Beyond Me: Poems about Spirit in Scripture, Psychotherapy, and Life

by Carroll E. Arkema, Donald R. Ferrell (Foreword by)

Overview

Beyond Me seeks to capture and convey the wonder, mystery, and healing power of the Divine Spirit and its activity in human beings, life, and relationships. This Divine Presence is often felt or glimpsed as Mystery--beyond us, yet within us--which grabs our attention and pulls us into a deeper and fuller exploration of what life and human existence is all about. As an ordained Presbyterian minister serving as a Pastoral Psychotherapist, Carroll E. Arkema is especially thrilled and fascinated to notice and then capture in his poems the congruency between psychodynamics, spiritual growth, and scriptural stories. His interdisciplinary perspective illuminates the complexity of the divine/human relationship, tracing how people change, heal, and are sanctified, while also resisting such change and growth. Personal experiences and scriptural accounts throw light on each other, and Arkema shows poetry to be a format capable of holding and integrating both.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781630872335
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	04/24/2014
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	184
File size:	972 KB

About the Author

Carroll E. Arkema (Calvin College; Princeton Theological Seminary; Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute) is an ordained Presbyterian minister serving as a Pastoral Psychotherapist and Marriage and Family Therapist in Ridgewood, NJ, and in Manhattan. He was a faculty member for sixteen years at the Blanton-Peale Graduate Institute's Psychotherapy Training Program, where he also served as Director of the Spirituality and Psychotherapy Program.
Carroll E. Arkema is an ordained Presbyterian minister (Presbytery of New York City), licensed as a psychoanalyst and as a marriage and family therapist. He was on the faculty at Blanton-Peale for sixteen years, teaching and supervising other therapists. This is his fourth book of poems to be published.

Table of Contents

Foreword Donald R. Ferrell xi

Preface xv

Acknowledgments xix

Panic 1

Pastoral Formation in the Congregation 3

Twelve-Year-Old Face, Holy Heart 6

David, Goliath, and Psychotherapy 9

Death on the Farm and The Riddle of Samson 14

Wild Bill Took Down Our Barn, or The End of My Childhood 29

Crack in the Clock Case 38

Grandpa Lost an Arm and Wrestled with the Devil, or Was It the Lord? 41

Uncle Charlie's Funeral 52

Kingdom of Heaven: Still At Hand? 57

God Stammers with Longing, Then Shows Sacrificial Love 74

Something That's Just Mine? or God's Not Even Like That 79

Broken Ankle, Touched, and Healed 102

Emptiness 111

Benjy Suffers Life, and Is There a Point? 122

Quetzal at El Triunfo 136

As Her Pastor 138

Hands 144

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"Arkema's poetic reflections on his father's presence in his life, his beautiful poem on his mother's death, and other poems that evoke the living spirits of beloved family members quietly teach us how we, too, may experience the healing presence and agency of the divine Spirit. Becoming a poet has proven to be a wonderful extension of his caring and creative gifts as a pastoral psychotherapist."
—Donald Capps, Professor of Pastoral Theology Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ

"This collection is stirring, reflective, transforming, and hopeful. With pastoral vulnerability, therapeutic wisdom, and scriptural introspection, Carroll Arkema offers a mirror in which we notice our longed-for-selves alongside our shadowy existence. In this mirror we meet God face-to-face, beckoning us to wholeness and deeper relationships. Finding rest in a divine Spirit that dwells and waits, Arkema's vulnerable remembering opens possible futures for us all."
—Jaco J. Hamman, Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, TN

"Each of these poems is extraordinarily accessible and leads us to discover in the commonplace glimpses of spiritual truths not stripped of religious content."
—Roger W. Plantikow, Pastoral Psychotherapist, Springfield, NJ

Editorial Reviews

"Arkema's poetic reflections on his father's presence in his life, his beautiful poem on his mother's death, and other poems that evoke the living spirits of beloved family members quietly teach us how we, too, may experience the healing presence and agency of the divine Spirit. Becoming a poet has proven to be a wonderful extension of his caring and creative gifts as a pastoral psychotherapist."
—Donald Capps, Professor of Pastoral Theology Emeritus, Princeton Theological Seminary, Princeton, NJ

"This collection is stirring, reflective, transforming, and hopeful. With pastoral vulnerability, therapeutic wisdom, and scriptural introspection, Carroll Arkema offers a mirror in which we notice our longed-for-selves alongside our shadowy existence. In this mirror we meet God face-to-face, beckoning us to wholeness and deeper relationships. Finding rest in a divine Spirit that dwells and waits, Arkema's vulnerable remembering opens possible futures for us all."
—Jaco J. Hamman, Associate Professor of Religion, Psychology, and Culture, Vanderbilt Divinity School, Nashville, TN

"Each of these poems is extraordinarily accessible and leads us to discover in the commonplace glimpses of spiritual truths not stripped of religious content."
—Roger W. Plantikow, Pastoral Psychotherapist, Springfield, NJ

From the Publisher