Spiritual and pastoral needs in changing times

Sr Nicole Grochowina

Congres | Vrijdag 29 november 2019

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Spiritual and pastoral needs in changing times

Sr Nicole Grochowina

Congres | Vrijdag 29 november 2019

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″The times, they are a–changing″. Bob Dylan released this song in 1964, addressing various upheavals, questions and challenges of the mid–1960ies. Indeed, the times were changing during that period; and it seemed as if this change did not appear to become a cheerful one. In fact, nobody seemed to be willing to throw a party to welcome the next stage of humankind. On the contrary, Dylan states in his song that the situation was about to get worse, waters had grown around everybody; and it had to be accepted that sooner or later everybody would be drenched to the bone. Truly, this is not an optimistic and cheerful perspective that in-vites people to embrace the new times showing up at the horizon.

Still, Bob Dylan offers some advice how to cope with this precarious situation of changing times; and his advice is simple and striking at the same time. Dylan says, ″If the water level rais-es, you simply have to learn how to swim.″ Otherwise you will drown like a stone. It is as simple as this.
Spiritual and pastoral needs in our contemporary and changing times – this is not Dylan′s topic, but I sense that he has something to say about this. So, I will take up the lyrics of his song from the 1960ies to walk you through the following thoughts concerning the spiritual and pastoral needs in changing times, because I think that Dylan invites us to try out new per-spectives that might differ from – let′s say – primarily churchy points of view we are so familiar with. Therefore, Dylan will help to broaden the perspective.

So, in the – quite brief – first part, I will address the changing times we are experi-encing right now, before I will turn to the special spiritual and pastoral needs I discover here. While doing this, Bob Dylan will accompany us, interposing questions and remarks now and then. Doing this, will lead us to concluding remarks, which try to sum up the reading of the signs of the times and the spiritual needs deriving from that. By following this path, I would like to show you almost timeless spiritual and pastoral needs. Nevertheless, these needs show up even today, thereby, suggesting that today′s churches, orders, communities and religious movements are invited to bring forward their timeless answers as well, which are – by no means – restricted in their charisma by, for instance, the small number or the higher age of religious people. Instead, I propose, that a stable minority is just fine to tackle the needs in changing times.

I. Reading the signs of the time

″The order is rapidly fading″, Dylan sings in 1964 – and this could also be applied to the situation given today. In an unbounded world where information, communication, goods, knowledge, weapons, news and fake news could easily stream from one place to another it is quite hard to maintain orders that were designed in former times addressing different and now perhaps outdated issues. Dylan seemed to have anticipated this stating, that the ″old road″ that the parents′ generation used to travel was now rapidly aging. Moreover, the parents should be smart enough to get off the new road if they could not lend their hand to the next generation; saying, that the new road would consist of bricks former builders were not familiar with in recent times.

If we transfer these thoughts to contemporary times, we might state, that it has never been so easy to get lost on the newly emerged global playground with its echo chambers and filter bub-bles, with its opportunities to invent identities and to struggle with different core values, cultural fields and attitudes. But just to get this right, living in a global community does have its blessing, that is for sure, but still its challenges also need consideration, too.

″The order is rapidly fading″ also applies to the political field. That means that even political orders that have shaped Europe or different European countries for a long period and seemed to be stable and reliable, these orders now appear to be more and more outdated while they struggle to get along with the challenges of today′s unbounded world. One answer new political orders are giving to this is to strike a strong nationalistic note while even trying to re–build the democratic system to set up various types of managed democracies. Changes in Poland′s juridical system or Hungary′s way of dealing with freedom of press and science might serve as an example here. Moreover, right wing and nationalistic par-ties that either come to power or gain a lot of strength within European countries like Norway, Germany, France and Italy might as well be judged as signs of self–centered and segregating ways of politics that rapidly change the order that once has existed. To perceive what this could actual do to politics, ethics and values it is just needed to take a close look at the various ways of dealing with refugees trying to cross the Mediterranean Sea. A significant number of refugees pay for that with their lives; and European policy as such does not seem to act in a unit-ed way here; in fact, it appears to be awkwardly silent when it comes to enforce European core values, which uphold human dignity.

