Our Theology and the Healing of Trauma
I went away on a retreat with my church the weekend before my big theology paper was due. I found a corner of our rented house that looked out over the Puget Sound, and somehow, in spite of the distractions around me, the spotty internet connection, and the storm outside, I managed to do some work.
Inevitably, now and again, my dear friends would come over to ask what I was working on. So I would tell them, “Oh, I’m writing a paper on spousal rape and how some theological beliefs and interpretations of scripture justify it, and then I’m offering an alternative theology…” This was met with shock, grimaces, recoils, and shudders… and I quickly realized I sometimes forget that it’s not normal to spend so much time thinking about such things (ahhhh, The Seattle School… ).
The reality is, trauma, pain, grief, suffering, abuse, etc. can be so hard to talk about. It certainly isn’t causal conversation. There is so much pain and shame in these stories, and fear of the way in which they will be received. But, what if someone we love carries that kind of pain? How would we respond if someone in our church, our family, or our community comes forward with a horrifying deep and painful secret?
Bessel van der Kolk writes about healing trauma in his book The Body Keeps the Score (2014). In chapter 13 he outlines several ways one can work through trauma and walk the path to recovery, which he explains is the challenge to “reestablish ownership of your body and your mind –of yourself. This means feeling free to know what you know and to feel what you feel without becoming overwhelmed, enraged, ashamed, or collapsed.” (p. 206).
Van der Kolk stresses the importance of relationship and community as key tools in the recovery of trauma. As I was reading this, my mind immediately went to the Church, which often serves as a large net for people in crisis. Many pastors are the first ones people come to when they are hurting; i.e. a marriage crisis, domestic violence and abuse, depression, anxiety, job loss, death of a loved one, etc.
As pastors, leaders, and clinicians, our theology can have huge implications on the ways in which we receive people in crisis, and the ways in which we go forward in walking someone through trauma. The paper I was writing on that retreat opens with the words, “Theology matters.” Does our theology tell us that men and women are created in God’s image? Can our theology contain a person’s terror and darkest rage? Is there space in our theology where we can wrestle with a God who doesn’t always intervene in a time of great need?
Sitting there that weekend, doing research on such a dismal topic, and then reading feminist and womanist theology which engages the above questions so well, I was filled with hope. It was an experience of synthesis, which allowed my imagination to see how my theology will inform me as a future therapist, and I felt the impact of a fresh realization that what we believe affects the way we live and the way we love.
