A Winnicottian Approach to Biblical Lament: Developing a True Self in the Midst of Suffering (original) (raw)
Related papers
Pastoral Psychology, 2020
Biblical lament provides a vital way of maintaining a healthy relationship with God when one’s life experience does not match up with one’s beliefs. Not to lament in such a situation is to deny authenticity. And, as the psychological theories of authenticity indicate, this leads to a person having reduced self-esteem and a lower sense of personal well-being. In this study, women (and a few men) from a poor community in Cape Town, South Africa, were invited to study some psalms of lament and then to compose their own laments. A validated measure of authenticity (the Authenticity Index) was administered to them before and after the lament exercise, as well as Rosenberg’s Self-Esteem Scale and two measures of personal well-being (the Affect Balance Scale and the Satisfaction with Life Scale). It became apparent that the opportunity to express themselves using the form of biblical lament led to a greater sense of authenticity for participants. Their responses on the other scales also indicated that they found the opportunity to lament led to an enhanced sense of self-esteem and well-being. This suggests that those committed to facilitating psychological healing for those who have suffered trauma will do well to provide space for pain-bearers to lament following the biblical pattern.
The suffering witness: a missiological reading of Lamentations
In die Skriflig/In Luce Verbi, 2007
This article explores the possibilities of a missiological reading of the book of Lamentations. Based upon a historical understanding of Lamentations, Christological conclusions are drawn from it with a view on formulating some missiologically relevant guidelines for missionary praxis. This article contends that Lamentations was composed to be used pastorally in an unprecedented crisis in Jerusalem in 586 BCE. In a situation of utter powerlessness and otherlessness the lamenting population was shown a way to rebuild their shattered universe by, paradoxically, reaching out to their God who was not there for them anymore. The suffering witness of Lamentations 3 is used as a Christological model, which is applied to missionary praxis. In the fields of worship and liturgy, aid and assistance and prophetic analysis the church has to continue the witnessing ministry of her Lord, empowered by his Spirit.
The importance of lament in pastoral ministry: Biblical basis and some applications
Verbum et Ecclesia, 2019
Lament is little understood or practised in most contemporary church communities. However, in today’s world of increasing trauma, this means of grace is much needed. In this article, after providing a biblical basis for lament, focus is given to practical applications of lament in various communities. The studies included refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi living in Cape Town, ‘discipleship groups’ in two townships of Cape Town and an AIDS-support group near Pietermaritzburg. The empirical studies use biblical literature (mainly psalms of lament) either to provide a voice for those who battle to express their pain or to provide a model for sufferers to compose their own laments. Results show that biblical lament can help the individual find healing (social, physiological and spiritual), promote a more socially aware community and help church members gain a better understanding of the nature of the Christian life and the character of God. Consequently, it is highly recommended that those who seek to help trauma-sufferers consider the importance of lament in their ministries. As they then put the theory into practice, those who for so long have felt isolated or misunderstood in the Church will find solace and find healing for their pain.
LAMENT: THE BIBLICAL LANGUAGE OF TRAUMA
2015
This article will claim that biblical lament expressed in corporate worship is uniquely fitted to provide therapeutic benefit for trauma victims. First, the pervasiveness of traumatic experience will be explored and established. Second, the contemporary church’s neglect of lament will be explored and established. Third, the Lament Psalms and the book of Lamentations will be explored and examined with attention given to contents, structures, and backgrounds that confirm these texts as the “biblical language of trauma.” Fourth and finally, the therapeutic benefits of lament will be examined in the light of trauma recovery theory and pastoral theology. The terms victim and survivor will be used interchangeably since each term represents an aspect of traumatic experience. (Individuals are wounded, shaken, and disoriented – victimized; but in the waves of aftermath, existence often becomes survival.) Originally published in Cultural Encounters, Volume 11, Number 1, Winter 2015, pp. 50-68.
The Intersection of Biblical Lament and Psychotherapy in the Healing of Trauma Memories
Old Testament Essays, 2019
A study of biblical lament psalms can help present-day sufferers express their own pain to God, and this can result in personal, social, and biological healing. In this empirical study, Zulu "pain-bearers" first studied Psalms 3 and 13 and then wrote and performed their own laments, using the biblical laments as a model. The use of poetic form is shown to have advantages over narrative therapy approaches. The empirical compositions and performances fit with the insights gained from cognitive psychotherapy approaches as well as the therapeutic steps proposed by Judith Herman. Moreover, apart from facilitating healing of the soul and interpersonal relations, the research insights of Cozolino and others suggest that lament can stimulate the biological healing of the brain, allowing for the healthy processing of the trauma memories.
