How does the existence of God, or a higher power, make itself apparent in our own story as human beings? The evidence of divine presence would have to be in a form that we human beings could recognize. While we have empirical ways of evaluating facts, the presence of God would require us to acknowledge a different dimension to our own. It would have to include relationship on a higher scale, evidence of care and involvement, and perhaps also stories from our history demonstrating the continuity of this greater relationship with humankind.

The human intellect, being grounded in time and space can never comprehend God's story in full. Yet the human heart takes us further; through its actions we see the Divine at work. In this chapter I would like to explore how that divine presence may be felt, experienced and recognized in the narratives of individuals’ lives and in their communities. In particular, I hope to show how spiritual narrative can help people with mental health problems connect with this greater being and purpose.

I begin with a story about the desert, and how this desert experience was reflected in the lives of the ‘desert experience’ that individuals go through in a psychiatric hospital. I will then look at how different levels of reality – especially the spiritual one – can be accessed through metaphor or stories. Conclusions will then be drawn from these experiences and examples.

Spirituality: belonging to more than myself