Fractured Wholeness as the Aim of Healing: The Myth of Coherence and the Redemptive Power of Hope. An Integrative Proposal at the Intersection of Medicine, Psychology and Theology
Lena Maria Lorenz, PhD, MEd, MSc, Durham University, Durham, United Kingdom
It is a prevalent idea in theory and practice that perceived wholeness requires a sense of coherence (including sustained meaningfulness). The person in that framework will be asked to integrate any unexpected life events into one coherent narrative. Yet, there are ruptures (such as chronic or unexplained illness) that challenge a continuation of previously established coherence and do not allow for restoration of former unbroken wholeness. While such restoration may not be impossible, it is at least unlikely for certain medical conditions or circumstances where the source of suffering is out of the person’s control. The Judeo-Christian tradition offers a helpful perspective on this, countering the removal of suffering and mending of brokenness as a prerequisite for healing. It is the idea of a wholeness that embraces brokenness, thus making pain and suffering the very means towards healing. This is reflected in a variety of fundamental doctrines, such as redemption of the broken and new creation out of brokenness. While brokenness will have no place in eternal wholeness, what can be sought and achieved in this life is fragmentary wholeness. Hope – some call it a virtue or an emotion, others an attitude and some a gift – has the power to establish such fragmentary wholeness by putting and holding together that which seems to oppose each other. It is therefore no surprise that in the Hebrew Bible, hope (sever) and brokenness (shever) are intrinsically and etymologically linked. The Christian narrative makes this link explicit in the broken body of Christ as the hope for the world.
Based on the findings from my own empirical (interview based) research, I argue, first, that hope initiates, sustains and completes the pursuit of wholeness, and second, that the place of healing through such work of hope is the space where darkness, pain and suffering reside. In doing so, I challenge widespread (but often unrealistic) ideas of coherence, wholeness and healing by offering a concept that may be more fitting for a (medical) world where limitations and suffering will not cease to exist. The methodological approach of my research is an integrative dialogue between theology, medicine, psychology, and the social sciences. The results are thus relevant to medicine and theology, as well as practice and research alike, which I will outline in my suggestions for application.
Based on the findings from my own empirical (interview based) research, I argue, first, that hope initiates, sustains and completes the pursuit of wholeness, and second, that the place of healing through such work of hope is the space where darkness, pain and suffering reside. In doing so, I challenge widespread (but often unrealistic) ideas of coherence, wholeness and healing by offering a concept that may be more fitting for a (medical) world where limitations and suffering will not cease to exist. The methodological approach of my research is an integrative dialogue between theology, medicine, psychology, and the social sciences. The results are thus relevant to medicine and theology, as well as practice and research alike, which I will outline in my suggestions for application.