Infantile Reflections
Having been a social worker for just close to 2 months, I must first apologise in advance if I make it seem as though I have passed a judgment or sound very coldly cognitive.
My peers' very raw experiences of witnessing family violence, together with the Rohingya crisis, stir up visceral emotions of anger, horror and helplessness. Of which, I am quite sure, a few degrees removed I am sure. This week during supervision I was confronted with the fact that I have been engaging the youths I am supposed to counsel in a more cognitive way, when the root of the issue are heart matters like belonging to a family, trust, and feeling loved.
"What is happening to you in the counseling room as your client shares this?"
Social work is a spiritual journey, I am sure of it. We, or I, must confront the questions pertaining to God so as to forge ahead more boldly with the people we work with.
A lot of these questions start with 'Why'?
Ecclesiastes reminded me again of how I have often stumbled over 'Why must such evil happen to this person?" Or framed in another way, 'What is the meaning of all these?'
One main reflection from reading the book of Ecclesiastes thus far is that it is only in light of my relationship with God that I can begin, not to understand in the sense of answering these questions, but to accept these questions with hope.
The Teacher exhorts us to find satisfaction in our toil and enjoy this life on earth where we cannot comprehend God's justice and workings in this world. We also groan inwardly as we experience the brokenness and apparent meaninglessness, even as we struggle to reconcile these physical realities to the belief that God is good, all the time.
Or maybe I am of lesser faith. "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!""To believe that,whether He can grant them or not, God will listen to our prayers, will take them into account. Even to go on believing that there is a Listener at all." (C.S. Lewis in Prayer: Letters to Malcolm)
He gives us more grace.
My peers' very raw experiences of witnessing family violence, together with the Rohingya crisis, stir up visceral emotions of anger, horror and helplessness. Of which, I am quite sure, a few degrees removed I am sure. This week during supervision I was confronted with the fact that I have been engaging the youths I am supposed to counsel in a more cognitive way, when the root of the issue are heart matters like belonging to a family, trust, and feeling loved.
"What is happening to you in the counseling room as your client shares this?"
Social work is a spiritual journey, I am sure of it. We, or I, must confront the questions pertaining to God so as to forge ahead more boldly with the people we work with.
A lot of these questions start with 'Why'?
Ecclesiastes reminded me again of how I have often stumbled over 'Why must such evil happen to this person?" Or framed in another way, 'What is the meaning of all these?'
One main reflection from reading the book of Ecclesiastes thus far is that it is only in light of my relationship with God that I can begin, not to understand in the sense of answering these questions, but to accept these questions with hope.
The Teacher exhorts us to find satisfaction in our toil and enjoy this life on earth where we cannot comprehend God's justice and workings in this world. We also groan inwardly as we experience the brokenness and apparent meaninglessness, even as we struggle to reconcile these physical realities to the belief that God is good, all the time.
Or maybe I am of lesser faith. "I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief!""To believe that,whether He can grant them or not, God will listen to our prayers, will take them into account. Even to go on believing that there is a Listener at all." (C.S. Lewis in Prayer: Letters to Malcolm)
He gives us more grace.
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