Original Research - Special Collection: Practical Theology

Spirituality in narratives of meaning

Francois Wessels, Julian C. Müller
HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies | Vol 69, No 2 | a1187 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v69i2.1187 | © 2013 Francois Wessels, Julian C. Müller | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 18 October 2011 | Published: 23 January 2013

About the author(s)

Francois Wessels, Department of Practical Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa
Julian C. Müller, Department of Practical Theology, University of Pretoria, South Africa

Abstract

This article forms part of a study which was inspired by the ever-growing need for significance expressed both by my life coaching and pastoral therapy clients as well as the need for existential meaning reported both in the lay press and academic literature. The study reflected on a life that matters with a group of co-researchers in a participatory action research relationship. The study has been positioned within pastoral theology and invited the theological discourse into a reflection of existential meaning. Adopting a critical relational constructionist epistemology, the research was positioned within a postmodern paradigm. The implications for meaning and research were explored and described. This article tells the story of how spirituality was positioned in the narratives of meaning by my fellow researchers.

Keywords

meaningful life; spirituality; narrative; existential meaning; relational constructionist epistemology

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Crossref Citations

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