Of course, this does not mean that all the European people agree with the fading orders. In fact, protest rallies, for instance, in Poland, in the Czech Republic or in Hungary suggest that democracy is still highly valued and should not be sacrificed to personal interests or individual wills to power. Furthermore, it also becomes obvious that voluntary workers or communities like Sant′ Egidio fill the gap politics leave to, for instance, ensure safe migration and to set up a system that helps migrants to establish themselves in the countries they have reached.

Still, it remains a deep impression that old orders are fading. Looking into several European countries confirms this point of view. Here, protest movements as the ″yellow jacket movement″ emerge, addressing disappointment, fear and concrete demands regarding social, political and economic issues. These movements are not only suggesting that there is something wrong in dealing with wealth, economic growths and the fear of social decline, they also show – at least in some parts – a threatening willingness not only to put polit-ical and social demands into words, but also to use violence to enforce them.

We will not go into further details here, since I just wanted to give a brief impression of the major changes, which seem to take place right now and which imply that former orders are fading in contemporary times. The impressions all meet up in the observation that it is striking that outrage and unrest in any sense seem to consume public, private and political spaces while polarizing the social discourse by concrete action or by large efforts issued in virtual media.

And, apparently, this brings us to another observation, since using these media has a major im-pact on a large number of issues being considered in our time of changing societies. In fact, news and fake news are distributed here, echo chambers are being set up and populist positions are widely spreaded, either by people or by social bots, which should and do manipulate opinions and thereby gain influence. This development cannot be underestimated since hate speech and sophisticated efforts to shape public opinion have the potential to undermine the social consensus democratic societies used to rely on. Concretely, this way of acting and manipulating casts doubts and suspiciousness while replacing democratic understandings of freedom with ideology in the worst sense.

But there is more to the phenomenon of social media, since major companies like Facebook and Google are keeping track with the way all of us are circling around on the internet, creating social profiles, adding this up to personalized advertisements and – by doing this – collecting a large amount of personal data. Again, this may and does shape the way we are getting hold of information and products on the internet, since companies try to narrow down our choices in order to profit from it. Adding this to the rise of hate speech and manipulation by social bots you do not have to be a prophet to realize that this could be a ticking time bomb.

Now, being placed into a rapidly changing world like this, which in a way transcends the boundaries between the virtual and the real sphere, it seems to become very hard to trust in information given and to completely rely on it in analogue discourse. This is due to the fact, that either fake news are all over the place, or, it is insinuated by certain groups that even journalistic media that used to apply high standards of quality are only out and around to manipulate opinions. In Germany, the pejorative term for this is ″Lügenpresse″, stating that public service broadcasters keep lying, since their only aim was to confirm and reinforce the government′s policy, which – of course – did not meet the population′s demands.

Moreover, if we look at the developments of contemporary science we might agree with Bob Dylan that the old and known order is fading. Just dealing with the rapid developments concern-ing, for instance, artificial intelligence, medical enhancement or learning algorithms could make an ordinary citizen speechless, and it might induce the feeling to be part of a larger development that cannot be controlled anymore. How long will it take until machines take over jobs, duties or even power, and what consequences does artificial intelligence has concerning human values, human dignity and juridical responsibilities?

Finally, our contemporary society is also shaped by the conflict about creation, its anticipated mortality and the fault and responsibility of us exploiting natural resources without compensating in a proper way. People like Greta Thunberg and movements like ″Fridays for future″ might be annoying to some people – who, of course, use social media to let the world know how unhappy they are. But, nevertheless and despite the fact that movements are also endangered to be regarded just celebrate protest, they still and clearly articulate the fears of large groups of the younger generation.

Now, addressing the contemporary and thereby changing situation it seems as if, in fact, there is a rapid change in order, in discourse and in the understanding of individual choices and possibilities in this setting. Moreover, it becomes clear that an unbounded world issues fears and draw-backs into narrowness, because it seems to become almost impossible to cope with variety, choice and opportunities. Therefore, simplistic answers to complex problems seem to help to reduce complexity in order not to get crazy about it. Thus, what seems to save the individual′s soul, because it prevents it from being overloaded and sink beneath the weight of the world′s questions, causes major problems within the social and political field, which is far from simple, and therefore requires appropriate considerations and the willingness to accept its complexity.

