FORT BUCHANAN, PUERTO RICO—Maj Okpe F. Joseph, Fort Buchanan Chaplain, and Staff Sgt. Juan Merced, Religious Affairs Specialist, conducted a spiritual resiliency class at the installation headquarters on April 8. The class was part of the Army's Building Strong and Ready Teams program, an Army command-directed, chaplain-led, community-partnered effort that strengthens spiritual readiness for the workforce and families.
"Life has happy times but also presents speed bumps here and there. How do we manage the adversities of life? The answer is not just resiliency, but spiritual resiliency," said Okpe.
According to Army doctrine, Spiritual readiness is the ability to sustain oneself through all aspects of life, especially during times of stress, hardship, or tragedy. It involves improving one's spiritual posture through a self-directed process and is informed by religious, philosophical, and human values. These core values form that individual's sense of purpose, identity, motivation, character, and integrity.
As part of the class, participants had to complete a spiritual resiliency self-assessment that captured how each person handles adversity in their lives.
"Our goal today is that you can identify those areas of improvement in your spiritual resiliency," said Okpe.
During the discussion, Okpe also established the difference between religion and spirituality.
"Religion is a specific set of organized beliefs and practices, usually shared by a community or group. Spirituality is not religion. Spirituality is more of an individual practice involving a sense of peace and purpose. Everyone is spiritual, but we are not all religious. We demonstrate it differently," said Okpe.
According to Okpe, the Fort Buchanan Religious Support Office will be conducting these classes in different directorates.
"The purpose is to maintain a balanced, healthy Army and develop prepared service members, civilians, and families, whose perseverance allows them to continue forward in a time of persistent conflicts," added Okpe.
A military chaplain's responsibilities include conducting religious services, providing counseling, and serving the religious needs of troops and the workforce, regardless of their religion. Chaplains serve all faiths and denominations.
To find out more information about spiritual resiliency or the many services that the Fort Buchanan Religious Affairs Office offers, visit Building 292 Freedom's Gateway, the Post Chapel located at Building 183 Freedom's Gateway, or contact (787) 707-4008 / (787) 707-3405.
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