INTRODUCTION
Death is inescapable and shows no partiality or distinction. The author had his first encounter with death when he was four years old. About ten years later he would lose his mother to diabetes. Eighteen years later death struck again. He lost his dad to a battle with cancer over the course of four months. This happened two weeks prior to his wedding. Ten months later the author would deal with the deal of his mother-in-law. It is safe to assume that the author is no stranger to death. He has seen many people close to him grieve. He has noticed that everyone grieves differently. He understands the need for God’s grace in the midst of grief to get one through the stages of grief. This paper will attempt to construct a Christian worldview from which counseling model will be developed. An assessment of basic skill will be conducted before bereavement is discussed. This paper seeks to offer some insight into Bereavement and Christian counseling.
CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW AND COUSELING MODEL
Developing a Christian Worldview
A worldview is a set of assumptions or presuppositions that an individual constructs to answer questions about life. Ones worldview is found at the center of their being. Many compare a worldview to glasses, which provide the lenses through which one views the world. These lenses allow one to answer what Leroy Forelines refers to as “the inescapable questions of life.” Forlines suggests, “It is impossible for us to escape asking such
According to Hart (2012), those people who are suffering from grief often seek help from the health care professionals. This is important for the clinicians to identify and address their own experiences in the clinical settings. The main aim of this article is to explore the facts about grief, the common themes of grief and the different ways in which the patient process of the clinicians can be facilitated.
A “worldview is a set of beliefs or truth claims that form a framework for making sense out of life and the world” (MacCullough, Ed.D., 2012, p. 15). Basically, it is how we view the world. We all have our own perception in the way we view the world. Our worldview is what we believe the answers are in our everyday life and what we believe are the answers to everything we do or are involved in. This includes everything from our values, beliefs, and our actions. It also includes how we view
The grieving that individuals experience with death is unique, but the main stages are universal across cultures (Axelrod, 2017). There are five stages of grief. Nicolas Wolterstorff’s story, Lament for a Son, addresses these five stages as he tries to find joy after the loss of his son. The meaning and significance of death in light of the Christian narrative is also addressed in the story. Having a hope of the resurrection can help comfort individuals in situations similar to Wolterstorff (Wolterstorff, 1978).
The book, Lament For a Son, written by Nicholas Wolterstorff talks about his pain and grief after losing his 25-year-old son (Joy, 2009). His son died while on a mountain-climbing expedition. Dr. Wolterstorff has several books published during his career as a philosophical theology professor in Yale Divinity. However, he wrote Lament for a Son with a different journal style since it is a personal thing for him. The book is similar to a journal as he narrates the events that happened before and after his son’s death. The emotions expressed in the book are common among people who lose close relatives. What matters is how a person handles the issue. Kubler-Ross invented the five stages of grief; denial, anger, bargaining, depression and acceptancethat explain the escalation of grief when stricken by bad news (Axelrod, 2004). The paper looks into the book and its relation to the five stages of grief.
What is a world view? A worldview is an individual’s view on life. It is the philosophy with which we live. It makes us who we are and is shaped by our experiences, culture, and background (Smith, 2015). A worldview is fluid, it changes as we change and discover our identities. It is made up of the questions that humans may ask to determine their wealth to the world or their purpose in life. Our worldview can make us gravitate toward other individuals with similar beliefs. It is a unifying factor in our day to day interactions with people and the world as a whole. It is the way that we determine what is “considered meaningful, what is worth doing, and which causes may require sacrifice”
The human experience is what connects people to one another. What we experience defines who we are and who we become. It also defines how we interact with others. The amazing thing is that not only do the events that bring joy, peace and happiness connect us but also those that bring anxiety, fear and despair. This brings to light the fact that God somehow in his sovereignty uses all things for the good of those who love Him. These ideas are brought to light in Jerry Sittser’s book, A Grace Disguised which is his personal journey of loss and the insight and experience that was gained in the face of great tragedy. In his book, Sittser discusses various insights he has gained, such as how Christian’s view sorrow, how families recover when
Death is inevitable. Death is unforeseeable. Death is unknown. One of the most difficult aspects of life is the prospect of death. In Lament for A Son, Wolterstorff reflects on the agony and lamentation of losing his son in a tragic accident (Wolterstorff, 1987). He explains the grief and pain associated with the death of someone close (Wolterstorff, 1987). One of the main themes present is the premature death of the author’s son, which alludes to the five stages of grief (Wolterstorff, 1987) (Kübler-Ross, 1972). The last stage is the stage of acceptance (Kübler-Ross, 1972). Death is possibly one of the most difficult things to accept and understand. Through the analysis of Wolterstorff’s Lament for a Son, this paper will attempt to understand finding joy in loss, the meaning of death in the light of the Christian narrative, and the role of hope in the resurrection.
