Spirituality binds us together to overcome crisis or stress

  • Published
  • By Chaplain (Maj.) Nelson Toledo
  • 71st Flying Training Wing
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Whether we like it or not, the reality is there's a certain spirituality in us, driving our everyday decision making. We are different from animals that don't have the freedom of choice, self awareness or determination.
Throughout history there's some consensus we are matter and spirit, body and soul. This consensus says animals have a body but they don't have personality; angels or spirits have personality but they don't have a body. Only man has the body, spirit and personality. Because of this, spirituality can manage stress.
I have been a chaplain for more than 20 years and have seen how important my role is in diffusing stressful situations in military members' lives. Chaplains are also a reminder of the holy, and that God is always on our side in whatever difficulties we face. For example, I was in Royal Air Force Molesworth, England, a few years ago, dealing with short-notice deployment issues. Sensitive Compartmented Information security was required for all military people. The problem was deploying members couldn't even talk to their spouses or family about where they were going and how dangerous it was. This created a very stressful situation, and I counseled quite a few people. We don't have all the answers but our faith can put things in proper perspective, and we learn how to cope with it.
Spirituality is not necessarily religious or belonging to a religion, though our spiritual values can derive from our religious beliefs. It's something innate in our human nature. Spirituality to me is faith in someone higher than ourselves, call it God or a higher being. Someone we can turn to to know we are not totally in control of the events surrounding us. There are some situations where the more you push to be in control, the more stressful it is; the more we feel helpless, frustrated and discouraged.
Most of the time, we take for granted when things are stable and good. Someone once said to me, "I think of my faith like a hospital; when I need it, there is one around." Harold Kushner in his book, "Who Needs God," said religion (faith or spirituality) is not primarily a set of beliefs, a collection of prayers or a series of rituals. Religion is first and foremost a way of seeing. It can't change the facts about the world we live in, but it can change the way we see those facts. For doctors, illness and trauma are a challenge to practice their healing skills. For chaplains, they represent opportunities to make real the presence of God as a God who loves all of his creatures, not a God of judgment or detachment.
It is not easy to see all the time, especially in crisis situations. There are always blind spots in each and every one of us. But a man with faith or spirituality will look at this with patience and rely to a higher power who is in control. Psalm 130 expresses this very well, that crisis is temporary and we should have the determination to follow God's path even when it is rocky, and we should always have appreciation for life. Spirituality helps us not by changing the facts but by teaching us new ways of looking at those facts. We need somebody to talk to vent our issues. Someone you trust who is willing to listen and care (supervisors, friends or mentors). There is perhaps nothing sadder than experiencing intense joy or intense grief and having no one to share it with. The point is, spirituality binds us all together to overcome crisis or stressful situations.