II. How to react?

Sketching a picture like this brings us directly to the spiritual and pastoral needs that go along with this. Basically, Bob Dylan advices us to better learn how to swim, since the waters have grown unex-pectedly fast and are about to wash away everything that used to stabilize and secure. By giving this advice, he comes back to the individual person who has to react to the situation given on very personal level. And in fact, we can easily describe the times changing on a general level, but all these observations, then, need to be ascribed to the individual, since it is the individual who has to learn how to swim. And it is the individual who – as Bob Dylan puts it – needs to keep the eyes wide open to figure out what was going on. And, sure enough, it is the individual who is asked by Dylan not to speak too soon, since the wheel of the times changing was still in spin – and there was no telling what choices might derive from that. To sum this up, in the end it all comes back to the individual person succeeding or failing to cope with the times changing. Therefore and above all, the question of spiritual and pastoral needs has to consider the individual′s disposition while addressing the person′s needs.

a. The baseline is fear. The world in silence

But, what might be the core of the individual′s disposition that allows spiritual and pastoral care to get hold of this? Dylan does not address this question explicitly, but, still, offers an answer: The order is fading, Dylan states, and ″the curse is cast″ and will soon ″shake the windows and rattle the walls″ of everybody who is not following the new path. Furthermore, he announces that everybody would get hurt who stands in the way. This all adds up to the thought that the baseline of these emotions described in the song is fear. Fear to be left behind; fear not to cope with the new circumstances; fear to be run over by the next generation, by determined activist, and fear to do something terribly wrong and, therefore, to ″sink like a stone″ although swimming is required.

The German sociologist Hartmut Rosa also suggests recognizing fear as a major and influential issue in changing times. However, other than Dylan, he does not start with a close look at the declining society; he rather asks a question, which addresses a timeless desire of human beings. Rosa asks what ″good life″ might look like. What can be regarded as a ″good and fulfilled life″`? In addition, Rosa adds the question, what prevented postmodern contemporaries from leading such a life. While examining these two questions he also addresses fear as a crucial category of human existence in changing societies.
Coming from this point of view, Rosa develops an idea of resonance, and of relationships resonating. The baseline of this idea is that human beings are not only placed into the world and into their immediate segment of the world, they also long for relation and for resonance within this segment. Rosa is emphasizing that there is an inner relationship between human beings and the world surrounding them, and he stresses the point that human beings are mostly aware of them-selves when the world somehow answers to their existence as a particular individual. Therefore, the greatest fear one could have, is, that the world does not answer anymore. Rosa calls this the world′s lapse into silence that leaves the individual unattended and without resonance. Consequently, the individual now loses its strength to adapt the world. Moreover, it heavily realizes differences and becomes estranged from the world that once could have been adapted by the individual. Now, the individual painfully learns how inaccessible resonating relationships are, but Rosa states, in changing time individuals are not willing to endure this. In fact, they start to fight for resonating relationships in order to live a good life. Moreover, they secretly agree that it lies in one owns hand and capacity to shape the life the way it should be; even if they knew that resonance was inaccessible. However, unfortunately, Rosa continues, that this self–centered strategy of coping does not work out. In fact, individuals in postmodern and changing times realize, that all their effort do not lead to resonating relationships or to hearing the genuine voice of the other. In fact, despite all efforts to come to grips with the world by issuing new inventions, techniques, smart work flows, communication, new sciences and, above all, the sacralization of the individual, this does not force the world to answer. Moreover, fear, stress and time pressure which go along with these efforts and which can also be identified as a crucial marker of contemporary and changing times, apparently have the capability to kill resonating relationships at all. In the end, Rosa states, the individual experiences loneliness, because it finds itself in a world that eludes control, and that does not seem to resonate at all. That is the fertile soil for fear and actions of fear. In the end, the consequences of fear can be studied in social media and in polarized social discourses, which do not take the effort to examine the twilight zone of contentious arguments.

Now, dealing with fear and anxious individuals in an uncontrollably changing world is and should be one of the key issues for spiritual and pastoral care – and even Rosa addresses the tasks religions have to fulfill here, because religions are very familiar with the idea of reso-nating relationships. Why is that, and how can they help?

