The book gives readers an insider's view, not theoretical. Shane candidly reveals his own struggles, doubts and fears, along with the courage, faith and hope that sustains his life and work. He even addresses the complex and challenging task of offering care and spiritual counsel to the perpetrators of crimes. True Crime Nonfiction. General principles for working with police Helping people deal with guilt and find forgiveness The real and personal risks in crisis intervention Death notification Chaplaincy and terrorism What is the pastor's authority, and what is not True Crime Nonfiction Details Publisher: Hohm Press.
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Bruce Kalish Follow. A Path Through the Valley. Ministry to women in prison. The Work of Chaplaincy. Chaplaincy Volunteer Training Manual What to Upload to SlideShare. Related Books Free with a 30 day trial from Scribd.
Related Audiobooks Free with a 30 day trial from Scribd. Views Total views. Actions Shares. No notes for slide. Bruce C. Her self-consciousness closes the door on the present. She attributes these experiences in terms of a door being opened 'from eternity', illuminating the present with "eternal lights", and yet opening on a "real and present' world p. With rising exultation she writes, 'This is it, this is it; praise the lord; praise the land. Experiencing the present purely She concludes, 'These are our few live seasons.
Let us live them as purely as we can, in the present' p. Although Dillard does not directly attribute these experiences to God, her references to the 'lord', to 'Christ's incarnation' p. We need to look elsewhere to get a handle on whether the experiences we describe as the 'presence of God' are real experiences of God. Ingolf Dalferth directly addresses these issues in his monograph, Becoming Present: An Inquiry into the Christian Sense of the Presence of God, and like Dillard, he explores the connection between 'the present' and 'presence'.
However, before I look at these more philosophical ideas I want to consider what Scripture has to say about the presence of God. Does Scripture provide any warrant for such experiences of the presence of God? Gen 25, 31; Ex 3, 4; Deut Some Biblical references clearly indicate a real presence c. Steiner, Adam and Eve hide themselves from the presence of the Lord but God calls to them Gen 3 ; Jethro, Aaron, and Moses break bread 'in the presence of God Ex 18 ; the Lord used to speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend Ex 33 ; the presence of the Lord is a theme throughout Leviticus; the Lord appeared to Elijah and revealed his presence 1 Kings 19 ; the Lord appears in Isaiah 6; the prayer in Isaiah 25 and 26 indicates a great awareness of the presence of God; in Acts 2 the presence of the Holy Spirit fills the place; Jesus is clearly present to Paul on the Damascus Road; and Stephen experiences the real presence of God at his stoning Acts 7.
They speak of doing things in the presence of the Lord but these passages may refer to doing things without a conscious awareness of the Lord but still acting as though the Lord was present c.
Oates' comment that he is not constantly aware of the presence of God and his assertion that the presence of God is elusive p. Cain goes away from the presence of the Lord Gen 4 ; others eat, stand, or cast lots in the presence of the Lord Deut 12,14, 29; Josh Samuel grows up in the presence of the Lord 1 Sam 2.
The Psalms frequently celebrate the presence of the Lord eg Psalms 21, 31, For me at least, these passages do not convey the same kind of immediacy of presence, of conscious felt presence, of palpable presence, of awesome Presence, as the passages cited in the previous paragraph.
In Jeremiah 4, God speaks to Israel: 'If you return to me, if you remove your abominations from my presence, and do not waver, and if you swear, "As the Lord lives! The Lord wants his people to live in the constant knowledge of his presence, to know that he lives, and to demonstrate this knowledge moment by moment in lives that express truth, justice and righteousness.
When God's people live their lives in his presence then he blesses the nations, not Israel, but the nations who do not know him. God blesses non-believers because his people live in his presence, when they are faithful and steadfast in the presence of God. God then tells his people how to do this: 'Break up your fallow ground, circumcise yourselves to the Lord, remove the foreskin of your hearts' vv.
