Every now and again in pastoral ministry we come across something unfamiliar. And in such circumstances our response, sometimes, is simply to retreat.
Partly that might be driven by a godly concern that, out of ignorance, we will say or do something that proves unhelpful. There may also be elements of a concern that is rather less godly – that of appearing ignorant or looking foolish.
For many, the concept of trauma feels unfamiliar. We’re aware that it’s become a prominent issue in our culture, but our understanding is thin at best. Perhaps that leads us to retreat – because we are fearful of the complexity. There might also be a measure of resistance because we are uneasy about the terminology or vaguely remember someone describing it as a cultural bandwagon. And quite where, and how, it fits into our Biblical framework isn’t clear at all.
