Abstract
In general circumstances Pentecostals and isolation may sound contradictory. However, the suffering and isolating nature of COVID-19 has left the Pentecostals to imagine non-corporate forms of prayers and praise. From the context of Indian (Kerala) Pentecostalism, the chapter explores how COVID-19 restricted Pentecostal worship practices and its impact on mental health. Subsequently, deriving the scriptural pointers from the book of Lamentations, Expressive Writing is proposed as an apt spiritual practice of lament to communicate with God during unspeakable pain. Furthermore, the chapter argues for Expressive Writing as a ‘pentecostal’ literary based spiritual practice of lament that is in line with the long-held Pentecostal teachings of the Holy Spirit, eschatological hope, and the practice of testimony. In summation, the proposal assumes that Expressive Writing can not only serve as a psychological tool to cope with the mental distress ensuing COVID-19 but also be seen as a spiritual practice enabling believers to communicate effectively with God in their distress.
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Notes
- 1.
Kerala is the Southern Coastal State of India, which saw the emergence of Pentecostalism as an ongoing ecclesial reformation in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. In this chapter, I use the term Pentecostals in the broader sense to incorporate both the classical and non-classical Pentecostals. For more details on the historical development of Pentecostalism in Kerala, see A.C. George, “Pentecostal Beginnings in Travancore,” Asian Journal of Pentecostal Studies 4:2 (2001): 215–37. Allan Varghese, “The Reformative and Indigenous Face of the Indian Pentecostal Movement,” International Journal for Indian Studies 4, no. 2 (2019): 1-20.
- 2.
Sincere thanks to my colleagues, Thomas Hampton and Lisa Fowler, for reading and providing helpful suggestion on the earlier version of this manuscript. The faults that remain are my own.
- 3.
Martina Prosén, “Worship: A Window into Pentecostal Theology,” Svensk Missionstidskrift 102, no. 1 (2014): 87.
- 4.
Peter D. Neumann, “Spirituality,” in Adam Stewart, ed, Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity. (Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2012), 198.
- 5.
Andrae Grant, “Pentecostal sounds and silences in Rwanda,” The Immanent Frame (2019) https://tif.ssrc.org/2019/06/04/pentecostal-sounds-and-silences-in-rwanda/ accessed on August 31, 2020.
- 6.
For a discussion on noise among Indian Pentecostals, see. Chad M. Bauman, Pentecostals, Proselytization, and Anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2015), 87-89.
- 7.
Public health researchers and medical practitioners have lauded the Kerala response to COVID-19 as proactive. For a brief analysis of the Kerala response, see, Menon J.C., Rakesh P.S., John D., et al. What was right about Kerala’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic? BMJ Global Health 2020;5:e003212. doi:10.1136/ bmjgh-2020-003212
- 8.
For the WHO analysis of Kerala response to COVID-19, see; “Responding to COVID-19-learnings from Kerala” (July 2020). https://www.who.int/india/news/feature-stories/detail/responding-to-COVID-19%2D%2D-learnings-from-kerala, Accessed on April 19, 2022.
- 9.
As of April 19, 2022, the State of Kerala has reported that 68,197 people died from COVID since January 2020, while 6534,352 were confirmed and 6462,811 recovered. For all the COVID-19 related state data, see “Kerala: COVID-19 Battle,” https://dashboard.kerala.gov.in/covid/, accessed on April 19, 2022.
- 10.
Since its launch on February 6, 2006 (was granted permission by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in India on December 9, 2005), PowerVision TV has become a go to TV channel for the Pentecostals in the Malayalam speaking world (inside and out of Kerala).
- 11.
“Worldwide COVID-19 is causing a new form of collective trauma,” The Economist (August 2020).
https://www.economist.com/international/2020/08/29/worldwide-covid-19-is-causing-a-new-form-of-collective-trauma, accessed on September 15, 2020.
- 12.
The Economist, “Worldwide COVID-19 is causing a new form of collective trauma.”
- 13.
