Formed Together

Finding ourselves before an other creates an ethical demand, all the more when that other needs care.

Mystery, Narrative and Virtue in Christian Caregiving

By Keith Dow

Baylor University Press, 2021. 224 pages. $54 (e-book $50)

This book is written from the context of caring for mentally disabled people, yet it has profound contributions for caregiving in every situation. It tells stories that highlight the mystery of human nature, and it invites readers to disrobe from their pride to love deeply.

Author Keith Dow became the director of organizational and spiritual care with Christian Horizons after completing his PhD in theology (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam). His book calls on a wide array of philosophers and theologians. It uses language that is somewhat technical, but without being overbearing. Its goal is to “question and to unsettle assumptions regarding the privilege of intellectual ability.”

According to Dow finding ourselves before an other creates an ethical demand, all the more when that other needs care. But “We regularly fail to recognize that we encounter the image of God in one another because of our own cognitive presuppositions.”

The challenge is often our unwillingness to submit to the mystery of the other person. Human opaqueness combined with our tendency to tell stories about people’s desires and motives are what destroy our ability to respond carefully to them.

Dow finishes with a list of virtues aimed at shaping Christian caregiving with humility and love. He describes these as “an overflow of gratitude,” in contest with “Hypercognition and transparency myths [that] have undermined the virtues of care.” These are not complicated virtues. “Sometimes [confession] means saying ‘I’m sorry’ to someone when we have run roughshod over their attempt to communicate with us, or just be with us.”