Trauma and Grace

I too am alternately mesmerized and repelled by the tragic news from Japan, which for me is intensely personal. In the past I have always associated Japan with experiences of grace, not tragedy. As a college student, I lived there for a year which profoundly shaped my life. Since then I have been blessed by over 50 years of close friendship with three generations of the Japanese family with whom I lived near Tokyo, visiting them in Japan several times (most recently last Easter with my daughter, for my Japanese goddaughter’s wedding celebration), and welcoming them when they visit us here. All the family is now well and safe following the earthquake and tsunami, thank God. But the continuing nuclear crisis causes ongoing anxiety and uncertainty.

Each day as I read the papers, listen to the news, and pray for Japan, I’ve been trying to imagine what it must be like for the thousands of people who in a single moment lost their homes and most or all of their possessions, and are now cold and hungry in shelters, fearing that nuclear fallout will be the next Plague to befall them. And I’ve wondered how they can not only survive physically but transcend these traumas emotionally and be able to move on with their lives.

So last week when a friend sent me a book called Trauma and Grace, it immediately became my Lenten reading. It was written by Dr. Serene Jones, President and Professor of Theology at Union Theological Seminary in New York City. It is a series of essays written over about ten years in which she uses the lenses of trauma theory and theology to help her understand the impact of various kinds of severe trauma experienced by friends and students, and how individuals and communities can best support people who have experienced such trauma. I find the book compelling as I ponder the impact of multiple traumas on so many Japanese and look for glimpses of hope. What sort of resurrection might possibly emerge from such suffering? How might it come about? Jones helps me put my concerns and questions into a Biblical and theological context in ways I find illuminating. If you’re interested, the book is available on Amazon and other online bookstores.

Nancy Warren