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Nativity Visio Divina, University Of Dayton, Bridget Retzloff

Reports and Promotional Materials

This prayer uses art to bring one to a meditative/contemplative state. Download the document to view the artwork and read the scriptural passage. It includes several components:

lectio/listening: Be still in mind and body. Breathe slowly, calling on the Holy Spirit to fill your heart. Savor the text and notice any word or phrase that captures your attention.

visio/gazing: Gaze at the artwork before you. Let each figure teach you something about how to trust and follow Jesus. Notice what captures your attention in the artwork.

meditatio/reflection: Reflect on what you have seen and heard. How do you connect with …

Finding Words For God: Poetic Foraging In Louise Glück's The Wild Iris, Rachel Cardall

Theses and Dissertations

The primary speaker of Louise Glück's The Wild Iris is a wanderer in her own garden. She relentlessly searches for God among her foxgloves and daisies, straining to hear God's voice. Two other speakers, God and the collective plants of the garden, offer their perspectives without acknowledgement by the human speaker. Many critics read these two other speakers as, in fact, narcissistic projections of the human speaker, a God and a world made in her own image. In this thesis, I clarify that the kind of narcissistic projection that occurs in The Wild Iris is actually productive for genuine spiritual …

Prayer’S Effect On Love And Respect In Christian Married Couples, Gabrielle Knorr Keenum

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study explored the relationship of Christian religious couples between marital prayer, either with spouse or for spouse, and the Biblical directive found in the New Testament that husbands and wives should both love and respect their spouse. Previous research is explored which finds multiple benefits religiosity and prayer have upon a couple’s relationship. The benefits of religiosity include couples view marriage as sacred and God as their moral authority which produces higher marital satisfaction and marital commitment. Benefits of relational prayer include increased trust, increased marital satisfaction, increased forgiveness, higher ability to resolve marital conflict, lower marital infidelity, higher …

A Predictive Correlational Study On The Effect Of Prayer On Burnout In Secondary Private School Teachers Who Identify As Christians, Malinda Fennell Apanay

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this predictive correlational study was to examine the predictive relationship among five prayer types and burnout in secondary private school teachers who identify as Christian. Previous research indicates an increase in burnout in secondary teachers, but few studies focus on secondary private school teachers or the effect of prayer against the dimensions of burnout: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and low personal accomplishment. Participants included 102 high school teachers from the Atlanta, GA metro area who voluntarily and anonymously took the Maslach Burnout Inventory- Educator Survey and Multidimensional Prayer Inventory surveys through an online platform in the spring of …

Best Practices In Prayer: Are Some Forms Of Prayer Better Than Others For A Healthcare Patient's Well-Being?, Tyler Michener Garth

Masters Theses

Spiritual Assessment is the central contribution of chaplains to an interdisciplinary team. If it is confirmed that prayer is beneficial, and, furthermore, that certain prayer types are more beneficial than others; should not the patient’s spiritual assessment include recognition of whether he has been participating in the most beneficial forms of prayer as opposed to those less beneficial (and perhaps why)? If prayer is integral to patient well-being, then absence of prayer, or using prayer types of least benefit for the well-being of the patient, should be noted as of potential clinical importance on the patient’s chart. In this study, …

"God Put It Into My Heart": Omen-Seeking And Divine Communication Narratives In Contemporary American Protestantism, Emma Crisp

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This project examines omen-seeking practices within Protestant Christianity in the U.S. Intermountain West. It collates and analyzes the results of ethnographic research into the ways that mainline Protestants experience, interpret, and talk about their personal spiritual experiences. The project finds that divinatory and other omen-seeking practices exist in this context but are not recognized or discussed as divinatory due to the conflation of divination with sortilege and the prevalence of prayer as the primary solicitation method for Protestant forms of augury. Emic categories of omen are distinguished not through generation method (such as the solicited/unsolicited distinction proposed by Tom Mould), …

