ABSTRACT
If you undertake a literature search using the term ‘spiritual’ or ‘spirituality’, you will soon find yourself submerged in a wide variety of literature, ranging from orthodox religion to the very broad and at times bizarre. If you add the words ‘health’ or ‘palliative care’ to your search, the number of responses diminishes but is still extensive, and you become aware of the number of new books and articles entitled ‘Spirituality and …’ or ‘Spirituality in …’. All of this indicates the enormous growth in interest in spirituality and spiritual care, which still remains for many an awkward topic to explore for themselves, and a very intrusive area to explore with others. As Cobb comments:
Spiritual … may suffer from being used in such a generic form that it has become too malleable and therefore lost its distinguishing features. This points to a further aspect of the conundrum: the ambiguity of spirituality and the elusiveness of clarification. Spirituality therefore becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, respectfully ring-fenced and considered out of bounds to examination, research and exposition.1
