The Spiritual Dimension of Childhood

This book emerged from a conference on children's spirituality held in 2006. It contains a useful discussion of the nature and meaning of contemporary spirituality, observations which also apply to children, especially the assertion that spirituality is a natural human predisposition that represents a sense of connectedness and may also be associated with a movement towards 'absolute unitary being.' The authors go on to look at the dangers of silencing children's spiritual voices, the inner worlds that they inhabit and different contexts for spirituality, comparing Australia with Europe. There is also an interesting chapter on the impact of spiritual dreams on children's lives, with a couple of fascinating examples. Chapters also include practical suggestions for those working with children to help them nurture their spirituality.