title: Religious maturity in the midst of death and dying.
abstract: Healthy religious experience is defined by certain qualities of expression. In an effort to explore the concept of mature religious phenomenology, this article includes descriptions of two encounters from personal pastoral experience. The first encounter shows how a person with an unhealthy religious experience faces death. The second encounter describes an expression of mature religious experience in the face of death and how a pastoral caregiver can facilitate its outcome. This is followed by a pastoral theological response.
authors.affiliation: Odyssey Healthcare, Dallas, Texas, USA.
authors.forename: Xolani
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Kacela
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000739:Anecdotes as Topic; D001293:Attitude to Death; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D006801:Humans; D010327:Pastoral Care / Q000941:ethics / Q000592:standards; D011788:Quality of Life; D013727:Terminal Care / Q000379:methods / Q000523:psychology; D019452:Terminally Ill / Q000523:psychology*; D014481:United States