Believers must remove the protective shell from their hearts; they must be open and vulnerable. Christ has given believers new hearts that allow them to live openly and vulnerably but they must choose to do so, perhaps even to discipline themselves to do so. There are fewer references to the presence of the Lord in the New Testament. Some refer to entering into a future presence e.
Even in a great pastoral prayer like Colossians 1 we do not see reference to or awareness of the presence of God. In Ephesians 3, Paul prays that Christ may dwell in their hearts and that they might know 'how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. These are interesting references because the death and resurrection of Jesus changed the relationship between believers and God. Jesus made possible a perfection that was not available through the Levitical priesthood. His death enabled God's laws to be written in believers' hearts and minds.
In John 14, Jesus promised to send the Holy Spirit as counsellor, comforter, teacher, and peace-bringer but who would also be an Advocate who would be with believers for ever, who would abide with them, and would be in them. He promised not to leave them orphaned and promised that they would know that they were to be in him and that he would be in them cf.
Matt In 2 Corinthians 6, Paul refers to the fulfilment of the Old Testament experience by recalling Leviticus. Tom Wright reminds us that the Eucharist is designed to draw us again into the presence of Jesus , p.
He argues that the Eucharist is best understood as the 'arrival of God's future in the present, not just the extension of the past or of Jesus' past into our present. We do not simply remember a long-since-dead Jesus; we celebrate the presence of the living Lord' p. Christ is present in the Eucharist, the true presence of Christ. However, and here I may be revealing my own shortcomings, I suggest that a palpable sense of Christ's presence, of God's presence, is rarely experienced by contemporary believers in worship, in everyday life, or in the Eucharist.
So, although we know that Christ is present we rarely apprehend his presence. Dillard's experience is uncommon. Consequently, books like Brother Lawrence's Practising the Presence of God find some avid readers in today's world.
Part of the reason that we find the ministry of presence or caring presence so hard to understand is that we have trouble fully comprehending the idea let alone the experience of the presence of God. So there is a Biblical warrant for the human experience of the presence of God, even if believers do not fully apprehend the idea.
Let us now have a look what philosophical theology has to say about the presence of God. God becomes present to me as my God This marks me off from my physical, communal and personal environments but also relates me to them as one who is meant to live his life in this world in the presence of God. Dalferth argues that God's presence in the life of believers gives them 'the possibility of not just being present to someone but, by becoming present to my being present to someone, experience my presence open to the presence of others' p.
Dalferth distinguishes being co- present to another and being 'open to the presence of the other in an internalist sense of being attentive to the presence of the other as a person' p. Being co-present is simply being there in the same space. Bible passages that are not so clear about a real presence see discussion above may be examples of being co-present: when we stop and think about it we agree that we are in the presence of God but we lack the internalist sense of being attentive to the presence of the other as God.
He points out that it is a spatial term that signifies 'a specific mode of existence, a special way of being together of one thing with another Presence cries out for a recipient, for whatever is present, is it sic to someone' p.
Presence is a relational concept. He affirms an eighteenth century definition of presence as 'a state in which a person by his [or her] own substance, without any intermediate moral causes and indeed without the help of any instruments or tools', can act in a place' p.
With these ideas in mind he goes on to describe God's presence as 'the presence of his divine activity' and to conclude that 'God really is present' and 'God is present as God really is' p. Consequently God freely relates to Christians in ways that 'open up possibilities of life to them: God's activity is informed by his love for his creatures, and his love is not diminished by those who ignore him but determined to overcome their ignorance by love and to want their free response in love' p.
Dalferth builds on this idea of God presenting himself to us 'by becoming present to us in a way that we can apprehend as disclosing his present' p. He suggests a Trinitarian understanding where the Spirit makes possible a sense of presence. The Spirit opens our eyes to God's presence. The Spirit enables us to see the meaning that lies behind the possibilities and potentialities that we encounter.