Good God?!? Lamentations as a Model for Mourning the Loss of the Good God
Journal of Religion and Health, 2012
This article will address the devastating psychological and social effects due to the loss of one's primary love-object, namely God in the case of faith communities and religious individuals. By using Melanie Klein's Object Relations Theory (Klein in Envy and gratitude and other works 1946/1963. The Free Press, New York, 1975a) as a way to enter the text of Lamentations, I will articulate an alternative reading that can serve as a model for Pastors and Educators to use when walking with individuals and communities through unspeakable losses. I will argue that Lamentations may be used as a tool for naming confounding depression and anxiety that stems from a damaged introjected object (one's personal God). This tool may provide individuals and communities a framework for placing anger and contempt upon God in order to re-assimilate this loved yet hated object, eventually leading toward healing and restoration of the self.
This thesis seeks to develop a new method of interpretation for lament psalms and to apply it to Psalms 13, 22, 44, 88. The new method is called Theo-dramatic approach. This method recognizes lament psalms as dialogical prayers, (multivoicing) which describe the drama of suffering experienced by the psalmists. The Theo-dramatic approach is an imaginative method of interpretation. The most important elements are: the script, the theatre and the performance. The actors are: God, the supplicant, the enemy, the community. Script: lament Psalms: 13, 22, 44, and 88, were chosen because they demonstrate much of the vocabulary of the absence or hostility of God. Theatre: the public space provided by the covenant relationship between God and pray-er. Performance: the dramatized grief and pain of the psalmist, caused by the hostility or absence of God. This method of interpretation emphasizes the drama presented in the script: protest, argument, accusation of God for being unfaithful to the covenantal responsibilities. It affirms that God’s behaviour is sometimes different from how people understand his character. But the relationship between God and the sufferer continues despite God’s strange behaviour (absence or hostility), because God is challenged to come onstage and bring deliverance to the supplicant, is invited to walk with him/her and bring onstage the experience of his healing presence. The suffereriii realises that he/she has a choice – he/she could try to stuff the hurt in a closet, pretend it wasn’t there and wish it disappeared, or chose to bring it out into the open to face it head-on, trudge through it, feel its full weight, and do the best to confront the feeling of loss and hopelessness with the truth of God’s Word at every turn. The power of the performance draws the reader onstage to work through their own experiences of God as absent or hostile, hence giving creative expression to difficult life experiences. To groan with sorrow and anger is part of being human, is that when you lose the relationship with God that is so valuable to you, you agonize over this loss, and there is nothing wrong with that. Your tears and cry of anger do not reflect a lack of faith, but a strong faith in the only one who has the healing power, if he just want to present himself on the stage. Applying this method helps the reader to be a participant in the drama played onstage. Human life and the journey of faith imply dramatic events. The relationship with God is a risky and adventurous path.
Lament as a contributor to the healing of trauma: an application of the form of biblical poetry
Pastoral Psychology, 2018
Biblical poetry, in particular the psalms of lament, provides a model of how composing one's own lament and performing it to God can be a positive element in healing the effects of trauma. In an empirical study, Zulu youth who had experienced various forms of trauma, learned to use the model of biblical psalms of lament to compose their own laments. The process of regaining agency, establishing a sense of justice (with an appeal for the perpetrator of the hurt to be punished), and a rekindling of hope for life going forward, all elements of biblical lament, are also vital parts of the healing process. Thus it is suggested that the use of poetry, in the form of biblical lament, can contribute to the healing of those who have suffered trauma.
The "Audacity" of Lament: Learning Suffering from Ancient Hebrews and Modern Jews
This essay is a compilation of research concerning Hebrew lament as a part of Jewish history. Written for a Christian audience, it seeks to define lament within a Hebrew context, explore lament via study of the Hebrew Bible, and attempt to understand a Jewish theology which incorporates suffering. This study pursues the value of understanding and possibly utilizing lament on the part of Christians who wish to understand their own religion in light of their Jewish heritage.