Ask a room to define “spiritual readiness,” and you’ll likely get as many different answers as there are people.
Does it mean adding meditation exercises to physical training?
Or making space for more religious accommodations?
Is it just behavioral health by a different name?
Or overreaching the separation between church and state?
What does spiritual readiness really mean?
Ultimately, I’m a big believer in defining your terms — and “spirituality” is a hotly contested term for a reason. Experts from across disciplines have sought to put parameters on exactly what it means.
So — for the sake of any discussions on whether spiritual readiness has a place in the military — let’s get clear about what spiritual readiness has meant for the Army.
Dr. Lisa Miller, clinical scientist and psychologist at Columbia University, partnered with the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps beginning in 2020 to pilot a program initiated by Chaplain (Major General) Thomas Solhljem, the 25th Chief of Chaplains of the United States Army. You may remember that the pilot started here at Fort Liberty in the fall of 2020 to address the pandemic and big military challenges while building spiritual readiness as defined by Field Manual FM 7-22 Holistic Health and Fitness, the publication outlining Army doctrine for holistic soldier readiness.
In her book “Spiritual Child,” Miller offers a definition rooted in both the studies of religion and mental health:
“Spirituality is an inner sense of relationship to a higher power that is loving and guiding. The word we give to this higher power might be God, nature, spirit, the universe, the creator, or other words that represent a divine presence. But the important point is that spirituality encompasses our relationship and dialogue with this higher presence.”
Miller emphasizes that it is not necessarily one’s beliefs or religious affiliation, but beliefs, practice, and a sense of positive dialogue with a higher power that is shown to prove the most beneficial.
According to Miller’s peer-reviewed research featured in “Spiritual Child”, spirituality exists at birth and develops with time and experience like other thought processes, such as thinking and feeling.
In her words, “[spirituality] comes as naturally to children as their fascination with a butterfly or a twinkling star-filled sky.” Though aspects are inborn, spirituality is cultivated by caregivers and experiences over time, hopefully providing language and a spiritual capacity from which individuals will operate in every area of life — such as serving in the military.
Each branch of the military defines “spiritual readiness” differently.
Dr. Harold Koenig, professor at Duke University Health Systems was a co-leader of the 2022 Professional Development Training Course for chaplains of the Navy, Marines and Coast Guard, and is a regular presenter to the U.S. Army and U.S. Air Force on spiritual readiness.
In his 2023 book “Spiritual Readiness: Essentials for Military Leaders and Chaplains,” Koenig and the other authors define spirituality in accordance with the military branch definitions. One excerpt from the Army definition, for example, reads: “Spiritual readiness strengthens as individuals identify their spiritual dimension—their purpose, core values, beliefs, identity, and life vision (Field Manual, 3-5).”
Koenig makes a case for the fact that spiritual readiness should be more than a two-hour training to check a box — when implemented effectively, spiritual readiness can help prepare service members to manage the inner conflicts caused by experiences of war.
Koenig captures the ways in which both religious and non-religious measures can help to cultivate greater spiritual readiness. The Duke Spiritual Aptitudes Inventory was validated in a sample of soldiers from right here at Fort Liberty.
This inventory measures four well-known, validated measures: sense of purpose and meaning; sense of control over one’s health; religious practice and intrinsic religious belief; and religious struggle. By taking this inventory at key points in a service member’s journey, one can observe spiritual health over time.
In full transparency, when I’m not writing, I’m also a minister in seminary. This is not an objective take. And it just barely scratches the surface.
But in the words of the peer-reviewed expert, Koenig: “Not only will ‘healthy’ religious and non-religious sources of [spiritual readiness] help to prevent the development of emotional problems and destructive behaviors, but they could also contribute to human flourishing in ways that maximize the warrior’s ability to successfully accomplish missions and experience lasting peace after their service.”
So to what degree does your own spiritual readiness impact your experience in the military? Let’s talk about it.
Aria Spears writes for CityView’s Homefront initiative. She’s a writer, communications professional and civic leadership enthusiast. With a master’s degree in nonprofit and civic leadership, Aria can be found exploring cities, persuading people to join local civic boards and sharing her book “The Community Mapping Journal.” When it comes to active-duty military family life, she believes that joy makes us strong.
