Accompanying the dying and their families, I have been especially mindful of my spiritual connection to my own birth mother and father, my grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who are deceased. The dynamics of my nuclear family and the genetic patterns evident in my family tree have helped me to understand family systems theory and apply it in pastoral ministry.
I am wondering now about cultural differences in the core spiritual dynamics of self-worth, reconciliation and guidance and whether there are preferences for one over the other in some cultures. Are there gender differences and stereotypes at play in how people are cast in one dynamic or another?
For example, reconciliation and forgiveness seem to have unique meanings in some Christian traditions. Do they have unique meanings in some cultures that might be easily misunderstood by a chaplain of a different culture? Self-worth and humility are also colored by spiritual beliefs. I am thinking about how in my own Anglo culture, struggles with self-worth are not something we express easily, or that is expected of us because of our privileged status in society.
What if culture and family dynamics are in conflict within one individual? And what if the cultural dynamic and family dynamic are the same... is the overall effect of the dynamic intensified, more rigid and harder to transform?
These are some of the important questions that arose in me during Unit II. They led to a revisiting of the question of personal vulnerabilities based on our cultural location.
