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J Relig Health (2012) 51:235237 DOI 10.1007/s10943-011-9559-4
BOOK REVIEW
Published online: 10 January 2012
Storm Swain, an Episcopal priest, seminary professor, and clinical pastoral education supervisor, has proposed a model of pastoral care that is based on the paradigm of the Trinity and the work of D. W. Winnicott and his seminal work in Object Relations. This psychoanalytic theory is placed in relation with Augustines treatise on the Trinity. The comparison between these two disciplines is at times seems very articial and contrived. That does not diminish from the usefulness of each in the course of the book. The Augustinian concept of the Trinity does provide a good paradigm and framework for the book. His description of the binding force of love between the persons of the Trinity becomes the bedrock for Swains understanding of the foundational operative throughout the work. She is able to describe the function of love in the Object Relations of Winnicott that produces a healthy and well-developed human being from the beginning of the infants growth and identity in relation to the good enough mother. Although Winnicott is always speaking psychologically rather than theologically, I think in his radical developmentalism, we see most clearly the theological principle of loving as we have been loved, in that we learn to love by being loved. The thesis is: This book asserts that, as an image of the triune God, an economic trinity in the self of Earth-making/Pain-bearing/Life-giving is the way we live out the love of God in our daily lives in relations to others and that the fullness of this leads to growth and health, even in the midst of trauma.
In keeping with the Trinitarian paradigm, she has the three main chapters titled: Earth-Making, Pain-Bearing, and Life-Giving. This is the schema for the pastoral model for chaplains. Under each heading are the reections of the chaplains in their work at Ground Zero and in the T-Morgue. Using both Augustine and Winnicott, she makes love the operative of the ministry that is provided by the chaplains. The chaplains are Christian, Jewish, and Muslim. The role of the chaplain is to bless the human remains that are recovered, pray for the members of the re and police departments and family members, provide...