Like the scientist, I might have been finding a spiritual self-affirmation in my own writing and the “truth” I have “discovered” (at last for myself) in collaboration with other people. I might have been creative in my caring for my mother, colleagues and family members – without being aware of this “creativity.”

It might be in the “spirited” way I have come to act on my ultimate concerns that my secular life has yielded meaning and purpose for me.  Yet, I have not recognized this spirit—even as it displayed itself in my purple chakra! I wrote “HOW” when first reading this book, for I didn’t know how to do much with the ethereal words that Paul Tillich wrote. I “liked” what he had to say and was moved by the speech he gave on Easter Sunday morning at the Harvard Chapel. Yet, I asked “HOW.” I suspect that the answer to “HOW” came in the priorities I have established and actions I have taken since leaving Harvard.

Paul Tillich might also be supportive of my efforts to come to terms with my spirituality in this essay and during moments I have reflecting on and surfaced emotions related to the content of this essay. For Tillich (1952, p.47), concerns about spirituality are of greatest, ultimate importance—the failure to address these concerns leaves us in a very dark psychic space:

“The spiritual life [should be] taken seriously . . .it is a matter of ultimate concern. And this again presupposes that in it and through it ultimate reality becomes manifest. A spiritual life in which this is not experienced is threatened by nonbeing in the two forms in which it attacks spiritual self-affirmation: emptiness and meaninglessness.”

Paul Tillich, William James, Carl Jung, George Klein, Parker Palmer and the other theological psychologists and philosophers I have cited are to be appreciated and thanked for their spiritual guidance. I am coming to a new appreciation of the gifts I have received and the opportunity I still have to lead an active “spirited” life that is filled with purpose and enacted in a world that is rich with meaning.

Spirituality and Coaching

I can address the matter of spirituality and coaching not only from my own experiences and the analyses I have just offered, but also from the perspective offered by my senior coaching colleagues who attended the New Executive Coaching Summit that our Library (LPC) sponsored in April of 2022. Held at a Bed and Breakfast Inn located on the edge of the sea in Harpswell Maine, this free-wheeling conference involved a set of conversations held over three days among 24 men and women who came with extensive and highly diverse experiences in the field of professional coaching.

Though spirituality was not originally on the conference agenda, the Open Space technology that we employed as facilitators of the conference enabled this theme to rapidly emerge as one of the key focal points. Two major issues were being addressed. First, is it appropriate to bring spirituality into a coaching session? If so, how is it best addressed? Second, what are the primary concerns embedded in any spiritual journey?