New e-book excerpt: "Enough is Never Enough - Abusing the Good Heart"

Non-commercial www.paulprescott.comThis excerpt is from a new e-book I'm writing on the idea of spiritual abuse -- specifically how spiritual abuse can kill the very life of our hearts.
.................................................................

The particular kind of abuse I'm talking about is reflected in the following description of abuse.  It comes from The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, by Johnson and VanVonderan:

"Spiritual abuse is the mistreatment of a person who is in need of help, support or greater spiritual empowerment, with the result of weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment."

The authors go further:

"Spiritual abuse can also occur when spirituality is used to make others live up to a ‘spiritual standard.’  This promotes external ‘spiritual performance,’ …or is used as a means of ‘proving’ a person’s spirituality."

This abuse may not even be intentional, but kills the heart, nonetheless.

Notice the effects of this kind of abuse:

• weakening, undermining or decreasing that person’s spiritual empowerment.
• enforcing a 'spiritual standard,' 'spiritual performance,' a means of 'proving a person's spirituality'
  

The e-book is nearly completed, and I'll be announcing its completion soon.

As always, feel free to click the "Post a Comment" button below.

Update on Monday, August 16, 2010 at 12:06PM by Jim Robbins

P.S.  Some of your own stories of spiritual abuse will be included in the e-book; experiences that may resonate with your own painful journey. 

Comments

[Meredith]

Hey Jim,

I'm so glad you are doing this book. When people face tragedy, they expect a safe place for them to be a church...and instead it's a place that adds on to the sadness. I remember after my brother died I tried to go to church and it was a cold place for me. No one befriended me and it added to my desolation. I didn't do the same things everyone else did, so that made me a bad suspicious person. Churches don't realize that or don't care that one of their first missions is to help those who are mourning or are facing challenges. Often, I do think it is on purpose.

Meredith

[Jim Robbins]

Hi Meredith -- I'm sorry that the one place where you hoped to find refuge and comfort only left you feeling more alienated and abandoned. The Church has a lot of repenting to do.