Leading Causes of Life

“Do justice, love mercy and walk humbly with God.” Micah 6:8

When we talk with each other, we are all yearning for hope, wholeness and well-being. We want to be rooted in those deeper ways of living that make us feel connected to each other with a more significant meaning and purpose. So all this work on being trauma-informed and healing centered is about getting us to that place where we can experience deep connection and work meaningfully together to create a peaceful and just world. Gary Gunderson calls these ways of being the Leading Causes of Life. He says,

We live in connections; we thrive in webs of meaning that make reality coherent; we flourish in our capacities to work together on things that matter; we bloom in our experience of giving and receiving blessings across generations; and we prosper as we are drawn toward hope.

These Leading Causes of Life are the things that drive our well-being, and no surprise…these are things that happen in our congregational life.

COHERENCE

We seek meaning from experience; our brains form and seek patterns. Coherence refers to the many ways we make sense of life, how life makes sense to us, to see our journey as intelligible, not wholly random, or victim to inexplicable forces.

CONNECTION

As human beings, we find life through complex social relationships and connections to one another, building communities of various kinds that enable us to adapt to changing threats and opportunities.

AGENCY

To have the will and the resourcefulness to act, and to act with our full capabilities as human beings, is a central ‘cause’ of life.

HOPE

Imagination helps us construct the lives we want to live and the legacies we want to leave. Hope, in the deepest sense, is about imagining a different, healthier future and finding the energy to do something to try to bring that future into being. If we can see a positive future, this nurtures the life force to enable it to happen.

INTERGENERATIVITY

We bridge, with gratitude and responsibility, what came before and what will come after us. When our lives are blessed and nurtured by those who come before and after us, we become encouraged, strengthened, enlivened and more able to shape our lives and make vital choices.

Creating safe spaces of worship

“My observation is that the worship service allowed worshippers to reconnect with ordinary lives and communities,” added Kofi. “Worshippers connected with the self when they reflected on their identity during the prayer of confession and even during the sermon. “Worshippers connected with others in witnessing the co-preachers tell and reframe their stories, and also when sharing the eucharist. Connection with the self and others in worship nurtures the conditions for trauma recovery. It was beautiful!”

Amy leaned forward. “Safe spaces are critical. A well-designed ritual can provide a good container for difficult feelings and realities to be named. For example, the prayers of confession invited people to share what they wanted to bring of themselves to the worship experience. This kind of service nurtures the well-being of all persons all the time and should not be practiced only for survivors and only occasionally. Each faith community can determine the best way to welcome people into the worship service.” Paula nodded. “We need safe ways of telling trauma stories, mourn the losses, and reframe the narratives, so that we can all nurture connections with self, others, and the Divine.”

Joel had been wondering about the current context. “Given that the world just went through a global pandemic that inflicted death, sickness, and trauma on the world, faith communities would do the world a great service offering trauma-responsive worship every single week.” Kofi smiled. “This has been most enlightening. We are so used to top-down worship services. But if we want to re-energize congregations, we need to give members the freedom to participate and have a say in the kind of worship that meets their needs. It’s important to find the best process and approach for our community and to be intentional in establishing safer spaces where worshippers have control over their bodies and their environment.” Amy’s eyes brightened, and she sat up. “Can I suggest we speak to our pastor and worship committee about how to integrate these ideas into our worship? “We can help them to identify the life-giving parts of worship and discuss ways to enhance these moments, new ways to “Pass the peace” that are respectful of different concerns. For example, people can come forward for communion or receive it at their seats; private prayer stations can be identified where people can receive individual prayers.” “Excellent idea, Amy,” Paula responded. “Let’s speak to the pastor this evening.”