Tilburg University a Pastoral Psychology of Lament Blaine
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Tilburg University A pastoral psychology of lament Blaine-Wallace, W. Publication date: 2009 Link to publication in Tilburg University Research Portal Citation for published version (APA): Blaine-Wallace, W. (2009). A pastoral psychology of lament. [s.n.]. 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Download date: 02. okt. 2021 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament A PASTORAL PSYCHOLOGY OF LAMENT Pastoral Method-Priestly Act-Prophetic Witness Proefschrift ter verkrijging van de graad van doctor aan de Universiteit van Tilburg, op gezag van de rector magnificus, prof.dr. Ph. Eijlander, in het openbaar te verdedigen ten overstaan van een door het college voor promoties aangewezen commissie in de aula van de Universiteit op maandag 15 juni 2009 om 14.15 uur door William Blaine-Wallace geboren op 22 mei 1951 te Salisbury, North Carolina, USA 2 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament Promotores Prof. dr. Harlene Anderson Prof. dr. John B. Rijsman Promotiecommissie Prof. dr. Sharon Thornton Prof. dr. John McDargh Prof. dr. James M. Day Prof. dr. Elka Todorova 3 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament ABOUT THE COVER The cover art is a visual presentation of a quote by Tennessee Williams, which is elaborated upon in the Preface: “The violets in the mountains are breaking the rocks.” The quote captures the collective capacity of the fragile ones, the sorrowful and suffering, to make a way through the impermeable and emerge radiant. My spouse, Victoria Blaine- Wallace, brought the quote to my attention about six years ago. Victoria, a graphic artist, designed the cover. 4 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament ABSTRACT My eight years of ministry among the dying and bereaved in two settings rife with sorrow and suffering—The Grady Hospice Program at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia and The Hospice at Mission Hill, an acute inpatient hospice in Boston, Massachusetts for persons dying of AIDS—left me with an indelible awareness of and curiosity about the ironic joy and creative energy for justice-making that emanated from these communities. This dissertation is an attempt to further substantiate, better understand, and test the validity of my awareness and the legitimacy of my curiosity. After developing the dissertation topic around my awareness, curiosity and passion, I arranged interviews with people and communities who seemed to exude the joy and energy I had experienced at Grady and Mission Hill. I interviewed people engaged in ministries and not-for-profit agencies in various cities in the United States: Boston, Massachusetts; Columbia, South Carolina; Lewiston, Maine; Portland, Maine; San Francisco, California; and Washington, D.C. I interviewed the survivors of abuse and genocide. In Part One, I explore the theological grounding, the psychological traits, and the spirited courageousness of the fragile, which empowers them to make a way through the impermeable and emerge radiant. The investigation leads to the construction of a pastoral psychology of lament that is less a way of caring for the sorrowful and suffering and more a manner of being in relation in and for a broken world. In Part Two, I detail the design of lamentational relation and formulate a nascent lamentational ecclesiology as that which may contribute to the renewal of the presently sluggish spirit of mainline religion in America. 5 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament SAMENVATTING Mijn acht jaar priesterschap voor stervenden en mensen die treuren om verlies in twee plaatsen die overlopen van smart en lijden – Het Grady Tehuis Progamma aan het Grady Memorial Hospitaal in Atlanta, Georgia en Het Tehuis in Mission Hill, een tehuis voor dringend opgenomen patienten in Boston – heeft op mij een onuitwisbaar besef achtergelaten van en ook nieuwsgierigheid naar de ironie van de vreugde en de creatieve energie in het recht-doen dat naar voor kwam in deze gemeenschappen. Deze dissertatie is een poging om de werkelijkheidswaarde van mijn bewustzijn en de legitimiteit van mijn nieuwgierigheid verder te onderbouwen, beter te begrijpen, en te testen. Na eerst het onderwerp van deze dissertatie te hebben ontwikkeld in termen van mijn besef, nieuwsgierigheid en passie, heb ik vervolgens een reeks interviews opgezet met mensen en gemeenschappen die blijk leken te geven van de vreugde en energie die ik heb meegemaakt in Grady en in