by Phoebe Girard

Along with her husband Frederic Brussat, Mary Ann Brussat is director of the multifaith website Spirituality and Practice. In addition, the Brussats are the authors of Spiritual Literacy: Reading the Sacred in Everyday Life (1998), a collection of short passages that reveal a spiritual perspective on everyday life. A companion book, Spiritual Rx: Prescriptions for Living a Meaningful Life (2001), outlines how to practice key spiritual qualities recognized by the world’s religions. Frederic is a minister in the United Church of Christ, and Mary Ann is an interfaith minister. In the following interview, Mary Ann offers perspectives on the Web as a medium for spiritual inspiration in work with older adults.

Can you explain briefly to our readers the nature of Web-based spirituality and practice?

The full name of our website is Spirituality and Practice: Resources for Spiritual Journeys. The Web offers easy and inexpensive access to religious and spiritual information -- what we call "resources for spiritual journeys." On our site, we make sure that our postings about different religious and spiritual traditions are authentic and that they represent the direct teachings of the practitioner.

Our site's name, I think, also reflects another aspect of the spiritual journey. Spirituality and practice are the two places where all the world's religions and spiritual paths come together. Our website helps people formulate their practices in order to better experience the world and the divine.

We have organized our site around 37 key practices common to all the world's religions -- for example, compassion, kindness, devotion, hope, peace and silence. Visitors can read excerpts from our book about each practice and get film and music recommendations. They can read quotes about the practice. They can try a simple prayer or exercise to actually experience that practice or do a project with their family or community.

What other programs and resources are available via the Spirituality and Practice site?

We've also developed a series of "Practicing Spirituality" e-courses that are similar to an online retreat. Each e-course consists of 40 emails, usually delivered daily. Each message contains a short passage from a teacher along with a suggestion for how to practice the teaching that day. Courses have covered the world's religions and have explored the wisdom of teachers such as Jesus, Rumi, Thomas Merton, Pema Chödrön, Thich Nhat Hanh and Henri Nouwen.

This year, we added a community-building opportunity to the e-courses. Subscribers get access to an online "practice circle" where they can share their reactions to the day's reading and talk about their experience with the practice suggestion. The practice circle is only available to e-course subscribers. Practice circle dialogue has been deep and powerful, and the groups have developed into very supportive communities. We know from profiles and comments that many of those posting in the practice circle are elders.

Why is a simple email program such a good way to provide both spiritual information and community? A majority of elders are comfortable with an email format. Whereas most enrichment or spiritual growth takes place in the setting of a church, continuing education class or retreat facility, our programs come directly to elders. They can access the program when or where it is convenient and participate at a level that is comfortable for them.

Participants tell us that the e-courses have helped them develop and deepen their spiritual practice. The courses have also helped combat the isolation and loneliness of the spiritual path by providing connection with others, provided support during life transitions, and heal family wounds and relationships.

How have the new possibilities for interpersonal exchange offered by the Web opened avenues for inspiration for elders?

We have discovered that one reason that there is very open sharing in our e-course practice circles is that people can be anonymous. They choose their own display name and do not have to have a public profile; we do not display email addresses. This means that people can talk about issues in the practice circle that they may not want to talk about with family, friends or church communities. A private online community, in a way, is similar to a 12-step program.

Are there any potential downsides or ways in which the programs might undermine healthy spirituality?

The format can be challenging for folks resistant to using computers. It is just as easy to hide behind masks and resistances in an online group as in any group, and there is no leader to encourage you to move beyond your habitual patterns. We find that these programs work best for people who are self-starters.

Concerning pastoral work with older adults, is networking via email newsletters, blogs and other Internet-based media creating new connections for sustaining pastoral work?

We know that many of our website visitors and practice circle participants are companioning professionals (ministers, social workers, nurses, retirement center staff, counselors, hospice workers, mental health care workers), so in effect we provide caregiving for caregivers. We make it easy for people to find the latest books, articles or websites on religion and spirituality.

Our own plans call for creating more ways to address specific issues, such as caregiver burnout, and to have site visitors share their spiritual practices and coping strategies regarding these issues. The only problem may be overload; one can only read so many blogs and email newsletters. So we continue to refine our coding and search engines to make it easy to find just what you need quickly, without having to go through a lot of extraneous material.

Phoebe Girard is executive director of the Women to Women Program in Santa Fe, N.M. She served as guest editor for this issue of Aging & Spirituality. See her complete professional biography on the front page.