Pastoral Relationship with People with Intellectual ... - Theses

243I feel vulnerable, wounded, the one who really needs care. 586 But throughJim’s gentle blessing I also feel much loved and valued, Christ reaching out andaccepting me as I am. I feel deeply blessed.Caring in this place is about shared relationship, shared humanity, andshared spiritual resourcefulness that may have nothing specifically to do withreligious identification. It’s concerned with love, recognising and attending to theneed of the other regardless of status, qualification or experience. It’s about amutuality of care that recognises the humanity of the other, that acknowledgesthat we all need each other because we are all needful people in need of lovingcommunion. That need certainly transcends institutional roles andresponsibilities.Jim will soon die; the institution will move on, but I can honour hismemory and those others who live and die in this place, by embracing theblessing it is to engage in caring relationship with these people, created as theyare in the image of God.6.3 Collective Narrative Analysis: The Strong ThreadsIn light of these 12 narratives it is necessary to look at the stories at acollective level and identify the strong narrative threads that most authenticallyand fully afford a valid portrait of the institutional context, the people withintellectual disability who live there, and my role as chaplain with them. It is thislevel of analysis that will form the foundation of an authentic understanding ofthe context and people in question. The task of gaining an effective understandingwill be evidenced by the proffering of a pastoral model that most appropriatelyresponds to the needs of those who live in this setting.The strength of the narrative threads will be evaluated by bothquantitative and qualitative means. The quantitative evaluation will be in terms ofhow many times a narrative theme recurs across various narratives. Thequalitative evaluation will concern the judged level of influence that a particularnarrative issue has on the development of a particular narrative, or narratives.586 Regarding the pastoral carer finding a point of mutual vulnerability with the one in whomhe or she shares in a caring relationship see, for example,Nouwen, The Wounded Healer.Webb-Mitchell, Brett. "The Place and Power of Acceptance in Pastoral Care with PersonsWho Are Mentally Retarded." The Journal of Pastoral Care 42, no. 4 (1988): 351-60.