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I
have been invited to explore some ideas around the merging of
spirituality and psychology. There is so much, though,
that could be said that I think it might be helpful to consider
just three ideas or perspectives on this inter-relationship.
Firstly
the Question ‘Why now?’. This is a question we
are well used to in the field of psychology and therapy.
An individual might be troubled for quite some time about a
particular emotional dilemma and for some reason find themselves
reaching out just now for help. Something will have
happened that has made a difference and facilitated the desire
to change by seeking out therapy and so we ask ‘why now?
In
considering what has changed we could go back to ancient times
when Theology was accepted as the pinnacle of knowledge.
In architectural depictions Theology sits at the top of the
tower of understanding with Philosophy just beneath it.
Further down are disciplines like Astrology, Mathematics,
Medicine etc. Truth lay at the top of the tower and was
accessed in its purity only by Theology. Centuries later,
however, in the period we now call the Enlightenment, we by and
large cast our lot in with Science in the belief that it would
bring us to truth in a way that Theology had disappointed.
Scientific truth, it was hoped, would set us free and as a
result we have witnessed a gradual decline in religious practice
which is, however, changing.
Scientific
and technological developments, despite the fanfare, have
yielded a mixed inheritance. While they can get us to the
moon they also bring us the spectre of Chernobyl. While
half the world is starving the other half has too much. In
so many ways we have become enslaved rather than liberated,
impoverished rather than enriched. While we might surf
through cyberspace and have instant contact with people on the
other side of the world the emotional space between people is
increasing. It is estimated that about 45% of people in
the west are living in single person households and this is
likely to rise to over 50% in the coming decade.
The
illness of our time is one of loneliness and lack of meaning or
purpose. Psychology can provide treatments but perhaps
only spirituality can address our yearning for meaningful
relationship.
The
second theme I would like to explore is that of the ‘Oceanic
Experience’ of the mystics. Meister Eckhart, in the
13th Century, spoke of the mystical experience of
being enveloped in God as in an ocean of love. A merging
of the human being with God in a way which made it difficult to
tell the two apart. It led him to speak of the human
person as a spark of the divine and resulted in his
excommunication. Others, though, including Paul Daneo,
followed in this mystical tradition yearning for engulfment in
the divine.
In
contrast, Sigmund Freud interpreted this desire for merger with
the godhead as a pathological yearning for return to the womb
merger with mother and as such an articulation of the death
instinct. Religion, while a focus of much of Freud’s
writings was seen as a powerful psychological mechanism
defending unconsciously against the pain of emerging as an
individual grappling with intolerable instinctual drives and
urges. Later analysts have argued that Freud saw only the
first step in a two step dance. The purpose of grasping
the yearning to merge is in the hope of managing it in a
different way from the original traumas thus emerging into new
life much like rising from the waters of Baptism a new person.
This death-to-self regression can be thought of as at the
service of new life. Therapists and counsellors know this
from their practice. The client comes along in order to
engage with those things which cause pain and discover a new
sense of self (it gets worse before it gets better).
Rather than thinking of spiritual awareness in pathological
terms Daneo Services offer the hope of new a experience of
meaning.
A
third theme for today is that of ‘Words’.
Therapy and counselling have long been referred to as the
talking therapies. This comes from a strong belief in the
power of words. The realm of the unconscious is preverbal
and symbolic while that of conscious experience is of language
and the concrete. The symptom of the client (the emotional
dilemma) is thought of as an inarticulate expression of what
hurts. The therapeutic process of putting words to the
pain facilitates the emergence into consciousness of that which
was formerly too sore to speak in the hope that it no longer
need be experienced as overwhelming. Religion and
spirituality have a similar belief. ‘In the beginning
was the Word’ is a powerful way of acknowledging that words
bring things into being. The tools of therapy and religion
are similar and it may be that services like Daneo can help us
to bring words like ‘love’ and ‘forgiveness’ back into
the lexicon of therapists.
In
these three ways then Daneo represents a creative collaboration
of two strong traditions: those of psychology and religion.
Today, though, we also acknowledge that two other great
traditions are collaborating. Those of ‘mercy’ and the
‘finding of meaning in suffering’. The groups from
which Kathleen, Pat and John emerge have had a presence for over
100 years in Belfast and contributed in many ways to the health
of our people. Today we welcome a new embodiment of these
traditions in Daneo Services and perhaps the final word should
be given to those for whom it is hoped this project will make a
significant difference in their lives. If we allow the
words of W. B. Yeats to articulate what it is that those who
seek out Daneo for help might bring then theses word can be
spoken to Pat, John and Kathleen today:
Had
I the heavens’ embroidered cloths,
enwrought
with golden and silver light,
the
blue and the dim and the dark cloths
of
night and light and the half-light,
I
would spread the cloths under your feet:
but
I, being poor, have only my dreams;
I
have spread my dreams under your feet;
tread
softly because you tread on my dreams.
Bobby
Moore
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