Spirit and Trauma: A Theology of Remaining

by Shelly Rambo

Death is not an event that is concluded. Neither is life a victorious event that stands on the other side of death. Instead, trauma uncovers a middle to this narrative; it reveals a theological territory of remaining.

“What remains in the aftermath of death?” is the central question of witness. Acknowledging the fractured nature of both word and body in witness moves us into distinctively pneumatological territory, in which the Spirit is not a life-giver but is, instead, witness to the emergence of life out of death. We have, through the Spirit, a theological picture of what it means to remain.