Spiritual Renewal

1. Spiritual Renewal Faith-based Activities in University Fitness and Adventure Courses That Encourage Spiritual Development Christian Society for Kinesiology & Leisure Studies June 2011 Lorraine Wilson, Ed.D. Abilene Christian University Abilene, TX

2. Introduction • Query • Departmental Faculty • CSKLS on Facebook • Responses: Fitness and Adventure Course Teachers • Department: 60% replied, which covered most classes of interest • Facebook: 0 (one comment, no informational replies) • Readings and Personal Reflection

3. Faith & Fitness Simple Beginning: Scripture in Each Course Syllabus

4. Yoga • Christian emphasis in music • Meditation based on scripture or prayer • Boot Camp • Scripture of the day • Walk/Jog for Fitness • Scripture on Lunsford Trail • Post signs/write with chalk on sidewalk • Swimming for Fitness • Prayer lap(s)

5. First Aid/CPR/AED • Prayer circle • Reflection paper • Health Courses • VOW • Note writing • God’s principles • Program Planning • Daily scripture reading • FBI program plan • Leadership/Mgmt • Daily scripture reading • Leadership principles from the Bible

6. Kinesiology • We are intricate, amazing creations of God • Prayer requests • Lifetime Wellness • Spiritual wellness assessment • Faith Triathlon • Journaling • Gratitude, Prayer • Barnabas Note • Virtual Vacation • Reflection Paper

7. Faith in Adventure Simple Beginning: Scripture in Each Course Syllabus

8. Scuba Diving • Logbook • Video Story • Dive Briefings and De-briefings (Reef Ministry) • Scrapbook • Traditional • Digital

9. Snowskiing • Evening Praise & Prayer Time • Invite persons off the mountain to join in the devotionals • Discussion of our reputation at the lodge due to our behavior as different than many other ski trip groups

10. Backpacking & Canoe Camping • Devotionals • Reflective dialogue about spiritual/fellowship/faith • Q & A sessions • “What did you learn today?” • “What were you thankful to God for today?” • “How have you grown in this Christian community?”

11. Outdoor Adventure • Direct focus on spiritual renewal, thus frequent discussion of physical, spiritual, social and emotional wellness • Journaling • Personal collage • Devotional • Reflection Paper

12. Encouraging Spiritual Development

13. Facing Our Faith But you desire honesty from the heart, so you can teach me to be wise in my inmost being. Psalm 51:6 Participants in our courses can be guided to ask themselves: What’s my story? What’s my experience of God? Indwelling faith can be expressed outwardly as we grow from the reflection and sharing. Struggles can be seen as shared and placed in a healthy perspective.

14. “Commemorate” days/events/moments in our lives that have spiritual significance. • “Seek and you will find…” - Explore your faith journey through alternating physical challenges and peace-filled moments. • Your journal, devotional thoughts, collage, photos, videos, digital story, etc… become “a sacred place to record and request, to highlight and honor, to celebrate and surrender to the movement of God in your life.” (Soneff, 9)

15. Wilderness Benefits Baylor Johnson: Spiritual Benefits of Wilderness • The Enduring ~ encountering and enduring through the direct experience of wilderness where we come face to face with ancient things and timeless cycles • The Sublime ~ the power of the wilderness and its capacity to incite awe, to bring us spiritual joy and peace despite the difficult circumstances it can set for us (exhaustion, challenge, deprivation) • Beauty ~ seeing, smelling, feeling beauty that is more than for the eye alone

16. Competence ~ successfully meeting challenges empowers us and these feelings contribute to the calm, quiet spirit we often sense in the outdoors • Experience of Peace ~ the product of all the other benefits combined, physical removal from everyday anxieties and meeting immediate challenges outdoors leaves us feeling peaceful, worthy and open to spiritual meanings • Self-forgetting ~ again, the product of all the other benefits, which command our attention, leaving little room for direct concern with self

17. Spiritual Backcountry Paul E. Marsh: Backcountry Adventure as Spiritual Experience • Attributes – Consequences – Values • Adventure opportunities play a major role in providing the setting for personal wellbeing and spiritual development. • Solitude • Skill development • Tranquility • Beauty

18. Participants valued: • Transcendent experiences • Increased self-awareness, connection to nature and appreciation/gratitude • Sense of peace, fulfillment, restoration and confidence • Implications: • Design and facilitate additional adventure recreation and education programs focused on offering a spiritual outcome • Strengthen links between exercise-health attributes, skill and spiritual development; support introspection, reflection, etc.

19. Spiritual Development Paul Heintzman: A Conceptual Model of Leisure and Spiritual Well-Being “…leisure experiences, which involve an interplay of time, activity, motivation and setting, have the potential to provide contexts in which the spiritual is explored rather than repressed… In addition, a leisure style provides repeated opportunities to translate leisure experiences of a spiritual nature into spiritual development.

20. Activities The Tried, The True and The New

21. The Tried, The True • Devotionals • Journaling • Prayer (Acknowledge, Confess, Thanks, Supplication) • Personal Reflections (written or spoken) • Scrapbooking (traditional or digital) • Video Story • Course Evaluation

22. Journaling Photo-Journaling

23. Scrapbooking

24. The New Ashley Denton: The V.I.S.I.O.N. Scripture Study Plan “For some reason when I’m out in the wilderness alone with God, that uninterrupted space helps me focus my heart’s attention on God’s voice.” One of the greatest gifts we give to people is to lead them to the feet of Jesus in the wilderness where both silence and natural sounds help us hear God in the place, through the pages of scripture and the practice of prayer.

25. V.I.S.I.O.N. • Verse • Inspect • Seek to Understand • Implement • Obvious Question? • Nuisance (anticipated obstacles)

26. Digital Story Telling • What is your passion, insight, and motivation for the story? • Write for the moment. Who am I in the moment? • Who is my audience? • 250-375 word script for 2-3 minutes of story • 1 minute of film = approx. 3 hours of editing (at first)

27. Story Telling Steps • Owning your insight • Owning your emotions • Finding the moment • Seeing your story • Hearing your story • Assembling your story • Sharing your story

28. Story Circle Ground Rules • 5-8 persons • 10 minutes per person • Do not interrupt the speaker • Critique: Always begin with “Would you like some feedback?” and honor the person’s response. • Be sensitive: “If it were my story, I…” or ask “How did…?” or “What did…?” and so on

29. Personal Story TellingandCollaborative Story Telling • The videos in the original power point are large files that are not available on this website. Ebb and Flow and Spiritual Renewal: Big Bend will be available on YouTube.

30. Resources • Handout includes notes and resources • Center for Digital Story Telling • ACU AT&T Learning Studio Apology: Scripture in Big Bend film should be Psalm 100 not Psalm 1 – I will edit this later.