world−what it is, why it is and how it operates. Within a person’s mind [a worldview]
To fully understand the causes and particularly the effects that bereavement can have on someone’s life, especially if you have been fortunate to not have been touched with the experience, will help with understanding what someone is going through and how it can alter their behavior. The intensity in which someone experiences their loss of a person is dependent on the closeness of the relationship and the suddenness of the passing, even religion amongst many other factors. “The way a person
A worldview, weather religious or non-religious, has personal insight about reality and meaning, often termed a “life understanding”. We all have worldviews which is our own discernment which develops because we have sought some understanding of our own significance. The overall perspective from which one sees and interprets the world could be collection beliefs about life and the universe held by an individual or group.
What is a worldview? A worldview is a person’s perception and/or belief of things, such as the reason for our existence and what is or is not reality. Regardless of creed, ethnicity, or race, “people of all ages from all across the world have a worldview, which begins its development from the very first interaction they have with those around them” (MacCullough, 2016).These ideas, which our influenced by our upbringing, experiences, as well as through mainstream media outlets, essentially cultivate the ideas we generate regarding all that encompasses life’s realities, which thereby influences our actions
What exactly is meant by a biblical worldview? What is meant by a Christian philosophy of education? Should a worldview reflect different values and beliefs if an educator is a Christian? As a future educator, it is very important to reflect upon these questions as the most important goal should be to reflect the love of Christ whether that be in the public or private school setting. A biblical worldview can be described as viewing the world through a set lenses that allow one to see things with Christian perspective, morals and mindset. Having a solid biblical worldview will change how one acts and reacts in situations, how one speaks, and how one thinks. A Christian philosophy of education is a view of education that places
The intent of this paper is to write about a class experience of the shadow of death, and reflect upon the readings, discussions and personal stories that have emotionally impressed me. Terms such as euthanasia, suicide and death rituals were discussed during the lectures in class leaving me with a sense of loss. The many beliefs and world vies, that may differ from the American culture, were considered, which I found to be enlightening. The examination of various concepts such as practicality, wisdom and humor were presented and illustrated in “Understanding dying, death, & bereavement” written by Leming and Dickinson (2011).
A person’s worldview is determined by the sum total of their life experience. It is a framework by which a person makes sense of his/her world. Moreover, it is a combination of beliefs and how those beliefs influence emotions, choices, and actions in everyday life (Hays & Erford, 2014). A Christian’s worldview is also made up of a summary of one’s life experience, but also includes a biblical view of the world based on the direction provided by the unfailing Word of God (McMinn, 2011). It is only through acceptance of God’s grace, love, and compassion, that true healing can be accomplished (Psalms 103:2-4, New International Version).
A worldview is a system of beliefs that we model our lives after. It is how we perceive the world and others around us (Rusbult, n.d.). A person’s worldview is affected by how he/she is raised, his/her culture, his/her living situation (Rusbult, n.d.). A person’s parents and upbringing plays an important part in how that person interacts with others and thinks. A world view is like wearing colored glasses (Gutierrez, 2014). The way we see things, or perceive things, is based on the color of the glasses we are wearing. Where did we get these colored glasses? We obtain our “worldview glasses” from our parents, our culture, our friends, the media, and our religious beliefs. (109 words)