Without the work of the Spirit believers may know that God is present but not be truly in God's present. We may be co-present with someone, we may be in the same room as someone but are we truly present to that someone who is present? What is needed is becoming present in the present to the other present' p.
When we are present we are open to the other in a way that we are enriched by the other - we allow them to be a gift to us. To be present to the other means that we are opened to the other's present. Dalferth argues that we cannot will ourselves to become present, we cannot will ourselves to be open to the other, we cannot will ourselves to receive the other's present. Instead we are made present. Dalferth extends this reasoning to our sense of the presence of God: Believers Their sense of presence intensifies to a sense of the presence of God because they find themselves not only present but open to the presence of others in new and unexpected ways: The other becomes a gift to them which he wasn't before, and they become present in the present by receiving the presence of the other as a gift for which they cannot help thanking God.
This is the Spirit's work. Ultimately believers who experience the present and the presence in this way develop a 'particular understanding of the world and of oneself This distinction between co- presence and being present lies behind my earlier comments about God's presence being palpable.
Although it is highly unlikely that a chaplain will not believe in some form of deity, chaplains interact frequently with non-believers. Dalferth argues that the believer and non- believer have the same experience but the difference is that the believer now understands its meaning.
What they experience is the same but they differ in how they experience it. They differ in the mode of experiencing. Believer and non-believer experience the same thing but the believer understands this experience in terms of the presence of God.
The Spirit enables them to realise that to live in the present is to live in the present of God. Dalferth argues that there are three modes of divine presence. These modes correspond to the Trinity: Fatherly mode, Son mode, and Spirit mode. The Fatherly characteristics are expressed in God's creative presence: 'As Creator, God is present in the same way with every presence' p.
Human persons sense God's creative presence in terms of a sense of createdness or absolute dependence. As Son, God is engaged in salvific activity and is 'present to human persons who can become aware of it and respond to God's love by loving God and their neighbours As Saviour, God is present in a uniquely personal way to the present of each human person' p.
Human persons sense God's salvific presence in terms of a sense of basic trust or faith. As Spirit, God expresses God's character in perfecting activity: 'The Spirit is God's dynamic presence with every present state of creation which at any given moment is actively engaged in transforming the world into God's creation' p. Human persons sense God's perfecting presence in terms of a sense of presence.
A lot of things occur which may seem strange to us or even hostile to our beliefs and training. Our task is to learn to suspend judgment so that we have the opportunity of creating a pastoral alliance from which we can appropriately pick and choose the times to care and the times to con- front.
One cannot overlay a church world and its protocol onto a homicide scene and expect the language, procedures, and style to be the same. Over the years I have been part of a great many painful human experiences. I have witnessed the terrible results of broken promises, heard the piercing cries of anguish, known the bitter taste of despair. What I hope to share is the reality of the tears, not the theory of grief.
Much of what I say about emergency ministry grows out of my work as a chaplain to the law enforcement agencies in Harvey County, Kansas. I trust that these stories will deepen your under- standing of what might genuinely serve another if or when fate calls you to stand in the presence of human crisis.
Law enforcement is a tight fraternity, and it is very difficult to gain acceptance within a profession that puts one in potential contact with sorrow, where one must make immediate and often life threatening decisions, and where there is danger at every turn.
Even though the job is generally routine, it can explode into chaos in the briefest moment. Cops want to know they can depend on their partner. They want to know they can say bullshit and not have some preacher scold them for their language. One can wish that the language were sweeter and more compassionate.
Listen closely to the underlying message. The rough words are just tough ways to keep the world of sorrow at a distance.
The chaplain who listens to the deeper truth and is not put off by the presented language will likely be more successful. And, when a chaplain sees the same atrocity and feels the same repulsion at pieces of brain on the wall or slivers of skull on the floor, then he or she is more likely able to build credibility with the team. On too many occasions I was seduced into seeing myself as law enforcement in- stead of chaplain. After all, I carried a badge, I was commissioned as a reserve officer, and I was assigned radio number But time and again the officers would call me back to my primary identity by the way they addressed me.
