in soul pursuit

in soul pursuit

Sunday 15 December 2019

Edith Stein and Resilience

Following the excellent conference in Cologne this summer here is an extract from my paper on Stein and Resilience. As well as a picture of the remarkable Stein memorial in Cologne.
 
best wishes
 
Peter
 
 
 
 
 
 
‘A scientia crucis (‘science of the cross’) can be gained only when one comes to feel the Cross radically.’[1]
 
In their 2016 essay on the subject, Cook and White suggest that there are three essential elements of resilience:
1. ‘Confrontation of significant adversity or risk’
2. ‘The use of internal and external resources to cope amidst adversity’ and
3. ‘A positive outcome’ (Cook and White 2016: 2)
Edith Stein’s experience at the hands of the Nazis in the 1930s and 40s clearly came under category one and she certainly displayed, in testimonials and letters, an ability to ‘cope amidst adversity’. But, a ‘positive outcome’? Systematic humiliation and trial, transportation across Germany in a stinking cattle wagon with no food or water, leading to the eventual extermination of a wise, pious and compassionate middle-aged woman in the degradation of Auschwitz - can this be called a positive outcome? Well, on the basis of psycho-somatic metrics, obviously not. Yet, this is a paper concerning psycho-spiritual reflection on resilience, and if there is one thing we can learn from the Christian scriptures it is that the ‘foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and that God’s weakness is stronger than human strength’ (1 Cor 1: 25). Thus, in this paper I want to bring Edith Stein, her experiences and her reflections thereupon, into conversation with the emerging discourse of resilience. Already it will be apparent that the unique circumstances of Stein’s life, force us into new positions, perhaps uncomfortable to the psychologist but always rewarding for the theologian. In this respect I see this paper as part of an ongoing project of dialogue between theology and psychology that began with my book The Pursuit of the Soul (Tyler 2016).
          What is clear in the emerging discourse of resilience, as initiated by scholars such as Cook and White, is that a distinction can be made between the healthy individual and the resilient individual, which distinguishes it from the now well established discourse of mental health, with all its pitfalls and problems.
Which is to say that rather than borrowing its terminology from medical tropes, the language of resilience encourages us to move beyond the borders of the purely medical as we stray into the borders of spirituality and religion. From this I would like to suggest that pathology and human suffering, rather than being something to be swept under the carpet are ‘authentic, real and valuable as they are’ (Hillman 1975: 75).
 
 In this respect the language of resilience, as I argued in my earlier book, opens up the possibility of ambiguity, paradox, unknowing and the symbolic in our relationship to the human psyche (or, better, soul) when faced with the extreme conditions of human existence (see Tyler 2016:177- 179) and this will be a major theme of this paper as we explore the ‘soul-language’ of Edith Stein.
          Secondly, the exploration of the discourse of resilience allows us to expand upon the transcendent perspective in relation to the individual.
 
As we shall see, the transcendent perspective is an essential dimension of the psyche in Stein’s anthropology and if we are to make sense of her resilience in the face of the horrors and perversions of the Holocaust then we cannot avoid a discussion of her analysis of the human being as being essentially a homo transcendens.


[1] Letter to Mother Ambrosia Antonia Engelmann, the Prioress of Echt Convent, December 1941, 9 months before Edith Stein’s deportation to and death at Auschwitz Concentration Camp (in Stein 1993: 341).
 
 
 

Tuesday 16 July 2019

New Forms of Monasticism? December 2019, Twickenham

Please find attached poster for our forthcoming conference with the Monos foundation which we are very much looking forward to.

best wishes

peter

 

St John of the Cross: Carmel, Desire and Transformation, Twickenham, June 2020

Please find attached poster for our next International Conference which we are very much looking forward to.

best wishes

Peter

Sunday 12 May 2019

Spiritual Seasons of LIfe - Peter Tyler and Hymie Wyse

Cockfosters Centre for Spirituality, Church of Christ the King,
29 Bramley Road, Oakwood, N14 4HE.
 (Six minute walk from Oakwood Station)
Tel 020 8449 6648 Email cockfosterscs@rcdow.org.uk
 
 
Dawn, Sun, Mountain, Landscape, Sky, Clouds, Heaven
 
May 18th
11am to 4pm
'Spiritual Seasons of Life'
A day led by Peter Tyler and Hymie Wyse
 
Beginning with our earliest experiences of the divine, we shall spend the day meditating on what it means to be aware of God's presence throughout the 'spiritual seasons of life'. We shall accompany our reflections with readings and sayings from Meister Eckhart - 'the one from whom God hid nothing'.
 
Peter Tyler is a Professor of Pastoral Theology and Spirituality. He is a UKCP registered psychotherapist and contributes to the current dialogue between spirituality and psychotherapy.
Hymie Wyse is a Therapist and Group Analyst and has been interested in the mystics all his life
Suggested donation £25.00 Parish concessions £15.00
Tea/coffee and lunch provided
We do not wish cost to be a barrier so please pay what you can afford
Please note later start time. Coffee served from 10.30am
 
 
Please see the centre details above to make a booking