Dr. Stephen Muse's book on pastoral counselling "When Hearts Become Flame" (available from the Orthodox Research Institute Press) begins with an interesting Epistle for Counselors adapted from 1 Corinthians 13. The book appears to be a wonderful reference and resource for anyone engaged in social work, counselling and psychology.
Pastoral Counselor Training Epistle
(With thanks to the Apostle Paul)
If I know the classical psychological theories well enough to pass my comps and can reformulate them in ways that can impress peer reviewers from the most prestigious journals, but have not the practical wisdom of love, I am only intrusive muzak soothing the ego while missing the heart.
And if I can read tea leaves, throw the bones and manipulate spirits so as to understand the mysteries of the universe and forecast the future with scientific precision, and if I have achieved a renaissance education in both the exoteric and esoteric sciences that would rival Faust and know the equation to convert the mass of mountains into psychic energy and back again, but have not love, I am still a zero.
If I gain freedom from all my attachments and maintain constant alpha waves in my consciousness, showing perfect equanimity in all situations, ignoring every personal need and compulsively martyr myself for the glory of God, but this is not done freely from love, I have accomplished nothing.
Love is great-hearted and unselfish; love is not emotionally reactive; it does seek to draw attention to itself. Love does not accuse or compare. It does not seek to serve itself at the expense of others. Love does not take pleasure in other peoples suffering, but rejoices when the truth is revealed and meaningful life restored.
Love always bears reality as it is, extending mercy to all people in every situation. Love is faithful in all things, is constantly hopeful and meets whatever comes with immovable forbearance and steadfastness.
Love never quits. By contrast, prophecies give way before the infinite possibilities of eternity, and inspiration is as fleeting as a breath. To the writing and reading of many books and learning more and more, there is no end, and yet whatever is known is never sufficient to live the Truth who is revealed to the world only in loving relationship.
For now, we are modernists, traditionalists and post-modern constructivists who do not see the world as it is, but only as we are. When perfection is given, we will know directly in relationship without symbol or metaphor the squaring of the circle of the union of I and Other in the Eternal Embrace.
When I was a beginning therapist, I thought a lot and anxiously tried to fix people in order to lower my own anxiety. As I matured, my mind quieted and I stopped being so concerned with labels and techniques and began to realize that, in the mystery of attentive presence to others, the guest becomes the host in the presence of God. In the hospitality of genuine human encounter with the Other, we come face-to-face with the mystery of Christ who is between us as both the one offered and the one who offers.
Now I begin to understand that it is in seeking to know others, that I am becoming more fully known. In showing empathy and care for others, I am healed by God’s mercy. When all the theorizing and methodological squabbles have been addressed, there will still be only three things that are essential to pastoral care and counseling: faith, hope and love. These three gifts of the Spirit are personal energies of the Living God and they remain forever. When we abide in these, we each remain as well, without comprehending how, for the source and raison d’être of all is Love.
Praise for "When Hearts Become Flame"
(With thanks to the Apostle Paul)
If I know the classical psychological theories well enough to pass my comps and can reformulate them in ways that can impress peer reviewers from the most prestigious journals, but have not the practical wisdom of love, I am only intrusive muzak soothing the ego while missing the heart.
And if I can read tea leaves, throw the bones and manipulate spirits so as to understand the mysteries of the universe and forecast the future with scientific precision, and if I have achieved a renaissance education in both the exoteric and esoteric sciences that would rival Faust and know the equation to convert the mass of mountains into psychic energy and back again, but have not love, I am still a zero.
If I gain freedom from all my attachments and maintain constant alpha waves in my consciousness, showing perfect equanimity in all situations, ignoring every personal need and compulsively martyr myself for the glory of God, but this is not done freely from love, I have accomplished nothing.
Love is great-hearted and unselfish; love is not emotionally reactive; it does seek to draw attention to itself. Love does not accuse or compare. It does not seek to serve itself at the expense of others. Love does not take pleasure in other peoples suffering, but rejoices when the truth is revealed and meaningful life restored.
Love always bears reality as it is, extending mercy to all people in every situation. Love is faithful in all things, is constantly hopeful and meets whatever comes with immovable forbearance and steadfastness.
Love never quits. By contrast, prophecies give way before the infinite possibilities of eternity, and inspiration is as fleeting as a breath. To the writing and reading of many books and learning more and more, there is no end, and yet whatever is known is never sufficient to live the Truth who is revealed to the world only in loving relationship.
For now, we are modernists, traditionalists and post-modern constructivists who do not see the world as it is, but only as we are. When perfection is given, we will know directly in relationship without symbol or metaphor the squaring of the circle of the union of I and Other in the Eternal Embrace.
