Pastorale boeke

Ek lees graag boeke oor God en geloof.

Van hulle, is die Bybel die belangrikste.

Skrywers van boeke oor wat ons alles glo en oor hoe ons leef omdat ons glo, kom met nuwe perspektiewe wat inspireer en aanspoor.  Hier is wat ek onlangs gelees het (daar is nie n manier waarop ek alles wat ek al gelees het, hier kan weergee nie!) en wat ek van hulle dink.

Jesus the Fool

The Seafarer’s Mind: The questions I’ve always wanted to ask.

Martin Otto.

Serving seafarers is a calling rooted in the love of God and the passion for people.  That Martin Otto’s inspiration for his ministry is rooted in both, jumps from the pages of “The Seafarer’s Mind.”

In this book Martin Otto listens more than he talks.  It is the seafarers one hears, not formulaic preaching.  Before and when a pastoral path is explored, he takes care to understand the person within the difficulty.  He clearly cares deeply for the individual and the group, and we get to listen to and really hear their voice.  This is a listening ministry.  Such is the compassion of the chaplain.  Pastoral outcomes are respectfully suggested as possibilities, never demanded.  Otto affords seafarers their voice and opens windows to their inner world.

It is seafarers’ commitment to family that jumps from these pages like no other.  Their family ties are as fragile and as shattered as anyone’s, their love as genuine, their determination to be productive in order to care, as admirable as that of any working person.  Working environments are seldom ideal.  Whether sailing on super tankers or luxury yachts, passenger ships or rust buckets, problems persist.  Even the most professional of career seafarers realise just how easily onboard crises may overwhelm their experience and coping skills.  Marin Otto has picked up on it too.

In my working life I have learnt that no single size fits all.  Chaplains must be generous, inviting seafarers to choose from the full scope of faith-based support offered by some 28 chaplaincies across the globe.  Difference need not be schisms.  Ecumenical working among chaplains is key.  I am delighted at Otto’s recognition of this basic insight into ministry to seafarers.

I am grateful for this remarkable book.  “Remarkable” because it adds to, sadly, far too short a list of publications that give us a peek into seafarers’ inner life.

Hennie la Grange

Former General Secretary of ICMA