Christians' Experiences Of Conscious Contact With God And Spiritual Awakening Within Twelve Step Programs, John D. Goddard

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the lived experiences of Christians with conscious contact with God and spiritual awakening as a result of prayer and meditation within the context of steps 11 and 12 of the Twelve Step Programs (TSPs) and Christian Twelve Step Programs (CTSPs). The theories guiding this study were existential, transpersonal, and biblical Christianity. Existential theory emphasizes the value of understanding the subjective meaning of phenomena and transpersonal theory bridges psychological and spiritual practices thus allowing this study to derive psychologically meaningful data from descriptions of spiritual experiences and practices (prayer and meditation). A …

The Nature And Importance Of Christian Spirituality, Gilbert Perez

Obsculta

This short work is a meditation on Exodus 3:11, where Moses asks God who he is to do what God has commanded. Spiritual Theology has to do with the persons' interior life and its importance to theology and Christian life as a whole. Many Christians cannot explain in detail about their spirituality and it poses many problems as much as many opportunities what it can mean for Christian life if it is better understood.

“On A Word And A Prayer”: Education, Prayer, And The Affirmation Of Faith, Claire Katz

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Three Paradoxes Of Prayer, Daniel H. Weiss

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Pragmatic Cataphasis: Plenitude And Caution In Morning Prayer (Taking Up Daniel Weiss’ Challenge), Peter Ochs

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Speaking “You” Theologically: A Response To Daniel Haskell Weiss’ “The (Odd) Deixis Of ‘You’ In Rabbinic Prayer”, Randi Rashkover

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Prayer, Pronouns, And Reference To God, Michael Walsh Dickey

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Thou, So To Speak: Dei-Xis, Adam Zachary Newton

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

The (Odd) Deixis Of ‘You’ In Rabbinic Prayer, Daniel H. Weiss

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

Introduction, Daniel H. Weiss

Journal of Textual Reasoning

No abstract provided.

The Role Of Spirituality For Successful Established Women Entrepreneurs, Valaurie Bridges Lee

Business Administration Dissertations

What drives entrepreneurs to persevere? Particularly, what drives women entrepreneurs to endure given they are faced with sexism, discrimination, and racism? What do they attribute their success to? What sustains them and motivates them to continue to maintain their businesses? Why established women entrepreneurs (EWEs) remain business owners is an under-researched phenomenon. This study aimed to examine the role of spirituality in the success of EBEs. Studies have been dedicated to nascent entrepreneurs as it relates to why many of them begin the journey, but why they remain entrepreneurs is not completely clear. It has been shown that women are …

Praying While White: Preparing The Soil For The Work Of Antiracism, Laura Boysen-Aragon

LMU/LLS Theses and Dissertations

Racism, White supremacy, and Whiteness are deeply ingrained in U.S. society and in our U.S. Catholic Church. White U.S. Catholics are infected with these sins, even our prayer can be tainted. We, who continue to benefit from White privilege and who are descendants of those who created White supremacy, are responsible for bringing an end to its reign with God’s help. In order to heal, we must recognize our sin and repent. Repentance is deeply rooted in our tradition and is a necessary spiritual practice for White U.S. Catholics to prepare the soil for individual, communal, and systemic changes to …

Reviving A Dying Church: The Role Of Leadership, Jane Thayer

Faculty Publications

A pastor known for his church planting skills was brought into a declining/dying church in Maryland, USA, and with his leadership team, turned the church around in three-and-a-half years. A case study method was used to explore this pastor and congregation’s willingness to “pay the cost” to bring new people into the church. They focused on children’s ministry, evangelism, discipleship, prayer, small groups, meals, and vision—knowing why they engaged in each ministry.