Mission Hill. Ik interviewde mensen die werkzaam waren in priesterschappen en in diensten zonder winstoogmerk in verschillende steden in de Verenigde Staten: Boston, Masschussets; Columbia, South Carolina; Lewiston, Maine; Portland, Maine; San Francisco, California; en Washington, D.C. Ik interviewde overlevenden van mishandeling en rassenmoord. In Deel Een onderzoek ik de theologisch onderbouwing, de psychologische trekken, en de begeesterde moed van het breekbare, hetgeen hen in staat stelt om een weg te banen door het ondoordringbare en stralend tevoorschijn te komen. Dit onderzoek leidt tot de opbouw van een pastorale psychologie van het treuren die minder een manier is om zorg te dragen voor smart en lijden en meer een manier van in relatie treden met en voor een gebroken wereld. In Deel Twee geef ik een meer gedetailleerd ontwerp van de 6 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament treurende relatie en formuleer de opkomst van een treurnis gebonden kerkkunde als iets wat zou kunnen bijdragen aan de vernieuwing van de huidige verluierde gesteltenis in de overheersende religie in Amerika. 7 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament CONTENTS About the Cover...................................................................................................................4 Abstract................................................................................................................................5 Samenvatting........................................................................................................................6 Contents...............................................................................................................................8 Preface……………………………………………………………………………………12 Introduction……………………………………………………………………………....16 Part One: Foundations of a Pastoral Psychology of Lament........……………………….36 Chapter 1: The Theological Foundation of a Pastoral Psychology of Lament........……..37 A Theology Grounded in Personal Narrative……………………………………40 Rawson Circle and Broad Avenue……………………………………………….42 The Story of Linda.....................................................................................50 Tattered Church Building on a Red Clay Road………………………………….53 Deconstructing White Privilege………………………………………….54 Roots of a Relational Ecclesiology of Lament........……………………..63 Public Grief and Reconciliation………………………………………….67 The Suffering God……………………………………………………….73 God as Suffering Other…………………………………………………..74 Church as Lamentational Community.......................................................75 Chapter 2: The Relational Foundation of a Pastoral Psychology of Lament.......……….78 The Meantime as Our Sacred Location…………………………………………..79 Muffled and Muted Sounds from the Meantime....................................................81 Grace as Relation………………………………………………………………...83 8 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament Godly Loving…………………………………………………………………….84 Nine Characteristics of Godly Loving…………………………………………...86 Testimonial Relation……………………………………………………..86 Conversational Partnership………………………………………………95 Silence…………………………………………………………………..102 Listening………………………………………………………………..108 Alterity………………………………………………………………….111 Polyphony………………………………………………………………114 Marking Absence……………………………………………………….116 Reiteration………………………………………………………………118 Hospitality………………………………………………………………119 The Spirit of Curiosity………………………………………………………….122 Chapter 3: God………………………………………………………………………….125 Andrea…………………………………………………………………………..125 Rose……………………………………………………………………………..128 Theology of the Hospice at Mission Hill……………………………………….131 The God of the Hospice at Mission Hill………………………………………..135 Witnessing God: Andrea, Debbie and Me……………………………………...137 Chapter 4: Wailing……………………………………………………………………...141 The Wailing of the Well-Intentioned Middle-Class............................................150 Chapter 5: Lament........…………………………………………………………………155 Lament Requires Community…........…………………………………………..155 Lamentation Choir of the Civil Rights Movement……………………..159 9 A Pastoral Psychology of Lament Lament Weakens Time’s Hold on Us…........…………………………………..161 Carnivalization of Normal Life…………………………………………164 Lament Is for More than the Meantime ……........……………………………...167 Transreligious Faithfulness……………………………………………..169 Lament Is Political……........…………………………………………………...170 The Gift of Tears………………………………………………………………..172 Part Two: Practices for a Pastoral Psychology of Lament........………………………...177 Chapter 6: My Journey from Modern to Postmodern Practice....………………………179