ABSTRACT
The West produced the idea of “religion” as a separate sphere of culture. Art, government, and medicine, for example, now distinct enterprises, were formerly expressions of a pervasive spiritual impulse or energy. Medicine was a largely spiritual practice in Western culture until relatively recently. The sense of unity in the culture was, to use the words of the English poet and clergyman John Donne, “all in pieces, all coherence gone.” Scientific and technological advances, especially since the American Civil War, further parted medicine and spirituality. In recent decades, the spiritual dimension of healing has been increasingly recognized as an essential component in health care. “Religion is an experience which no definition exhausts,” so it is not surprising that hundreds of definitions of religion and related terms have been proposed. A caregiver can be more effective by attending to the patient’s sense of spirituality expressed in personal values, beliefs, and practices, especially when difficult decisions are required.
