Still Waters Run Deep

<p>This book brings together theologians clergy people with dementia carers clinicians and others to offer a holistic interdisciplinary exploration of dementia which focuses not only on what dementia is and what it is not but more importantly what it means to live well with dementia and to find hope where sometimes it feels like there is no hope.<br>Located within practical theology and theological anthropology the diversity of perspectives on dementia presented in this book offers deep insights into what it means to be a human being to live humanly in the midst of difficult situations and helps us understand and navigate the complexities of the dementia journey. In offering foundational practical and theoretical knowledge the book helps cut through the false consciousness of modernity and enter a world where personhood is defined not by our capacities or the loss of them but by God’s loving presence. It offers a contextual theological framework to look beyond what we assume to be obvious and to recognize the “hidden” depths that can be discovered and encountered within individuals as they journey into dementia. In doing so it takes seriously the lived experience of people with dementia and allows that to shape form and perhaps reform our understandings of God human beings and what it means to live well. Taken as a whole the book posits that together we can reflect upon and act out a hopeful future that makes people’s lives meaningful purposeful and loving even in the midst of the challenges that Dementia brings. <br><em>Still Waters Run Deep</em> will be a key resource for academics researchers and advanced students of theology divinity and religious studies gerontology psychology mental health and nursing. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of <em>Journal of Religion Spirituality & Aging.</em></p>