MODULE 4

THE GMRC
TEACHER AS
GOD’S
MASTERPIECE
 LESSON 2:
Deepening One’s
Spirituality
 ACTIVITY
SELF- ASSESSMENT
The 29-item Spiritual Intelligence Questionnaire by
Abdollahzadeh et al (2009) is a measure of your
spiritual intelligence. Please read each item
carefully and place a check (/) mark under the
column that best
represents your answer using the rating scale
below. Please answer very honestly.
 ACTIVITY
Legend:

CA – Completely Agree
A – Agree
AA – Almost Agree
D- Disagree
CD – Completely Disagree
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
ACTIVITY
 ANALYSIS
Spiritual intelligence refers to the ability of
understanding deep spiritual questions and inner
insights which is the highest level of intelligence. It
is the complete inner consciousness, deep
awareness of the world, spirituality and the
hereafter.
 ANALYSIS
What is your level of spiritual intelligence?

What are the factors that contribute to your test

results?

Are you happy with your test results? Explain your

answer.

What steps will you take in order to improve your

level of spiritual intelligence?
 ABSTRACTION
Definition of Spirituality

Liebert & Dreiter (n.d) defined spirituality as the on-

going, transformational experience of intentional,
conscious engagement with the presence of God.
 ABSTRACTION
This engagement with divine presence can be seen to
involve three dynamics:
• Nurturing or preparing for interaction with the
presence of God
• The affective human experience of interaction with
the presence of God and
• Intentionally responding to that presence.
 ABSTRACTION
Definition of Spiritual Intelligence

According to Abdollahzadeh (2002), spiritual

intelligence is related to the relationship between man
and the universe, the world. Spiritual intelligence is the
concept of awareness of spirituality as a context for
existence or the power of creative life
 ABSTRACTION
Nature of Our Spiritual life
Henri Nouwen believed that the nature of our spiritual
life consists of a life apart in solitude with God
(communion), a life shared in community with God’s
people, and a life given in ministry to others
(commission). What ties these themes together- what
shapes the holistic picture of what the spiritual life is all
about – according to Henri Nouwen is the heart? In his
view, the heart is the operational focus of the spiritual
life.
 ABSTRACTION
Ways of Living in the Spirit

Henri Nouwen presents three ways to life in

the Spirit: flee, be silent, pray. In practice, Nouwen
views all three as integrated and foundational
habits of the heart that represent a unified pathway
to a heart-centered spiritual life. Solitude, silence,
and prayer, taken together as a spiritual package,
are for Nouwen, what essentially constitute the
solid foundation of our spiritual life in God.
 ABSTRACTION
1. PRAYER
The discipline of daily, faithful communion with the
Beloved is the foundation of the spiritual life
underneath all we do, say, and create. Prayer
represents the true essence of being one with God.
Communion is all about being in union with God in the
prayer. Prayer is considered by Nouwen to be the
“breath of the human existence” and consequently
occupies the very center of our spiritual life.
 ABSTRACTION
2. SOLITUDE
Henry Nouwen espouses that communing with God is
savored best, though by no means exclusively, within
the context of solitude, our experiential union with God
comes alive. Nouwen asserts that the measurement of
solitude is the measure of our capacity for communion.
The more we allow room for solitude in our hectic lives,
the more our sense of connectedness with God
deepens.
 ABSTRACTION
3. SOLITUDE AND SILENCE
Solitude and silence are the context within which prayer
is practiced. Solitudes invites silence. True silence has
to with the notion of rest – rest of body and mind, in
which we become available for him whose heart is
greater than ours, silence is the way to make solitude a
reality, in that it completes and intensifies the whole
experience. Silence is, solitude practiced in action…an
indispensable discipline in the spiritual life.”
 ABSTRACTION
4. SILENCE AND PRAYER
When you pray you open yourself to the influence of
power which has revealed itself as love, once touched
by this power…. You have found a center for your life.
Prayer represents the breath of our life. Permeating all
aspects of our lives. It is the unceasing recognition that
God is wherever we are, always inviting us to come
closer and to celebrate the divine gift of being alive. All
indeed is prayer.
 ABSTRACTION
Inward Presence
We are distracted people immersed in a noisy world. It
is hard to see or hear anything with clarity and be
present to oneself with all the static we are subjected to
day in and day out. And even more challenging task
than ridding ourselves of exterior noises is the
achievement of what Henri Nouwen refers to as “inner
silence, a silence of the heart”. He equates this state
with the idea of being present at home with oneself.
 ABSTRACTION
Outward Presence
Presence in an outward sense means being with, to,
and for the “other” in an attentive way. Cultivation of
this type of presence requires what we learn how to be
hospitable “soul host” to other people, strangers and
non-strangers alike. Being hospitable means the ability
to see and listen to others hospitably – with generous
spaciousness. Such expression of hospitality is a
ministry in and of itself.
 ABSTRACTION
Godward presence
The final kind of attentive presence is directed to the
Divine Presence. If inward presence is practiced via solitude and
outward presence via hospitality, Godward presence is practiced
through the avenue of prayer, specifically communing prayer –
perhaps the highest form of prayer- which focuses intimately on
our union with God. To Nouwen, prayer is the expression of a
most intimate relationship, and therefore the language itself
seems reserved within the vocabulary of “love, lovers, art, and
artists.”
 ABSTRACTION
The Spirituality of the Teacher
The teachers who most deeply influenced and inspired student
were not necessarily the most brilliant or creative. Rather, they
were the ones who might even call “saintly”, the ones who
presented a genuine warmth and caring he/she took as an
indication of a healthy spiritual life. Because of their depth of
character, the information they conveyed too on creative power,
became transformative – even though others could have
presented the topics with the more
accuracy, elegant subtlety, academic insight or
intellectual acumen.
 ABSTRACTION
Teaching Spirituality
Spirituality is essentially a self-implicating discipline.
Teaching spirituality is a process of conveying to
another a life-style, character. A shaping of a soul it is
more a process of nurturing have been steeped in the
spirituality taught. So that the student may also be
formed in that way as carefully as possible. To try to
teach a spirituality not engaged by the teacher is to
dishonor those who truly engage it and to cheapen the
spirituality itself.
 ABSTRACTION
The Role of Spirituality in the Classroom
One characteristic of teaching is the need to make
meaning out of the lived experience of the classroom
by developing a set of beliefs or concepts that organize
and order the daily interactions with students. It is this
system of meaning making and its corresponding set of
pedagogical beliefs that allow educators to make
judgments about which classroom interactions the way
they do them often turn inward for answers.
 APPLICATION
Answer the following reflection questions:
1. How do you personally experience communing with God, in
accordance with your own personality – where
you can truly feel God’s pleasure and delight?

2. When was the last time you wasted time hanging out with
God, without any agenda in mind except to enjoy
God’s presence? What was that like, and how did that make you
feel? What prevents you from engaging in
this experience more often?
 APPLICATION
3. As you ponder upon your own spiritual journey, how
has your community life as a student teacher enriched
your relationship with God? How have you experienced
transformation as a result of your communal
engagement?

4. How would you live out the insights that you have
gained from this module, particularly on your own
spirituality and the role of spirituality in the classroom?
Thank you!