title: Becoming whole: a pastoral story.
abstract: In my role as parish priest, I am present in the daily life of my community to acknowledge, nurture, celebrate, reflect, witness, and listen to the people around me. Hearing stories, helping people see and live in their stories, find meaning in them is my life work, and this is what happened when I met Eva. Together we will tell you her story of depression, her revelations in therapy, and piecing together the new meanings in her life through creating a quilt to symbolize and reflect her healing process. Eva's life, similar to the lives of each woman who has entered into her own suffering and there found healing, is perpetually becoming whole. Sharing our stories as Eva has opens possibilities for each of us who hears, believes, and witnesses our own pain and that of our sisters, allowing us to shape and give meaning to our stories, our selves, our wholeness, and our holiness.
authors.affiliation: St. Andrew by-the-Lake Anglican Church, Toronto, Ontario, Canada. ml.meadow@utoronto.ca
authors.forename: M L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Meadow
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beyerle-Rutherford
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002650:Child Abuse, Sexual / Q000523:psychology*; D002835:Christianity; D019052:Depression, Postpartum / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006694:Holistic Health; D006801:Humans; D010327:Pastoral Care / Q000379:methods*; D012649:Self Concept