[Download] "Open to Interpretation (Letters) (Letter to the Editor)" by The Hastings Center Report # Book PDF Kindle ePub Free
eBook details
- Title: Open to Interpretation (Letters) (Letter to the Editor)
- Author : The Hastings Center Report
- Release Date : January 01, 2009
- Genre: Life Sciences,Books,Science & Nature,
- Pages : * pages
- Size : 153 KB
Description
To the Editor: Raymond DeVries, Nancy Berlinger, and Wendy Cadge's article on chaplaincy ("Lost in Translation: Using Sociology to Help Define Chaplaincy's Role in Health Care," Nov-Dec 2008) is a helpful contribution to the angst of an emerging profession. Clearly, there is need for ongoing introspection in the field, cross-discipline dialogue, and clarification of identity and focus. What was underserved in the article--leading perhaps to the use of unfortunate metaphors--was the professional identity shaped by the theological and moral foundations of spiritual care. The profession owes its focus to the work of moral theologians Paul Ramsey, James M. Gustafson, and Richard McCormick--known for their early work in bioethics--as much as to its early practitioners such as Anton Boisen and Carroll Wise. The roots of our work lie not in "filling a void" left by other professions in health care, nor in "flying under the radar" as the article suggests, but in the transformative encounters of human suffering by persons who understand moral action in the face of ambiguity and who are able to reflect on the meaning and purpose of each individual's life and circumstance.