Pastoral Relationship with People with Intellectual ... - Theses

294lies beyond the objectifying effect of the realm of It-ness. Through thatconfession that leads to repentance the other person moves from being principallyregarded as medicalised identity to one who bears the image of God. It is the actof confession that casts aside the medicalised idea of the one whose approach tothe person with intellectual disability controls the nature of the discourse. This isso even though there may be times when the pastoral carer may need to takeinitiative in the pastoral relationship. This may occur when it can be in the bestinterests of the person with intellectual disability to do so. The issue in suchsituations concerns whether or not the exercising of such pastoral power serves toliberate.Pastoral presence also describes presence being realized through a focuson the present moment in order to be fully attentive to the one with whompastoral relationship is sought. This understanding is located in the concept ofImmanent Thou-ness. This is because attentive waiting for the Thou implies afocus on the present so as to be fully open to the realization of the Thou. Thisunderstanding points to the importance of giving to the other one’s undividedfocus, of casting aside past or future considerations. However, it does not assumethe level of importance that it does with Buber’s conceptualisation of Thou-nesswhere the realization of the Face of God depends on being in the present. Thispoint of departure serves as an endorsement of the Immanent Thou-ness model ofpastoral relationship in which the realization of the Thou, or the image of God, inthe other is not dependent on whether or not the pastoral carer wavers from thepresent moment. We are loved immeasurably amidst our flawed nature, notsimply in the brevity of the transcendent.As with pastoral presence Buber’s Thou-ness speaks of the presence ofgrace in terms of the significance of God’s unmerited love in the realization ofthe I and Thou, or the pastoral carer and the person with intellectual disability. AsBuber states, “[t]he Thou meets me through grace – it is not found by seeking ...the act of my being.” 727 Similarly, Immanent Thou-ness regards grace as at theheart of the confession that enables the pastoral carer to know they are loved justas they are. It is not something that can be attained through seeking but is that727 Buber, I and Thou, 11.Italics are those of the author.