Poetic Imagination: A Qualitative Study on Emotion, Images, and Verses from Sacred Texts in the Praxis of Theological Reflection in Pastoral Care and Counseling

What is the role of emotions, imagination, and images in the praxis of theological reflection in pastoral care and counseling, and what images and/or verses from sacred texts best describe the process of theological reflection? These two questions guided this ethnographic study. Seventy-five practitioners of pastoral care and counseling were interviewed and field notes were also made. Findings include the importance of emotion and imagination with a variety of images and verses from sacred texts. Poetic imagination best describes the process. Discussion involves the implications of the findings with suggestions for teaching, ministry, and areas for future research. Lovers and madmen have such seething brains, Such shaping fantasies, that apprehend More than cool reason ever comprehends The lunatic, the lover, and the poet Are of imagination all compact. . . . William Shakespeare (1596, [1997]) A Midsummer Night's Dream, Act V, Sc I, 5-9