The Leveson Centre for the Study of Ageing,
Spirituality and Social Policy
Spiritual Caregiving as Secular
Sacrament: A Practical Theology for Professional Caregivers
Ray S Anderson, Jessica Kingsley, 2003, 192 pages, ISBN 1-84310-746-5,
£15.95.
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Review by Revd Brian Allen
I was in a nursing home with the husband of a resident whilst he
helped his wife with her lunch. He said he was there because he loved
her and, having coped with her dementia for too many years on his
own, wanted to be with her in the extreme stages of her illness. The
relatives of another resident who had died recently joined us briefly
and expressed the hope that his wife would soon be better. He replied
that that was not possible. Recognising that as both a false hope
to him but a necessary hope for them I made no comment. Later the
bereaved relatives and I talked about how death can bring healing
both to the departed and the bereaved.
There is only one specific reference to dementia in this book when
Anderson tells the story of an 81-year-old man who kills his wife
and then himself following her diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease. This
is in a chapter entitled 'The Spiritual Power of Hope in Living with
Disability'. Told to illustrate the essential relationship of hope
to faith he asks why it is that so many who say they have faith have
no hope. He goes on to offer three rules of thumb about hope, namely
(1) don't try to give hope, (2) don't take hope away and (3) don't
leave a person without hope. As I read this I recalled my recent encounter
in the nursing home. This is not a book about theory: it is a book
about life.
This volume is in the excellent Practical Theology Series published
by Jessica Kingsley and under the general editorship of John Swinton
of Aberdeen University who writes the Foreword. Ray Anderson is an
American pastor and academic of many years standing. His starting
point is (pre-) theoretical, arguing vigorously that practical theology
has a particular end in view and therefore differs from the empirical
(social) sciences. It is well worth sticking with his argument to
see how it works out in practice. Early chapters with phrases in their
titles such as 'Spiritual Praxis of Practical Theology', 'Integrative
Gestalt of the Human Self', 'Ecological Matrix of the Human Person'
and 'Social Ecology of Human Spirituality' might seem heavy going
at times. Don't be put off! The reader is rewarded with highly relevant
contemporary understandings of spirituality illuminating and illuminated
by both Scripture and modern theologians and therapists.
Do you use 'Take care' as a form of farewell? I confess I do and
I am sure I mean it. This book has made me re-examine what I mean
by it, however! I promise you that it could do the same for you. Spirituality
is essential to human ecology and self-care is essential to caring.
This book comes highly recommended for anyone involved in the field
of mental health care.
Revd Brian Allen (Newcastle, North Tyneside and
Northumberland Mental Health Trust Chaplaincy Team Leader) - reprinted
with permission from the CCOA Dementia Group Newsletter April 2004
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