By now most of you will have read Ana Marie Rizzuto's Birth of the Living God. Post your thoughts on how object relations theory informs our ministry as counselors, teachers, parents and pastors. Which case study impacted you the most? I can't get away from the deep sadness of Benadine Fisher. Her life was totally void of anyone who could in a significant way mirror to her a healthy image of God. Her parents were infantile and needy and unable to provide Bernadine with security that she longed for. So when asked to draw a picture of God she could only draw "a bright warm clean feeling." There was no one there...
Bernadine was covered in shame and felt she was so "bad" that she was beyond redemption. I know of some people like this. You can preach about God's love and they don't get it. Some of them, like Bernadine Fisher, have chronic borderline personality disorder and can suck the life out of you....but it is never enough. Here is where transforming experiences are vital in changing self/world.
