Personhood and Presence: Self as a Resource for Spiritual and Pastoral Care

Description

The greatest asset which people in pastoral care offer in a caring relationship is themselves, or to be more precise, the aspects of self which they have reflected upon. Offering oneself to other people in order to provide companionship along the road of life, especially when the particular stage on the journey is one of anticipated or actual loss, is an act which is both challenging and yet potentially life enhancing for a carer. The purpose of this book is to offer an aid to those who seek to understand themselves better with a view to enhancing the quality of spiritual and pastoral care they offer. Here the reference point for reflexivity is the caring relationship. Yet as we are fundamentally the same beings in personal and professional relationships, readers may also find stimulus to reflect on what they bring to a variety of relationships including that with the Sacred and, indeed, themselves.

Ewan Kelly initially studied medicine and worked as a junior doctor before completing a theology degree and becoming ordained as a Church of Scotland minister. He currently works as Programme Director for Healthcare Chaplaincy and Spiritual Care, NHS Education for Scotland and as a part-time senior Lecturer in Pastoral Theology at the University of Edinburgh, UK.

'It is a very long time since I have read a work of pastoral theology as rich, perceptive, and elegantly expressed as Personhood and Presence. Ewan Kelly is absolutely right on all three counts. The self is the best gift the caregiver has to offer. Acute self-awareness is needed to fully offer the gift. Such reflexivity is a moral imperative. This book has the power to inform and transform the reader's pastoral practice at the deepest level. The way in which Kelly weaves together theological, psychological, and poetic insights is nothing short of brilliant.' - Neil Pembroke, University of Queensland, Australia -- Neil Pembroke Jesus tells us to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and, Love your neighbour as yourself." Loving God and neighbour seems obvious to many of us, but love of self? In order to know and to love ourselves and to learn what it means to love God and care for others, we need to be able to look properly at ourselves. In this important, rigorous and sometimes moving book Ewan Kelly teaches us what it might mean to know and to love ourselves in such a way that we can truly reach out with love and care towards God and others. When we encounter ourselves; our true selves as they stand before God, so we learn what it means to love with the fullness of God. This book is an important contribution to theology and practice. -- John Swinton, University of Aberdeen, UK