When I was a beginning therapist, I thought a lot and anxiously tried to fix people in order to lower my own anxiety. As I matured, my mind quieted and I stopped being so concerned with labels and techniques and began to realize that, in the mystery of attentive presence to others, the guest becomes the host in the presence of God. In the hospitality of genuine human encounter with the Other, we come face-to-face with the mystery of Christ who is between us as both the one offered and the one who offers.
Now I begin to understand that it is in seeking to know others, that I am becoming more fully known. In showing empathy and care for others, I am healed by God’s mercy. When all the theorizing and methodological squabbles have been addressed, there will still be only three things that are essential to pastoral care and counseling: faith, hope and love. These three gifts of the Spirit are personal energies of the Living God and they remain forever. When we abide in these, we each remain as well, without comprehending how, for the source and raison d’être of all is Love.
+ Stephen Muse, "When Hearts Become Flame: An Eastern Orthodox Approach to the dia-Logos of Pastoral Counselling" (New Hampshire: Orthodox Research Institute, 2011) xxix-xxx.
Praise for "When Hearts Become Flame"
This book is arguably one of the best on pastoral counseling to have been published in the past twenty years. Muse follows the ancient ascetical path of Orthodox Christian therapy to teach and disclose a state of personal readiness, which leads to prayerful listening not only to the other’ or client, but also attention to subtle windows into heaven that appear in sessions. Counseling sessions become holy icons. But this book has an audience far wider than pastoral counselors, because it is not so much a “how-to-do” text as it engages every reader in basic questions. Do I listen well? How do I discern the will of God when helping others? What is important in my encounters with someone? Do I pay attention when others speak to me? What is healing? Make this a text to share among your friends. Give a copy to your favorite priests.
+ InCommunion Magazine
One of the strengths of Muses book is the theological frame within which it is written ...He describes several profound mystical experiences that have transformed his life. The simple affirmation that God is a real presence that loves and transforms human beings seems to be at the heart of his message... I recommend Muses book to all believers who love God and want personal knowledge and experience of God in Jesus Christ. There is a third presence in pastoral counseling that transforms both pastor and person so that we “become [ourselves] without even knowing how.” Pastoral theology is the articulation of this insight, and Muse has shown himself to be a mature pastoral theologian.
+ Journal of Pastoral Theology
When the book arrived I put it aside for later reading and on impulse picked it up. Two hours later I tore myself away to return to what I was supposed to be doing. I was totally taken with your work. It is the first truly pastoral counseling I have ever come across. Thank you. Magnificent Work.
+ Rev. Eugene H. Peterson.
With painstaking accountability to the great Tradition of the Eastern Church as well as to the discipline of psychology, Dr. Stephen Muse takes an apophatic “leap” of faith, offering through his “altar of the heart” a life-giving synergy of doxology, collaborative wisdom, earthiness andpersonal encounter while witnessing to the love of the living Lord. This book is a must read for Orthodox Christians and others who are interested in learning and experiencing the “phronema” and “synedesis” of pastoral counseling from a contemporary Eastern Christian perspective. This is a joy to read and read again.
+ Kyriaki Karidoyanes FitzGerald, M.Div., Ph.D., Adjunct Professor in Theology, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology co-author, Living the Beatitudes: Perspectives from Orthodox Spirituality editor, Encountering Women of Faith: The St Catherine’s Vision Collection, vols. 1 & 2
This very important and timely offering of an Eastern Orthodox approach to pastoral care and counseling opens the spiritual and psychological depth of the caregivers’ vocational world and does not allow the reader to relax or to stay indifferent. The author s experience and ideas make your brain think, your soul pray, your eyes cry, your ears listen to the heart and your heart love God and people. Psychotherapists, clergy and other caregivers whose work is “a way of prayer” needed such a book long ago. Its a precious gift. May God hold in the Palm of His hand all caregivers, one of whom is the author Stephen Muse.
+ Tatiana Filipieva, Ph.D, psychologist, St. Sergius Orthodox Theological School, Moscow, Russia
Stephen Muse draws from the philosophical, theological, spiritual and mystical treasures of Eastern Orthodoxy as he reflects on his ministry of pastoral counseling. Each chapter is simultaneously thoughtful, inviting, compelling, passionate and intriguing as the reader is drawn into the personal vision of a deeply human teacher who humbly shares his humanity as he offers insight into his experience of the holy in his pastoral counseling ministry. A master teacher, Dr. Muse artfully draws from theologians, philosophers, psychologists and the spiritual masters of Eastern Orthodoxy as he personally encounters clients in their struggle towards wholeness. When Hearts Become Flame is a uniquely rich resource for counselors and pastors who seek aholistic understanding of counseling & psycholherapy which includes the spiritual and religious dimension.