Hi, Rev. It mattered to them that I was The Rev. Perspectives are interesting. They are not right or wrong, only points of view.
Clergy generally lift up hope and possibility for peace and reconciliation. Cops, on the other hand, are more street-wise and are less idealistic. If preachers pray for peace, it is cops who are called to stop the conflict in the living rooms where family disturbances have turned from disagreement to chaos, and family blood is spilled on the carpet.
Make no mistake about it, life on the streets is rough and raw. The flashing red lights bounced off the darkened windows of the homes along Main Street, as I went Code 3 with the officer to the scene. I sat quietly and felt my stomach tighten into knots, listened to the grim talk from the radio. But there was also a sense of excitement, or maybe anticipation, as we hurried along.
Our small town streets were nearly deserted at 2 am, but to watch what few cars there were pull aside and give us passage seemed to make the point that something important had happened. Shootings and attempted murder are never routine. They stand as reminders of how sinful and flawed humankind is. Until I became a police chaplain, such moments were merely the plots of television programs or mystery writers.
Now they were a part of my work. What a strange mixture of interests and jobs: the ministry and law enforcement. Law enforcement was a world apart from me. Not until I grudgingly accepted an assignment as a jail chaplain during my clinical education did I discover the drama and fascination of law enforcement work. Not until I looked deeply and intentionally into the hopeless eyes of victims scarred by crime and desperation, not until I heard the wailing of parents who were told that a cherished child was fatally injured in an auto accident, not until I felt how such moments put one in touch with the raw nerve ends of human suffering could I sense that as a chaplain I might have a chance—perhaps even a responsibility—to bring a word of healing and hope to those in critical need.
At such times the church is often not present, and yet I learned how indispensable such a ministry is. Not until I saw an officer put his arm around a grieving child who stood shaking in grief because a parent was just killed did I know what I so hoped was true: that cops care. They too tremble in fear when working a disaster and yet stand firm and resolute, ignoring their own inner feelings because another needs the help they can give.
Fred, the officer I was riding with, continued to tell me the details as they were known. An angry man supposed that his girlfriend had another lover and could not tolerate such a thought. With no apparent effort to work things out, or even to confirm his suspicions, and with only the force of his blinding rage to give him direction, he got his.
Though badly injured, the woman and her terrified children went next door for help. The neighbors called We turned the corner into a maze of flashing red lights. We think he was alone, Fred continued, but there is some possibility that someone else was here too. Just in case! Still, my palms were not sticky so much from fear of another night time stalker as from anxiety about what I might have to see. Just as we shut down the siren and red lights of the squad car, the ambulance doors slammed shut and carried off the victim to the local hospital.
Several officers walked about carrying out a variety of tasks. There were bright red splotches on the white carpet, bearing silent testimony to the evil moment just past. Kneeling over them, the terrified neighbor trembled as she tried to wash the stains clean. She had been sleeping normally just a short while ago when she was awakened by desperate screaming and relentless pounding at her back door.
Now she talked nervously to herself and tried to coax the blood from her new shag carpet. But it would not leave. The fresh blood had stained it as thoroughly as it had the lives of all involved. And then I saw them. My heart ached at the scene I noticed in the corner of the living room. On the couch, stiffly and silently, sat the two children of the critically injured woman.
They neither smiled nor cried—as if they hoped they might slip through this chaos unnoticed and therefore untouched. In the rush of things, the children seemed almost forgotten. With only strangers to care for them, their wide-eyed looks marked them as adrift in a raging sea of terror.
I sat down beside them and hoped I might offer some comfort. What if he comes back to shoot us, too?
In a shallow, whispered voice the little boy looked at me. Even the presence of a room full of armed officers was not enough to calm him.
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