Kerala has a higher amount of emigrant household members. For a detailed report on non-residents in Kerala, see, “Non-Resident Keralites,” Economic Review 2016, https://spb.kerala.gov.in/economic-review/ER2016/chapter06_03.php, accessed on July 12, 2020.
- 14.
Interview conducted through Zoom on April 8, 2020.
- 15.
For an analysis of the economic impact of COVID-19 on Kerala, see Boby Ghosh, “COVID-19 hurting Kerala, economies dependent on money from abroad: Bloomberg,” The Times of India (July 2020), https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/foreign-media/COVID-19-hurting-kerala-economies-dependent-on-money-from-abroad-bloomberg/, accessed on September 7, 2020.
- 16.
Leslie C. Allen, A Liturgy of Grief (Michigan: Baker Books, 2011), 2.
- 17.
N. T. Wright, God and the Pandemic (Michigan: Zondervan Reflective, 2020), 52.
- 18.
Wright, God and the Pandemic, 53.
- 19.
J. Daniel Hays, Jeremiah, and Lamentations (Michigan: Baker Books, 2016), 325.
- 20.
Leonard P. Maré, “A Pentecostal Perspective on the Use of Psalms of Lament in Worship.” Verbum et Ecclesia, 29, no. 1 (2008): 91–109.
- 21.
Scott A. Ellington, “The Costly Loss of Testimony.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 8, no. 16 (2000): 48–59.
- 22.
Maré, “A Pentecostal Perspective on the Use of Psalms of Lament in Worship,” 95.
- 23.
Ellington, “The Costly Loss of Testimony,” 52.
- 24.
Jean-Daniel Pluss quoted in Ellington, “The Costly Loss of Testimony,” 53.
- 25.
The term “recover” is used as practices of lament were prevalent among certain early Pentecostals. For example, see, Narelle Jane Melton, “Lessons of Lament: Reflections on the Correspondence between the Lament Psalms and Early Australian Pentecostal Prayer.” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20:1 (2011). During our conversation, Pastor Varughese Mathew also recalled how old Malayalam Pentecostal songs written by early Pentecostals in Kerala capture the heart of lament.
- 26.
For example, Pastor Prince Matthew preached a sermon titled “God who weighs your sadness” [Malayalam] on the PowerVision TV Sunday service expounding various sufferings and concluded with the Malayalam song ‘Yesuve en prana nayaka’ that illustrates the loving nature of Jesus Christ, who continues to bring life and relief by wiping our tears in times of suffering. For the full sermon, see, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COiQ6Kdj2ek&list=PLciS62AjGU1MvmKloNIX63C_sv6rY9_0L&index=4 accessed on September 4, 2020.
- 27.
James W. Pennebaker, and Sandra K. Beall. “Confronting a Traumatic Event: Toward an Understanding of Inhibition and Disease.” Journal of Abnormal Psychology 95, no. 3 (1986): 274–81.
- 28.
Psychologists have also noted that it is not necessary to see 15 minutes as a requirement for the exercise. A 2008 study revealed that there are health benefits from just two minutes of Expressive Writing. For further details, see Chad M. Burton and Laura A. King, “Effects of (Very) Brief Writing on Health: The Two-Minute Miracle.” British Journal of Health Psychology 13, no. 1 (2008): 13.
- 29.
Writing about both the event and the feeling is vital. As Baikie and Wilhelm note, “Writing only about the emotions associated with a trauma is not as beneficial as writing about both the event and the emotions” (Karen A. Baikie and Kay Wilhelm. “Emotional and Physical Health Benefits of Expressive Writing.” Advances in Psychiatric Treatment 11, no. 5 (2005): 341.
- 30.
Baikie and Wilhelm, “Emotional and Physical Health Benefits of Expressive Writing,” 341.
- 31.
The Pandemic Project is an example that provides an online platform for people to practice Expressive Writing. For further details, see, “Feeling overwhelmed by the Pandemic? Expressive Writing can Help,” Pandemic Project, http://exw.utpsyc.org/index.php, accessed on September 4, 2020.