Religions, Rosa continues, provide the most sophisticated and elaborated conceptions of resonat-ing relationships, since they have a lot of experience in dealing with an inaccessible counterpart. You can easily judge that from scripture: many stories of the Bible address the Eternal as the inaccessible counterpart whose present is believed even if it is not felt and experienced. Never-theless, at the cross even Jesus Christ beseeches the Father although he could not tell – in that particular and crucial moment – whether the Father was with him or not.

However, what we can learn from the pleading, begging and the return to the inaccessible Eternal is, that this peculiar and even precarious inaccessibility does not hinder the believer from assum-ing that the resonating relationship is still intact. On the contrary, the Eternal who remains silent and misunderstood in silence seems to be an essential part of this resonating relationship.

This sound a bit odd, because it raises the question why the world staying silent provokes fear, while a silent God seems to be acceptable.

b. The promise of God listening

Rosa has an answer to this question, and I would like to propose that this answer should become one of the key answers to the spiritual and pastoral needs in changing times. Religious people, Rosa emphasizes, heavily rely on the promise, that the Eternal does listen to them although they do not realize it – and although He does not seem to answer. However, what carries them trough is the promise of everlasting resonance, given by God who is so much into the relation-ship with his creation that he desires to save it as Jesus has stated: Anyone who relies on the Father should be saved, nobody should get lost. – Here, the promise of everlasting reso-nance comes forward, and this is also a promise of a life being lived in the safest hands possible. This promise, Rosa underlines, outlives the experience of a silent God, in fact, prayers and ritu-als enforce believing in this promise given once, but lasting forever. By stating this, Rosa marks one of the greatest tasks for religious people meeting the spiritual and pastoral needs in changing times, because they are always called to underline and live up to this promise. In fact, they are called to make sure that this promise is not forgotten but rather clearly visible in a confusing world.
Furthermore, the value of the promise needs to be addressed directly to the individual, since the individual person needs to understand that the ″pro nobis″ of Christ′s ministry at the cross actually comes down to a ″pro me″, that speaks right into the fear of being lost in a world that lapses into silence. Understanding the power of ″pro me″ and thereby understanding how enduring the promise is God has given, will not cast away the experience of a silent God or a silent world, but it will help to live up to the promise instead of being overpowered by awkward silence.

To put it in a nutshell, Rosa has addressed a very crucial issue by stating that God′s promise establishes and nurses an eternal relationship of resonating. By doing this, he puts the individual at the heart of interest, but not in a postmodern sense, that highlights the individual due to its assumed capacities and strength. In Rosa′s sense, the individual appears to be dependent on the promise given by the ″extra nos″, meaning: by God. Therefore, the postmodern individual might be surprised due to the fact, that it is this particular dependence (and not the postmodern understanding of freedom) that provides access to the sources, which can fulfill the individual′s spiritual and pastoral needs. This might sound paradoxical or even ironic, but the vital difference in quality is that in religion the promise of an everlasting resonating relationship exists and endures, because it does not rely on the individual and its capacities.

c. Communio

Having said this, the question arises whether the individual is capable of holding on to this promise despite the changing times and values the world provides. This questions underlines that prayer and rituals which help to keep the door crack open in order to let the eternal promise in, cannot be considered as solitary action, but rather need their setting within a communio of believers who long for this promise, too.

However, there is more to the aspect of communio, since its necessity also derives from the social situation given. What does that mean? In changing times people are highly interested in stick-ing to groups they are familiar with and which do not harm them. In fact, if the world becomes more complex than anyone could cope with, withdrawing into a familiar peer group is one of the common answers. When we talked about echo chamber and filter bubbles earlier, we have ad-dressed this procedure already. Technically speaking, these are the spaces of self–insurance although it is clear that they reinforce the fear of the individual who feels to be overpowered by complex circumstances of life.

Consequently, we can assume that there is a strong desire to be part of a communio which – to state the best possible case– helps to cope with the fear and the idea of being at the world′s mercy.

