Naming the Wounds: The Role of Poetic Lament in Medicine
Kelly Chittenden, PhD, Baylor University
“The human experience requires lament, at least as long as we live in the current world as we know it,” writes Kelly Kapic in Embodied Hope: A Theological Meditation on Pain and Suffering. “Biblically there can be no question about the place and need of this practice—sin and sickness mean we must create space for genuine lamentation. Not because we despair but because we recognize the wounds of this world and of our hearts.” In the Bible, the Psalms of Lament provide particularly vivid expressions of this practice, giving a poetic shape and form to the groaning of God’s people. Yet the Psalms of Lament also convey great hope in the promise of God’s redemption. Furthermore, the Psalms of Lament illuminate how creative expression such as poetry can strengthen both individuals and communities in times of suffering.
This proposed workshop extends the rich practice of poetic lament into the context of contemporary medicine. Led by a teacher-scholar of literature and drawing upon practices cultivated in a Biblical Theology of Suffering Course, this workshop will allow participants to contemplate lament and hope through poetic study and expression. In the first section of the workshop, participants will be introduced to the structure of Biblical lament. Together, we will read a Psalm of Lament and trace the gestures common to lamentation—a cry out to God, a voicing of a complaint, a petition to God, a remembrance of God’s faithfulness, and a commitment to praise (Kapic). In the next section of the workshop, we will consider the role of lament in the work of Christian poetry about illness and healthcare, engaging in close readings and discussions of poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Micheal O’Siadhail, Anya Krugovoy Silver, and Christian Wiman. Finally, drawing upon principles of narrative medicine, participants will be guided to write short poetic laments of their own, grounded in personal or observed experiences of illness and suffering within healthcare systems. By allowing for creative expression, this workshop will provide participants a space to consider the importance of lament—and imagine a way forward for medicine within the broken world.
This proposed workshop extends the rich practice of poetic lament into the context of contemporary medicine. Led by a teacher-scholar of literature and drawing upon practices cultivated in a Biblical Theology of Suffering Course, this workshop will allow participants to contemplate lament and hope through poetic study and expression. In the first section of the workshop, participants will be introduced to the structure of Biblical lament. Together, we will read a Psalm of Lament and trace the gestures common to lamentation—a cry out to God, a voicing of a complaint, a petition to God, a remembrance of God’s faithfulness, and a commitment to praise (Kapic). In the next section of the workshop, we will consider the role of lament in the work of Christian poetry about illness and healthcare, engaging in close readings and discussions of poetry by Gerard Manley Hopkins, Micheal O’Siadhail, Anya Krugovoy Silver, and Christian Wiman. Finally, drawing upon principles of narrative medicine, participants will be guided to write short poetic laments of their own, grounded in personal or observed experiences of illness and suffering within healthcare systems. By allowing for creative expression, this workshop will provide participants a space to consider the importance of lament—and imagine a way forward for medicine within the broken world.