Gettingan, eds, Neil J.

Musgrave, Beverly A.

English

Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)

276A chapter is devoted to each of these “Cs” (two chapters are devoted to Contribution) with a clear discussion of the nature and importance of each, the relations of each to happiness, and practical guidance on how to increase each of the “Cs.” These !ve “Cs” are surrounded by three attributes: pride, trust, and recognition. Finally at the heart of “Happiness at Work” is the expe-riencing of “achieving your potential.”I like and readily recommend this book for a number of reasons. First, I trust the content due to its research base. Second, the book is !lled with help-ful guidance for both the individual seeking greater happiness at work and the employer/leader seeking to provide a more positive work environment. Third, the book is well written and helpfully structured with real-life illustra-tions and concluding summaries and top take-aways for each chapter. I fully expect to use this book in my work with pastors.John P. MartinsonDirector, Clergy Coaches, Ministerial Health and Leadership ResourcesFairview Health ServicesMinneapolis, MNBeverly A. Musgrave and Neil J. McGettingan, eds., Spiritual and Psy-chological Aspects of Illness: Dealing with Sickness, Loss, Dying, and Death (Mahwah, NJ: Paulist Press, 2010), 253 pp.The recurring theme in this collection of twenty articles will reinforce what those involved in helping relationships have probably experienced many times over, namely that “a caring partnership can bring about real bene!t and sometimes healing” (p. ix). The contributions are organized in four parts: theological, psychological, healing, and personal dimensions. The authors are primarily from the East Coast, about one third of whom are associated with Fordham University.Co-editor Beverly A. Musgrave, a Roman Catholic and professor of pas-toral counseling at Fordham, is the founder of Partners in Healing, a profes-sional group that trains clergy and laity for pastoral ministry to the sick and dying. The inspiration for this work grew out of Musgrave’s own experience with serious illness in 1990, which landed her body, “stressed beyond…lim-its,” in a hospital’s coronary care unit. In an article recounting her experience, BOOK REVIEWS277she explores the meaning of family, self, and “surrender to the insoluble mys-tery of God,” as part of the journey to !nding meaning in illness (p. 147).A further description of Partners in Healing is provided by Eleanor Ra-mos, who sketches the basic training, the qualities, unique gifts, and the call of those who participate in this ministry. The last article, “Pancakes in Mumbai,” by Roberta Troilo, is a moving account of the death of the author’s husband and the support she received from Sr. Kathryn, a pastoral associate, whose ministry became part of Partners in Healing.The other co-editor, Neil J. McGettingan, professor of theology at Vil-lanueva, contributed two articles. In the !rst, after summarizing the views of !ve authors (Judith Viorst, Sandra M. Gilbert, Ann Aguirre, Therese A. Ran-do, Carol Pregent, and C. S. Lewis), he concludes that “our experience of loss leads us to desire God and to seek release from loss and the only solace from death [is] possession of God in eternity” (p. 72). Although he brie"y refers to the Buddhist perspective in his second article, “Loss and the Unraveling of Life,” McGettingan, like most authors in this collection, writes from a Chris-tian perspective. (It may have been helpful to indicate the book’s Christian viewpoint in the title as a corrective to the description of Partners in Health as “multireligious” on the back cover.)Several authors, such as Mary Ragan, illustrate well the application of theory to practice. For others, the vignettes are less well integrated. Overall, the collection accomplishes its purpose of underscoring the bene!t of caring partnerships, and will be most useful to the non-specialist. The addition of an index would make this volume more useful.John GillmanVITAS Innovative Hospice CareSan Diego, CAArchie Smith, Jr. and Ursula Riedel-Pfaef!in, Siblings by Choice: Race, Gender and Violence (St. Louis, MO: Chalice Press, 2004), 174 pp.Siblings by Choice is an critical analysis of how differently situated human be-ings work through long-standing historical injustice, experienced trauma, on-tological and concrete estrangement, and irreparable hurt to become siblings by choice. Reading this critical examination requires the reader to not only en-gage individual analysis, but also contextual analysis. Siblings by Choice con-BOOK REVIEWS

Spiritual and Psychological Aspects of Illness: Dealing with Sickness, Loss, Dying, and Death (Mahway, NJ: Paulist Press, 2010)

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Spiritual and Psychological Aspects of Illness: Dealing with Sickness, Loss, Dying, and Death (Mahway, NJ: Paulist Press, 2010)

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Reflective Practice - Formation and Supervision in Ministry (E-Journal)