This addresses the idea of communio in today′s world. I would like to put it into words by asking two questions: Could it be that a new or perhaps quite old understanding of communio might offer an answer to living in a secular context and in changing times while the desire to live up to a certain vision is being maintained? In other words: Could it be that these incompatible aspects only can be reconciled with each other in a communio, that lives up to the promise of reconciliation and a resonating relationship and therefore attracts committed and noncommittal people alike? If the answer is ″yes″ then the spiritual and pastoral need of communio calls orders, communities and religious movements into action, because they should be regarded as experts on this field – no matter how large the numbers is they consist of.

If you like to follow these questions and the path they open up, it could be helpful to take a close look at recent studies of the Lutheran World Federation about its self–understanding and its idea of communio. Here, the LWF states that communio appears to be the most crucial aspect in contemporary times. In communio people not only gather and encourage one another to trust the promise Rosa has addressed. Furthermore, communio that relies on this particular and ever-lasting promise has to be regarded as a counterpoint to the chambers and bubbles which aim for destruction and self–centered attitudes without even entertaining the thought that there could be another world beyond one′s own nose.

Due to this desire to conquer the complex and changing world from a safe harbor of a specific and shielding communio, in Germany a discussion came up. Here, orders and communities de-bate how this ″new We″ – as they call it – might look like; and how communio may get a new coat of whitewash today while heavily relying on the eternal promise given. There is a strong need to entertain these thoughts further in order to suggest a specific kind of communio that serves life and does not rely on destruction, hate speech and fear.

d. ′The present will later be the past′

Now, speaking of fear, the promise and the role of communio which helps to live up to this promise another aspect has to be mentioned which marks a specific spiritual need in changing times: the right and even spiritual way of dying. How does a spiritual way of dying fits into these thoughts?
Let us briefly return to Bob Dylan. In his song he sings about fading orders and new forms of communio. Sure enough, Dylan states, ″the present will later be the past″, in other words: It will be gone forever. Moreover, the new order will completely suspend former values and forms of communio. In fact, what used to be first will be last now, and the sons and daughters will take over command – so parents should clear the road and should not even dare to criticize what was happening.

Dylan draws a picture of a rapid change, and flavors it with fear of the generation being lost and outdistanced. This induces helplessness, and surely, this helplessness leads to frustration, anger or even indifference towards the circumstances given. Consequently, ″me first″ becomes the slogan to induce action, and this is very close to denouncing the consensus within a democratic society, which relies on the engagement of everybody.

Here, the question of identity arises since being suspended in that manner could also mean to have failed completely. Moreover, the experience of failure has the power to devaluate anything that had made sense before – it can even devaluate identities. That means, there is no dignity while failing to come to terms with the new situation given, there is just devaluation of a his-tory that once has been regarded as successful and important.

I guess, it is one of the crucial spiritual and pastoral issues to address this relationship between alleged failure and dignity. This goes along with severe questions addressing the identity of people, because here the question comes up, what is left of a person, who feels lost in changing times and, therefore, cannot rely on anything that has served as a stabilizing factor before. Where does dignity come from if the self–concept is disrupted and even dying?
These questions not only arose and still do arise in Germany, where we still struggle with the alleged difference between East and West and the question whether re–unification rather has to be regarded as a quick takeover leaving out the questions of identity and dignity. You also find these questions in other contexts, since the rapid change on the employment market, for example, confronts people with similar questions. What is the dignity of a person whose work nowadays needs revisiting or is abolished since times and techniques are changing?

I am convinced that religious orders, communities and religious movements which are in similar situations – due to their restructure or oncoming death – could give an answer to this need to be dignified again. What does this mean? I propose that today′s religious institutions address this need by sharing a testimony of life, which finds its own way between new encounters and realistic ways of assessing death. That means that they can address this need by transparently taking all the practical measures needed to die in a responsible way, while they also live up to the task not lose sight of the new awakenings and questions that arise today and that may need them to be answered or forwarded. Of course, dying in a spiritual and reconciled way is a strong testimony of faith and the presence of God in our midst. Nevertheless, I believe that religious institutions today – and even in a remarkable secular context – in the first place are called to trust and not to block the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they should at least entertain the question that God might need them today for very special issues – despite the fact that they feel like dying. That means, that discernment and attention have to be sharpen and a new communio has to be set up that figures out how to live in that particular and precarious transit era changing times provide. I guess, this is one of the most crucial issue of religious institutions today, if they want to address today′s spiritual needs. So their question would be: What measures do religious institutions take to encode the signs of the time they are living in – and what conclusions are they drawing from this, and how does that shape the processes they are involved in and the spirituality and charisma they are grounded on?