+ Barry K. Estadt, Ph.D, psychologist, Professor Emeritus, Loyola University of Maryland, Co-editor of Pastoral Counseling and The Art of Clinical Supervision: A Pastoral Counseling Perspective
Eastern Orthodoxy as a mere institution can spawn what most religions spawn. Concerns about administrative power and prerogatives, vicious gossip, cultism, religious platitudes, and fundamentalists theological trivialities. Orthodoxy as the genuine philosophy of life in Christ leads the human person to re-creation, restoration, the healing of sin and its spiritual and psychological consequences, and deification by union with Christ. In this collection of his writings, Dr. Muse adds to our increasing understanding of the psychological dimensions of the Orthodox way of life and the emerging practice of so-called Orthodox psychotherapy among mental health professional and pastors. I commend him for these significant contributions to this new and important field.
+ Archbishop Chrysostomos, former Larson Fellow in Health and Spirituality, U.S. Library of Congress and author of A Guide to Orthodox Psychotherapy
The humble acknowledgement that healing is not primarily “technical” so much as relational and the “Trialogue” model of Pastoral Counseling, argued for by Dr. Muse, are potent enough to set ‘hearts aflame, towards humility and healing. This optimally relevant book is sure to attract wide readership, not just in Orthodox Circles, but in other Churches and religions as well, in our generation where persons are “malnourished by an impoverished civil religion.” In India especially, where the individual is acknowledged as a spiritual entity, who is identified with the Transcendent at the height of enlightenment, this innovative work is most welcome.
+ Metropolitan Dr. Yakob Mar Irenaios, Malankara Orthodox Church, India
Taking the presence of God in pastoral counseling as seriously as Dr. Wayne Oates did in his book with that title, Dr. Stephen Muse invites pastoral counselors to fully experience Gods companionship. He poetically describes the journey of disciplined listening to social context, self, client, and God which transforms both the client and the counselor to love more fully and freely. Speaking with honesty and vulnerability, Muse reflects about social justice issues and personal shortcomings that make the journey difficult. He offers resources to address the difficulties from his life experience, his deep reflections about the pastoral counseling encounter, his mysticism, and his Eastern Orthodox faith. These resources can make the journey rewarding. Indeed, if we listen, they can set our hearts into flame.
+ Denise Massey, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pastoral Care and Counseling, McAfee School of Theology
When Hearts Become Flame is a very valuable addition to the paucity of literature on psychotherapeutic encounter in which the author tries to describe and reveal the psychotherapeutic meeting as communion in Christ. The question “What makes counseling pastoral? (or what makes psychotherapy Christian)? “is solved here not technically, but by placing psychotherapy in an entirely different context of thinking about life. The main and decisive thrust here is understanding the therapists work as service to neighbor, which places a very high demand on the therapists personality Also important is his personal experience, especially his experience of life in the Church and the experience of working on his own soul. But most important is his readiness for change himself, seeing each patient as another chance for salvation sent to him by God. All this is fully inherent in the author of the book and is revealed in its content.
+ Elena Zagorodnaya, Editor, Moscow Journal of Psychotherapy
Dr. Muse shares insight and wisdom gained over the course of his lifes journey as a pastor and psychotherapist trying to follow the Light wherever He leads. Some profound and very useful insights are found within these pages.
+ Dr. Albert Rossi, psychologist, St. Vladimir’s Seminary
When Hearts Become Flame invites those unfamiliar with the ancient healing traditions of the Christian East and how these are lived out in the modern context of pastoral counseling, into the depths where science and faith are not at odds, and the Christian tradition of healing is supported by contemporary theories of mental health. Using part travel log, part private journal, and part textbook, the reader is invited to encounter the author as one who offers himself to his clients, his students and to the broader community. It is through this self-offering that he witnesses to the nature of pastoral counseling as a trialogue between God, counselor, and client. In this way, the book reflects and reveals the work of a pastoral counselor prepared to encounter the person of the client: prepared to hear and discover rather than diagnose and treat. The only logical way to teach what he does is to share who he is, and in so doing, he invites each of us to share who we are as we minister to those we serve.
+ Philip Mammalakis, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care, Holy Cross Greek Orthodox School of Theology
Stephen Muse has written an important book on pastoral counseling from the perspective of Eastern Orthodox theology. One of his key ideas is engaging in healing work with an intense awareness of the presence of God and the image of God in Self and Other. Spiritual seekers from various traditions will learn from Muses insights.
+ James Newton Poling, Professor of Pastoral Theology, Care, and Counseling, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary, author of Deliver Us from Evil: Resisting Racial and Gender Oppression, and Render unto God: Economic Vulnerability, Family Violence and Pastoral Theology
