use specifically religious language or concepts, may enable discussion of spiritual issues to be incorporated into social work practice when either practitioners or service users have or no religious background or affiliation or no shared religious background.<br /