Now, coming back to the issue of dignity of people being lost in today′s confusing world: Due to the promise and the hope spiritual groups and institutions should and do nurture they can set an example of realizing their own fragility and even disorientation without discarding their hope. This means that they can address the spiritual needs given by grounding dignity in the promise of life God is granting – and not in work, political attitudes and success. In fact, the German theologian Fulbert Steffensky encourages orders, communities and religious movements to bravely and hopefully embrace their finitude and brokenness and, thereby, testify that this does not have any effect on their dignity. This would help to accept death in a society of winners; and this would also help to stop linking dignity to success.

Conclusion

By looking out for spiritual and pastoral needs in changing times we have tried to tackle a very complex topic. Nevertheless, it became clear that today′s confusing and complex world brings forth several spiritual and pastoral needs that – above all – address the way individuals experience themselves in this world. Following the lines of Bob Dylan and Hartmut Rosa we have discovered that fear is a key issue here. It is the fear of getting lost in a complex world; of being regarded as outdated; of being stripped off one′s dignity and of being left behind. In the end, it is the fear of a world denouncing any resonating relationship and leaving the individual completely on its own. The power of this fear cannot be underestimated, since it has the potential to bring forth hate, self–centerness and violence.

So, secondly, there is also a new need for communio. However, here, we are not talking about self–assuring groups and communities like echo chambers and filter bubbles. Instead, we are talking about communio that relies on a promise of hope and therefore stretches out far beyond one′s own nose. I guess, in changing times this promise of hope needs to be ex-pressed, lived and shown, since lacking hope enforces a vicious cycle, which hardly can be bro-ken.
Thirdly, there is a severe need to re–establish and ground dignity again. Fragile identities need the assurance that their dignity does not derive from success and economic growth. In fact, here, orders, communities and religious movement are called to set an example how to embrace finitude without losing dignity. That brings us back to the promise, even Rosa has outlined: Ad-dressing and holding on to this promise not only helps to strengthen one′s own identity, it has also the capacity and the power to address one of the most crucial needs of changing world: fear.

It was Bob Dylan′s advice to learn swimming. Addressing spiritual needs of today′s world and keeping orders, communities and religious movements in sight, I would rather claim that all of us are called to jump into the water with confidence, heavily relying on the promise lasting and resonating even in eternity. It will work out!

