Spirituality in Older Adulthood: Existential Meaning,Productivity, and Life Events

The purpose of this article is to explore the relationship of spirituality and older adulthood, especially focusing on factors that may result in an increased spirituality among the elderly. Older adulthood, as the accumulation of insight gleaned from difficult lessons learned through life, offers the opportunity to embrace human finitude, to recognize life’s continuity and to grow in clarity about God and God’s presence. Wisdom gained through the experiences of vulnerability and transition serves as a resource to self and others. This article draws on the reflections of William M. Clements, Ph.D., Edna and Lowell Craig Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling at the Claremont School of Theology.     

Companions in Presence: Animal Assistants and Eldercare

Honoring the scholarship and teaching of Professor William M. Clements, this critically reflective essay expands the possibilities for a ministry of presence. The paper argues that animals can be helpful companions in care with elderly adults. The author draws from experiential stories, object relations theory, process theology, and empirical studies, to argue the beneficial aspects of animal assistants for human care receivers and caregivers. A creation-inclusive relational theology informs strategies for care.     

Political Humiliation and Conversion

In this article, I explore political humiliation and its relation to conversion, as seen in the autobiographies of Malcolm X and Martin Luther King. In brief, I argue that before and during the time that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X lived, political structures, laws, policies, and programs gave rise to and supported social behaviors and communications of the dominant group that were aimed at humiliating a subjugated, marginalized group—African-Americans. These experiences of political humiliation served to motivate Malcolm X and Martin Luther King to make changes in their religious commitments and attitudes. I argue further that their conversions, while different in a number of ways, cannot simply be understood as religious acts. Rather, their conversions represent political-religious acts that involved a turning away from the individual and social political subjugation to acts of political resistance against the pervasive barrage of humiliations at the hands of whites. Their political-religious acts of resistance also included a redemptive telos, which was a quest for a present and future political, social, and religious realization of human dignity and freedom.     

Malcolm X’s Conversions: The Interplay of Political and Religious Subjectivities

In this article, I offer a way of thinking about the interplay of political and religious subjectivities in persons’ conversion experiences or faith journeys. More particularly, I contend that a person’s political and religious experiences interact such that political experiences and ideas shape the person’s religious values and beliefs, and vice versa. Malcolm X’s story is used to illustrate this interplay of subjectivities vis-à-vis the varied changes or conversions in his life. The major point here is that the richness and depth of change in Malcolm X’s life (and other figures) are better grasped when we take into account the dynamic intersection of the political and religious.     

The Deadly Sins: How They Are Viewed and Experienced Today

The results of a survey conducted in 1988 on the traditional deadly sins and the schedule of virtues formulated by Erik H. Erikson were previously reported by Capps (Pastoral Psychology 37:229–253, 1989). The results of a second survey conducted in 1998 were reported by Capps and Cole (Pastoral Psychology 48:359–376, 2000). This article reports on a third survey conducted in 2008–2009. All three surveys employed a research instrument constructed by Capps titled Life Attitudes Inventory. Major findings of the third survey are that lust and melancholy are considered the deadliest of the deadly sins, with anger rounding out the top three. Envy is thought to be the least deadly sin. The sins most personally struggled with are pride, envy, and apathy, with both genders accounting for the high ranking of pride, women for envy, and men for apathy. Men’s and women’s views whether individual sins are more characteristic of men or of women were also reported, with greed especially ascribed to men and envy to women. Similarities and differences between young, middle and mature adults’ views on and experiences of the deadly sins are reported, as are comparisons between the members of two Christian denominations (Presbyterians and Methodists).     

Soul as Process: Buddhist Reflections on Mark Graves’ <Emphasis Type="Italic">Mind,Brain and the Elusive Soul</Emphasis>

This essay explores five aspects of Mark Graves’ work that relate to Buddhist psychological theories. These five are consciousness as a stream, ineffability, the true self/false self dichotomy, hierarchy, and Graves’ conception of the soul as process. More than similarities and differences, the essay suggests to productive points of interaction.     

Episcopal Applicants to Ordained Ministry: Are They Psychological Healthy?

The current investigation evaluated psychological and personality profiles of applicants to the diaconate and priesthood for several Episcopal dioceses. Applicants included both genders and their ages ranged from 29 to 67 years. A psychological testing battery including the MMPI-2, 16PF, and MCMI-III was administered to 42 applicants between 2008 and 2009 who subsequently entered the diaconate or priestly formation program in the Episcopal Church. Results indicate that these applicants were generally well-adjusted. Findings also suggest some tendency for defensiveness, repression, naïveté, and a strong need for affection, as well as for being emotionally stable, intelligent, trusting, and open to change. Finally, results suggest elevations on histrionic, narcissistic, and compulsive measures.     

Congregations and Older Adult Resources

This article defines ways in which a community can honor older adults as an invaluable resource to community life. A biographical study of a particular community is undertaken in order to extricate its theological convictions and ethical values. This study underscores the pivotal role of older adults in community function. Moreover, this article challenges scholars, caregivers, congregations to develop theories and strategies of care efficacious for healing.     

Spiritual Autobiography and Older Adults

Spiritual autobiography groups constitute a form of ministry that can potentially enrich the lives of older adults, their families, and their congregations. Such groups, when competently led, provide participants with an environment in which they can make meaning out of their lives, grieve their losses, and give and receive support. The actions and interactions involved in composing, telling, and hearing life stories are salutary exercises that can increase participants’ experiences of clarity, coherence, and connection to God and to each other. The spiritual wisdom that emerges from such life stories, when shared within congregations, can enhance intergenerational relationships and lead to spiritual growth for members of diverse ages.     

Confession and Forgiveness: A Pastoral Reading of <Emphasis Type="Italic">A Father’s Son</Emphasis> by Lionel Dahmer

This paper offers a pastoral reading of the memoir written by Lionel Dahmer, the father of the serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. I suggest that the literary genre of the memoir provided Lionel with a means of confession that enabled him to process three particular experiences related to his son—namely, grief, shame, and regret. I also suggest that the writing of this confession enabled Lionel to forgive his son for his son’s various failures and, potentially, to forgive himself for his own failures as a father, though this latter point can only be offered speculatively. This memoir is inherently pastoral and theological because it deals with the themes of confession and forgiveness, and, theologically, the memoir also may be viewed as a work of penance. One theological upshot, based on Lionel’s experience, entails challenging the idea that God the Father abandoned God the Son on the cross: A more divine model of fatherhood would be one in which a father could embrace the shame of standing by his son when the chips are down.