- 32.
Ron Klug, How to Keep a Spiritual Journal (Minneapolis: Augsburg, 2002), 18.
- 33.
Helen Ceperp, Journaling as a Spiritual Practice: Encountering God Through Attentive Writing (Illinois: InterVasity Press, 2008), 29.
- 34.
Extracts from the following section can be found in my previously published article and used in this chapter with the permission of Crucible. For the full article, see, Allan Varghese M, “Lamentations—A Language to Present Our Speechless Suffering,” Crucible 9:1(2018) www.crucibleonline.net, accessed on September 17, 2020.
- 35.
F. W. Dobbs-Allsopp, Lamentations (Louisville: John Knox Press, 2002), 13.
- 36.
Soon-Chan Rah, Prophetic Lament. (Illinois: InterVarsity Press 2015), 190.
- 37.
Eugene H. Peterson, Answering God. (San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1989), 37.
- 38.
Peterson, Answering God, 35.
- 39.
Stanley M. Burgess and Gary B. McGee (Ed), Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements (Michigan: Zondervan, 1988), 805.
- 40.
V. V. Thomas, “Pentecostalism in Post Modern Era: Potentials/Possibilities, Problems and Challenges” in Rajeevan Matthew Thomas and Josfin Raj, Eds, Pentecostalism: Polyphonic Discourses (Delhi: ISPCK, 2019), 76.
- 41.
K. E. Abraham, Parishudathma Snannem, (Kerala: K. E. Abraham Foundation, 1991).
- 42.
Scott A. Ellington, “‘Can I Get a Witness’: The Myth of Pentecostal Orality and the Process of Traditioning in the Psalms,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology 20, no. 1 (2011): 54–67.
- 43.
Burgees and McGee, Dictionary of Pentecostal and Charismatic Movements, 805.
- 44.
While oral liturgy of Pentecostalism continues to resonate with the poor and the marginalized, from a global perspective, Pentecostalism has both “poor” and “elites,” to use W. J. Hollenweger’s terminology, where “the Pentecostal poor are oral nonconceptual peoples who are often masters of the story. … [On the other end] Pentecostal elites are literary conceptual people who pride themselves on speaking the language of science and technology” (W. J. Hollenweger “The Pentecostal Elites and the Pentecostal Poor: A Missed Dialogue?” in Karla Poewe, ed, Charismatic Christianity as a global culture (Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina, 1994), 213. Therefore, Hollenweger’s call is to have a genuine dialogue between these groups and not let the growing ‘elites’ forget the concerns of the poor or replace orality from Pentecostal spirituality.
- 45.
Dorothee Soelle, Suffering (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1975), 68.
- 46.
Soelle, Suffering, 69.
- 47.
Soelle, Suffering, 72.
- 48.
It is also important to note that scholars have recognized Glossolalia’s role in the process of lament. Torr using Soelle’s framework, sees Glossolalia as “an aid to help the suffer transition from phase one to phase two as it could be used as an expression of emotion.” See Stephen C. Torr, “Lamenting in Tongues: Glossolalia as a Pneumatic Aid to Lament,” Journal of Pentecostal Theology, 26, no. 1 (2017): 44.
- 49.
Ellington, “Can I Get a Witness,” 61.
- 50.
Ellington, “Can I Get a Witness,” 61.
- 51.
Ellington, “Can I Get a Witness,” 62.
- 52.
Peter Althouse, “Eschatology,” in Adam Stewart (ed), Handbook of Pentecostal Christianity. (Illinois: Northern Illinois University Press, 2012), 74–75.
- 53.
Scott Ellington, Risking Truth, (Oregon: Pickwick Publications, 2008), 181.
- 54.
The lyrics of the song are originally written and sung in Malayalam. The translation presented in this chapter is the author’s own.
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Varghese Meloottu, A. (2023). Kerala Pentecostalism and Mental Health Crisis. In: Kaunda, C.J. (eds) World Christianity and Covid-19. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12570-6_18
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