Priests in their pastoral ministry encounter heart-breaking incidents occurring before what is regarded as a normal life-span: a child with cancer, a road accident, a seriously ill young mother, a bright student struck down. While this may be some preparation, when priests and ministers personally experience serious or terminal illness, they have the additional burden of being in a public role; of needing to manage outward behaviours and inner feelings. They live out the difficult questions which others bring to them, and to which there are no easy answers. Soul Pain (a term coined by Dame Cicely Saunders) is a moving, articulate and profound series of reflections on the shock, fear, anger, desolation, acceptance that serious illness brings, the choices to be faced and the meaning of healing in such contexts. Theologically rich and with a depth of wisdom learned at great cost, this book is full of illuminating insights for all who minister to those with life-threatening conditions and those who watch and wait. Essential reading for all in pastoral ministry.

This book explores the multifaceted experience of suffering in old age. Older adults suffer from a variety of causes such as illness, loss, and life disappointment, to name a few. Suffering also occurs due to experiences related to one's gender, ethnic background, and religion. Although gerontological literature has equated suffering with depression, grief, pain and sadness, elders themselves distinguished suffering from these concepts and at the same time showed how they are linked. Narratives of suffering from community-dwelling elders are interpreted in this book, along with the personal meaning of suffering that lies within each narrative.

Why would anyone seek out the very experience the rest of us most wish to avoid? Why would religious worshipers flog or crucify themselves, sleep on spikes, hang suspended by their flesh, or walk for miles through scorching deserts with bare and bloodied feet? In this insightful new book, Ariel Glucklich argues that the experience of ritual pain, far from being a form of a madness or superstition, contains a hidden rationality and can bring about a profound transformation of the consciousness and identity of the spiritual seeker. Steering a course between purely cultural and purely biological explanations, Glucklich approaches sacred pain from the perspective of the practitioner to fully examine the psychological and spiritual effects of self-hurting. He discusses the scientific understanding of pain, drawing on research in fields such as neuropsychology and neurology. He also ranges over a broad spectrum of historical and cultural contexts, showing the many ways mystics, saints, pilgrims, mourners, shamans, Taoists, Muslims, Hindus, Native Americans, and indeed members of virtually every religion have used pain to achieve a greater identification with God. He examines how pain has served as a punishment for sin, a cure for disease, a weapon against the body and its desires, or a means by which the ego may be transcended and spiritual sickness healed. "When pain transgresses the limits," the Muslim mystic Mizra Asadullah Ghalib is quoted as saying, "it becomes medicine." Based on extensive research and written with both empathy and critical insight, Sacred Pain explores the uncharted inner terrain of self-hurting and reveals how meaningful suffering has been used to heal the human spirit.

What makes for a good death? In Mortally Wounded, a best-seller in Ireland where it was first published, Dr. Michael Kearney reflects upon his experiences working with the dying and shows us that it is possible to learn to die well, overcoming our fears and soul pain and accepting death as an integral part of life.Believing that the root of the pain we face when dying is often a persona and cultural disconnection from soul, Dr. Kearney advocates a personal quest inward-and downward-the re-engage with this deepest part of our being. He shows how psychological techniques, such as dream analysis and visualization exercises, combined with mythological insights, can help us on this journey. He finds in the Greek myth of the wounded centaur, Chiron, a metaphor for this process-it is only after descending to the underworld for nine days and nights that Chiron finds relief from his pain and suffering and discovers a path that reaches to the heavens.Careful attention to our spiritual health, Kearney urges, is an essential complement to physical or outer care. Inner or "depth" work can, he believes, enables us to find our "own way through the prison of soul pain to a place of greater wholeness, a new depth of living, and a falling away from fear.

Provides information on improving one's mental and physical health through exercise.

“Loss and Pain are inevitable adversities of life, but they come with two options—either resist and suffer the adversities OR accept and grow beyond the adversities.” Blooming Beyond Pain is the journey of a young widow from grief to grace. The author speaks about the challenges of life, which follows the loss of a loved one and the lessons associated with them. She then reveals the exact path, which she chose to heal herself holistically to live happily, beyond her pain. The book guides the reader to take effective actions to heal their pain and grow beyond their adversities. You must read this book if you: • Are grieving the loss of a loved one • Agree that life is fragile and death and grief are certain in life • Have lost your path and need to figure out the purpose of life • Are curious to know how a young widow can start reliving beyond her pain This book will help you to: • Have a closer look at the fragile life and understand its uncertainty in a better way • Come out of the illusions of life and live in the present • Improve perspectives on life • Look beyond adversities and see unlimited possibilities • Build a positive attitude towards life and become a victor. DON’T WAIT! Without any second thought, grab the book and begin your journey towards blooming beyond your pain.

The health of your soul is connected to your physical life. A career criminal most of her life, Souza was sent to federal prison to serve almost twelve years. While serving her sentence, she encountered God in a way that dramatically changed her life. Now an outspoken advocate for Jesus, she helps readers find a pathway to healing and receive the blessings God is pouring out.