Eindnoten / Literatuurlijst

  1. For development, context and recetion of the song see Peter Wicke: The Times they are A-Changing, in: Songlexikon, URL: http://songlexikon.de [2-6-2020].
  2. The Times they are A-Changing, in: songtexte, URL: https://www.songtexte.com/ [2-6-2020].
  3. Ibid.
  4. See Michel Foucault: Die Ordnung der Dinge. Frankfurt a. M. 1971. See also political or even semi-dictatorial systems and their answers to Covid-19: Stefan Löwenstein, Michaela Seiser: Was ist dran an Orbans „Corona-Diktatur“?, in: FAZ.net (22.4.2020), URL: https://www.faz.net, [2-6-2020]. See for the development in China: Christoph Giesen: „Ziel ist der vorauseilende Gehorsam der Bürger“, in: SZ-digital (15.5.2020), URL: https://www.sueddeutsche.de/ reduced=true, [2-6-2020].
  5. It might be that answering Covid-19 might entforce elements of deceleration in various societies. This could lead to positive effects. Check on the talk with Hartmut Rosa, swr2 (26. März 2020), URL: https://www.swr.de/, [2-6-2020]
  6. Margareta Mommsen: Das System Putin. Gelenkte Demokratie und politische Justiz in Russland. Munich 2007.
  7. Concerning „SeaWatch“ and the engagement of the Protestant Church of Germany in sea rescue: Report of the christening of the ship, URL: https://www.ekd.de/, [2-6-2020].
  8. Kilian Kirchgeßner: Die Wut wird den Sommer überdauern, in: ZEIT-online (23.6.2019), URL: https://www.zeit.de/, [2-6-2020].
  9. See https://www.santegidio.org/ [7-11-2020].
  10. Cornelia Koppetsch: Die Gesellschaft des Zorns. Rechtspopulismus im globalen Zeitalter. Bielefeld 2019.
  11. For the term „Lügenpresse“ see Till Eckertz:: Narrativ der Desinformation: “Lügenpresse!“: https://correctiv.org/ [7-11-2020].
  12. Concerning the re-organisation of „f4f“ see Timo Steppart: Klima ohne echten Streit, in: FAZ-Net (24.4.2020), URL: https://www.faz.net/, [2-6-2020].
  13. Hartmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben in der Beschleunigungsgesellschaft. Resonante Weltbeziehungen als Schlüssel zur Überwindung der Eskalationdynamik der Moderne, in: Tobias Kläden, Michael Schüßler (eds.): Zu schnell für Gott? Theologische Kontroversen zu Beschleunigung und Resonanz. Freiburg im Br. 2019, 18-52.
  14. Hartmut Rosa: Resonanz. Eine Soziologie der Weltbeziehung. 4th edn. Berlin 2016.
  15. This ist much more than appreciation. See. ibid., 304f. See also Hartmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben, 35-38.
  16. Hartmut Rosa: Resonanz, 202f. and 297f.
  17. Hartmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben, 38-41.
  18. Hartmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben, 44f.
  19. Hartmut Rosa: Unverfügbarkeit. 3rd edn. Vienna, Salzburg 2019.
  20. See ibid., 46-51.
  21. See ibid., 48.
  22. Mark 15, 34 and Matthew 27, 46. Moreover: Psalm 22, 2.
  23. Harmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben, 48. See also: Hartmut Rosa, Resonanz, 440f.
  24. Hartmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben, 48. See also Hartmut Rosa: Resonanz, 441.
  25. John 3, 16.
  26. Hartmut Rosa: Resonanz, 442.
  27. See Otto Hermann Pesch: Gnade und Rechtfertigung am Vorabend der Reformation und bei Luther. URL: https://www.uni-heidelberg.de/, [2-6-2020]
  28. Hartmut Rosa: Gelingendes Leben, 50.
  29. ARD-Forschungsdienst: Auswirkungen von Echokammern auf den Prozess der Meinungsbildung, in: Media-Perspektiven 2/2019, URL: https://www.ard-werbung.de/, [5-6-2020].
  30. See Michael Hochschild: Neuzeit der Orden. Kursbuch für Himmelsstürmer. Münster 2005. See also all the papers in: Lebendige Seelsorge. Zeitschrift für praktisch-theologisches Handeln 64 (2013), passim.
  31. Concerning the power of communio see Nicole Grochowina: Gemeinschaft als Gabe Gottes? Vom Wert der Gemeinschaft in der evangelischen Kirche, in: Mitteilungen des Referats für die Kulturgüter der Orden 1 (2016), 101-116.
  32. Concerning a monastic ars moriendi see Nicole Grochowina: „Als wollt die Welt schier brechen“. Geschichte und Gegenwart evangelischer Communitäten – und ihr Aufbruch in die Zukunft, in: Andreas Redtenbacher, Joachim Schmiedl (eds.): Wind of Change. Orden am Beginn des dritten Jahrtausends. Freiburg im Br. 2016, 74-95, here: 90-94.
  33. The Times they are A-Changing, in: songtexte.
  34. Nicole Grochowina: Als wollt die Welt, 90-93.
  35. Fulbert Steffensky: Mut zur Endlichkeit. Sterben in einer Gesellschaft der Sieger. Stuttgart 2007, 22-27.

Over de auteur

Sr Nicole Grochowina

Sr Nicole Grochowina is a historian and sisiter of the evangelical Fraternity of Christ (Selbitz, Germany). She teaches early modern history and church history at the University of Erlangen/Nuremberg and is a member of several ecumenical networks of Christian movement and com-munities and orders.

Naar de website

In het oecumenisch opgezette project Networking Intentional Christian Communities (NICC)  worden ontwikkelingen rond toekomstgericht religieus gemeenschapsleven in Nederland, Vlaanderen en Duitsland onderzocht.