Spiritual Care: The Everyday Work of Chaplains
★★★★
This book is a survey of various chaplaincy roles and the throughlines between them in one city (Boston). I found it helpful, but I wish workplace/office chaplains had been included. I'm trying to make my way in that particular space post-CPE, and I feel quite alone. That being said, Cadge named and provided context for major thematic issues I'm encountering, and which the profession must navigate: invisible labor, liminal spaces, code switching, improvisation, institutional vs. entrepreneurial possibilities (and limitations), ethics, financial models, and the tension between presence and outcomes. While this book didn't answer my specific questions, it did reinforce my connection to the profession as a whole. Most of all, it helped me remember that not-knowing and inhabiting "the spaces between" are core to the chaplain's endeavor. All in all, I feel stronger for the discernment ahead of me. Seems fitting for a book about chaplaincy, now that I think of it. :)
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“There is a tenderness and a kind of noticing that chaplains do that can make a world of difference.”