At various occasions in my life, 1catharsis has been a useful concept. At one time in my earlier decades—lasting maybe ten years or so—this word characterized a decision-making process about my 2eventual lifework.
What I remember is that the process took awhile. It was slow. The swirl of colliding emotions had to settle down, to get sorted out. Changing circumstances, contexts and other realities didn’t allow instant insights or decisions. I had to discern all the ramifications of the slow catharsis’s requirements—what to purge from my identity so that I could recognize other possible manifestations of my self-image.
Cathartic movements might occur in anyone’s life: Folks changing careers, people trying to reclaim their lives after great losses, individuals and groups at the end of their ropes, patients facing chronic medical conditions, apathy-addicted retirees. Their hopes for new lives might also invite a genuine reexamination of their present lives—e.g., cleaning-out shame or guilt or purging harmful lifestyles. Because catharses are also 3spiritual matters, repentance and conversion can tag along with cathartic thoughts.
“Slow catharsis” might also describe much of what happens as we head from previous versions of ourselves toward the realities of elderhood. Not just reframing our emotions, but also purging ourselves of unhelpful or distracting mindsets that might stop our maturing into what God has in mind for our final years.
If you’re in the middle of a catharsis, consider this a good thing. Look forward to emerging from the experience as a renewed child of God and a steward of God’s will. Recognize with gratitude your own slow catharses. Affirm and support people around you who are on the verge of—or recognize their need for—renewal of their minds, bodies and spirits.
However long it takes, however slow….
1This term is derived from Greek ideals formed around the adjectival katharos—pure, clean of dirt, spotless, open, free, clear of shame or guilt, purified. In its first English usage, dating to the 1770s, catharsis described purging processes or medicines, particularly of the digestive system. In its present use, the word has taken on psychological tones, referring to the beneficial cleaning of negative or harmful emotions, sometimes resulting in spiritual renewal and relief of tension.
2I had thought that church musician would be my life’s vocation, but over time came to see that that wasn’t as strong a calling as I had imagined. That cathartic work was sometimes difficult. Eventually, though, other career opportunities and assets emerged.
3The New Testament is full of linguistic derivatives of kathairein, where purging, trimming or purifying are named as positive parts of following God’s will. (See Matthew 23:26, John 15:2 or Hebrews 9:13 as examples.) In Christian theology, baptism is regularly named as a washing or cleansing.
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