Understanding Self-Talk On A Mirror Tracing Task: A Qualitative Inquiry, Carissa M. Palacios, David Cutton Ph.D., Amber M. Shipherd

International Journal of Exercise Science: Conference Proceedings

Gaining a better understanding of self-talk (ST) or interior dialogue while performing a novel psychomotor task (mirror tracing task) was explored using a phenomenological approach in which recorded results were compared to the ST data of diverse research disciplines. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to more fully understand ST (what) and its reported functions (why) while performing a fine motor task. METHODS: Participants, asked to complete three trials of the task, were presented with two open-ended questions regarding their inherent ST before, during and after each trial of the task: (1) self-reported ST, “What specific ST are …

Knowing And Loving God : A Spiritual Formation Journey, Tania Van Dongen

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Developing Hearts And Minds: How Field Experiences Informed And Inspired Students In A Ba Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Program, Jolene Pearson

Education Faculty Publications

This study is a qualitative analysis of the reflective journals and prayers of thirteen pre-service students enrolled in a BA early childhood teacher preparation program at a faith-based university in the mid-west. While the journal entry and prayer were required, students were told they were to write freely in their journal entry and include a freely written prayer about anything that was important to them or caught their attention. This opportunity to write freely resulted in students writing and praying about their experiences in organic, authentic, descriptive, and reflective ways. Their journal and prayer entries provided insights into the multi-faceted …

D. Elton Trueblood: Dean Of American Religious Writing, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

It is with great delight that HarperCollins has given the Trueblood family permission to republish any of Elton Trueblood's books that they should choose. Harpers had published thirty of his books between 1936 and 197 4, and Elton's momentous volumes earned him the title of "Dean of American Religious Writing" in the middle-to-late 20th century. I had already edited and published his book on Lincoln under a new title, with a new foreword by award-winning journalist Gustav Niebuhr, timed to coincide with the Lincoln movie that came out in 2012. 1 Elton's most important book, A Place to Stand, then …

"Foreword" To A Place To Stand, Paul N. Anderson

Faculty Publications - George Fox School of Theology

Known as "the Dean of American Religious Writing," D. Elton Trueblood did for American audiences something similar to what C.S. Lewis achieved in Britain. He helped believers em­ brace their faith and to give an account for the hope that is with­ in them (I Peter 3: 15). Author of thirty-one books, followed by a half-dozen collections of his essays, Trueblood also encouraged generations of other emerging writers so that his influence was multiplied many times over. Addressing such issues as the vitali­zation of the church and the equipping of the laity for ministry, he did more to inspire "thinking …

To Make The Attempt, Isaac James Richards

BYU Studies Quarterly

Fall, not spring.

Idaho, not New York.

Dusk, not dawn.

Still, a prayer

A Register Analysis Of Public Prayers, Lindsey Newton, Brett Hashimoto

BYU Studies Quarterly

Prayer, as defined by scholars Corwin and Brown, is “a form of ritual language . . . [that] affords humans the possibility to communicate with non-human others.” As a linguistic register (that is, a variety of language defined by an area of use, such as academic research articles, text messages, sermons, or blog posts), it denotes communication with an unseen being, primarily in a religious context. However, “despite the importance of religion and ritual in anthropology, prayer, a key component of religious practices and institutions, has received very little empirical attention.” This is partially because the complexity of religion as …

Human Interaction With The Divine, The Sacred, And The Deceased: Topics That Warrant Increased Attention By Psychologists, Thomas G. Plante, Gary E. Schwartz, Julie J. Exline, Crystal L. Park, Raymond F. Paloutzian, Rüdiger J. Seitz, Hans-Ferdinand Angel

Psychology

Humans have likely been attempting to communicate with entities believed to exist, such as the divine, sacred beings, and deceased people, since the dawn of time. Across cultures and countries, many believe that interaction with the immaterial world is not only possible but a frequent experience. Most religious traditions across the globe focus many rituals and activities around prayer to an entity deemed divine or sacred. Additionally, many people–religious, agnostic, and atheists alike–report communication with their departed loved ones. During highly stressful times associated with natural disasters, war, pandemics, and other threats to human life, the frequency and intensity of …