An investigation into the phenomena and practices of spiritual ...

For this young mother the process of forgiveness has begun. She had also made someprogress in the process of forgiveness and the breaking of the generation curse by statingthat „I will not allow my father to see my children unsupervised. She did not say „I will notallow my father to see my children (his grand children).‟ She recognized the importance ofallowing her children access to their grandfather and at the same time allowing him tounderstand that she will not allow them to have similar experiences to hers, when she wasabused by him. There is some evidence that she has started to forgive her father as sheexpressed a wish for her father to have supervised access to his grandchildren.6.10 ConclusionPerceptions of suffering, physical and psychological pain are culture bound, yet within thecontext of culture there are individual interpretations. This is futher highlighted byParsons‟ sicole model and possibly the availability of economic and religious (spiritual)interpretations for sickness, illness and disease. Consequently spiritual healing from thepains of suffering is also culturally and economically sanctioned. Suffering may beattributed to generational „curse‟ or „cure‟ where the person or their family ma aconcerted effort to move away from‟the curse‟ of an illness is due to a particular conditionsuch as alcoholism in the family or to accept that this will not continue to the nextgeneration. Perception of suffering is inextricably interwoven with faith and is also closelylinked to the doctrine of both churches. Both churches use translations of the Nicene creedas the foundation for their faith and their belief in spiritual healing. Although perception ofsuffering is culturally bound as well as individualistic, it is a common human experience225