Despite the fact that the term is accepted in the field of spiritual care and religious worship in general, the concept and benefits of parting words are broad and have a positive effect, says psychologist Andrei Kashkarov.
In different religions of the world, spiritual guidance was and is used as a measure of forgiveness, support for a person’s faith and free will.
Many forms of performing spiritual needs, for example, even such as unction of the laity, a conversation between a pastor and a parishioner about the future, a conversation between a priest about an incurable disease or before the execution of those condemned to death, and even the funeral service for the deceased are and end with spiritual guidance.
The purpose of the farewell is for a person to receive forgiveness for his sins.
In the case of those sentenced to death, such forgiveness has a certain meaning: a person condemned by an earthly court passes into another world, and there he is forgiven and, as one who has suffered and repented, is loved.
Thus, in verbal form, peace is given to the soul and consciousness, acceptance of one's destiny and hope for eternal life. This kind of spiritual guidance was given by pastors in almost all religious denominations.
But not only a priest can give parting words, but any person, even a stranger or acquaintance. The main thing is that he does it sincerely, from the heart and with good intentions.
Some of the modern forms of spiritual guidance are practiced in psychology (tuning of consciousness), and it also happens that ordinary people give each other guidance, without even specifically and deeply realizing the meaning of their actions - by intuition and voluntary desire.
For example, a mother, collecting and seeing off her children to school or to sports competitions. Or a coach – encouraging the team to win. Or the head of an organization (department) encouraging colleagues to win a social competition for material benefits.
Giving spiritual guidance is as simple as saying "thank you," as accessible to everyone as politeness, which costs little in time but ultimately makes a big difference to people.
It is not at all difficult to say not only to a child, but also to an adult, a relative and a loved one in the morning not just a nominal “have a good day”, but to express this concept in a few sentences.
For example, you can contribute to amazing results for the whole day if you remind your child, partner, spouse of their great, valued and sometimes decisive role in your life. Remind them of those outstanding qualities of their personality that no one else has, of the successes they have achieved in the past and the prospects for the future.
In general, this is the main person in your life. Expressing emotions with the hackneyed phrase "I love you" is also good, but sometimes it is not enough: you need to say it in other words, without saving feelings, without putting them into a short, template and therefore limited form.
It is not difficult to carry out spiritual guidance. You just need to make the effort to think about another person. Find important words only for him. And each time - new ones; this is quite possible with an attentive attitude towards the person. In terms of time, you only need a couple of minutes and a few kind, sincere, motivating words and sentences.
Experts disagree on how often it is advisable to practice spiritual guidance. Some believe that daily guidance is best practiced in the form of a habit.
Others - differently: they recommend making the parting words systematic - from time to time, then it will not become a habit, but will be appreciated by others even more.
Today people are accustomed to template forms: likes, stickers, emojis – also a kind of parting words – elevated to an economical form of emotions and feelings.
Moreover, no matter how wide the choice of stickers or pictures from the Internet, created by someone at some point for the convenience of users of social networks and smartphones, they have become so familiar, but also perceived in a stereotyped way.
While a person at any age and always needs an individual “conversation” from an authoritative or even unfamiliar, but positively-minded person.
It is not the template communication that is important. It is this that lifts the mood and maintains it throughout the day and for a longer period of time.
An unconventional attitude makes you irreplaceable. And the parting words in this case are a helpful practice and a form of expressing sincere feelings and wishes.
Expert: Andrey Kashkarov
