Page 132 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 8

Foundational Discussions in Christian Psychology

The whole of the human body is designed to fo- to helping and healing.
ster a culture of unconditional love without the
fear for rejection. In this sense, the spirituality In a qualitative and relational understanding
of human embodiment becomes a beacon of of soulfulness, one should reckon with the fact
hope. that the ‘human soul’ is constituted by at least
five basic anthropological components/ dimen-
The point in the argument thus far is that in the sions or constructs the affective, the cognitive,
attempt to overcome the schismatic dualism in the conative, the body and the existential realm
a pastoral anthropology between a spiritual fo- of context, culture and ecosystems. In caregi-
cus and a corporeal focus is that a human soul ving a sixth component/dimension becomes
without a physical presence and without embo- paramount, namely the spiritual realm of wis-
died expressions is unreal and does not corre- dom thinking and its connection to a sound
late with the pneumatological focus of Pauline conscience, common sense and insight. All the
anthropology namely that the human body is dimensions are vital components of human
the temple of the Spirit of God. Soulfulness is self-awareness and contribute to an I-identity
expressed in human embodiment as the en- (ego-structure) and the psychological dynamics
fleshment of the fruit (charisma) of the Spirit. of personhood. The human psyche is indeed a
However, what exactly is meant by spiritual ap- complex category. Whether one approach the
proach to human embodiment? psychological dynamics from a Freudian per-
spective with the many layers of id, ego and su-
Spiritual expressions/signals of the human per-ego, from a cognitive perspective within the
soul (soulful embodiment) dynamics between the rational and irrational
Spirituality is a many-layered concept . It is in- components, or from a behavioural perspective
5
deed difficult to capture the meaning of spiri- with the focus on the phenomenon of human
tuality in a pastoral anthropology and to reflect conduct, the human spirit will always supersede
on the implications thereof for wholeness and all forms of descriptive analyses.
healing in caregiving . That is indeed the case
6
when spirituality is intertwined with human However, a pastoral anthropology should rek-
embodiment. Our basic assumption is that spi- kon with at least the following six essential
rituality is not a non-corporeal issue. components in human-hood and a soulful dy-
namics.
In order to get clarity on the impact of spiri-
tuality on life issues and the existential realm of • The affective: represents the dimension of
human embodiment, as well as on the notion emotions and feelings
of soulfulness in an anthropological understan- • The cognitive: represents the dimension of
ding of wholeness, it is perhaps necessary to see the human mind and the capacity for rea-
whether one can identify basic ‘spiritual expres- son, analytical thinking and rational under-
sions’ or ‘signals’ of the human soul. If one can standing and comprehension.
come up with a kind of diagram that depicts an • The conative: represents the dimension of
integrative approach to anthropology, such a the human will and its connection to moti-
depiction help the pastoral caregiver to under- vation and inspiration.
stand the unique character of caregiving and • The bodily: represents the dimension of
the identity of the caregiver in a team approach corporeality and its connection to physi-
cal, physiological, biological, neurological,
5 Swinton (2013:19) describes in a generic approach to hormonal aspects of human embodiment.
spirituality, spirituality that irrespective of the influence Embodiment underlines the factor of vita-
of formal religion as issues of meaning, purpose, value,
hope and love. lity in our being human and the immediacy
6 Handzo (2012:24) define spiritual care: “Interventions, of desires, senses, sensuality and all basic
individual or communal, that facilitate the ability to ex- drives such as sexuality.
press the integration of body, mind and spirit to achie- • Environmental ‘Gestalt’ and relational net-
ve wholeness, health and a sense of connection to self,
others, and [/or] a higher power.”
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