Abstract
Human beings are innately driven by a need to communicate, allowing us to define, explore, and share a variety of
experiences. It is through communication that we sense the essence of our humanity. This exchange of information is
made possible by the acquisition of language. Language is so integral to communication and communication so integral to being human that it has been said “to be human is to use language..Language is used to impact a variety of human experiences: mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual. Spiritual occurrences are unique because they potentially involve each of the other categories. “Spiritual experience” can be understood in light of Howard Thurman’s definition: Religious experience is interpreted to mean the conscious and direct exposure of the individual to God. Such an experience seems to the individual to be inclusive of all the meaning of his life—there is nothing that is not involved....He brings to his religious experience certain
structural and ideological equipment or tools. This equipment is apt to be very determinative in how he interprets the significance not only of his religious experience but also the significance of experience itself.