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Welcome from the editor

‘To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and yourÌýheart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If youÌýwant to make sure of keeping it intact, you must giveÌýyour heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap itÌýcarefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid allÌýentanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin ofÌýyour selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless,Ìýairless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will becomeÌýunbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.’Ìý(CS Lewis, The Four Loves)

Lewis’ challenging words came to me via the work of BrenéÌýBrown, whose research on shame, vulnerability andÌýwholeheartedness has recently become a surprise internetÌýhit (almost half a million views and counting). Her blog,ÌýOrdinary Courage, is also hugelyÌýpopular. A point of connection for me is her profound sense ofÌýspirituality and how vital vulnerability is to living spiritually.ÌýAs she has said, religion – any religion – without vulnerabilityÌý= extremism.

Proclaiming absolute certainty where we areÌýactually dealing with reality beyond words is just one way weÌýnumb ourselves to the pain but also the potential of beingÌývulnerable. Another way is to try harder, always seeking toÌýhave every possible threat covered, every mistake excluded.ÌýIn counselling such ‘defensive practice’ not only gets in the wayÌýof what clients need but also stops us being who we can be.ÌýElsewhere in this issue I share a small section from my researchÌýwhich relates to being – as I am – both a priest and a therapist.ÌýFilling those two roles immediately throws up all sorts ofÌýpossible conflicts and dangers, before we even think aboutÌýtransference! But to not be who I am, to pretend or to fail toÌýintegrate myself (always a work in process!), would be far moreÌýdangerous. Integrity is the bedrock of doing this dangerousÌýwork in our dangerous, vulnerable and beautiful world.

This awareness was only heightened for me the other day whenÌýI was preaching on the Sermon on the Mount, the summaryÌýof Jesus’ ethical teaching. I realised with renewed force thatÌýI actually don’t want to be ‘poor in spirit’, don’t want to ‘mourn’,Ìýdon’t want to ‘hunger and thirst for justice’. I want to be richÌýin spirit, well thought of and successful. I don’t want to loseÌýthose I love. I want justice now. In other words I don’t want toÌýbe vulnerable. But the only way to avoid such pain is not toÌýlove, not to care passionately and, as a direct consequence,Ìýto become hard hearted and of no use. Living and workingÌýresponsibly and in an appropriately professional way is veryÌýimportant. We need, as individual practitioners and as aÌýprofession, to always be aware of going too far, being tooÌýcautious and thus stifling creativity, healthy risk and theÌýwonderful moments of surprise that, in work and life, weÌýsometimes have gifted to us.

Forty years ago a group of brave pioneers took a step intoÌýuncertainty. Indeed as John Foskett makes clear in his illuminatingÌýpiece, many were unsure about the wisdom of founding whatÌýwent on to become APSCC. Along the way there have been otherÌýcourageous steps: helping to found Ïã¸ÛÁùºÏ²Ê¾«×¼×ÊÁÏ and taking the risk ofÌýopening the Association to those who defined themselves asÌýspiritual but not religious, to name just two. There have alsoÌýbeen times of drought, when the cash nearly ran out or theÌýmembership slumped and only faith kept things going. I do hopeÌýthat those of our members who have been with APCC/APSCC onÌýthat journey will share with us their memories, reflections andÌýphotographs for our next issue. I bet those pioneers wouldÌýbe delighted to see our membership reach 900 individualsÌýand 46 organisations, as is likely before you read this.

On the APSCC website we now have a fuller set of guidelinesÌýfor potential authors. Please do look at them before submittingÌýarticles for publication as they can save everyone involved timeÌýand effort and, hopefully, continue to improve the quality ofÌýthe journal. Please note this does not mean only send us safeÌýarticles on safe topics! I look forward to hearing from you.

Finally, this issue contains the first publicity for our conferenceÌýthis September. It is very exciting to be involved in planningÌýa conference focused on spirituality in practice. EspeciallyÌýbecause significant elements will be ‘live’ and cannot beÌýplanned for – at least not fully. Don’t miss it!

Chris Jenkins
Chair, APSCC; Editor, Thresholds

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