It is on the same path, but it goes further than just listening.

Through the ministry of curiosity, you and I are able to study the person we care for as a Living Human Document. Whoever the person and whatever the story, they are worth studying as we would a text book, an instruction manual, an account of history or a professional journal.

My CPE instructor, Foy Richey introduced me to curiosity as a way of caring as he use the title, Living Human Document. That phrase was established by Anton T. Boisen, the founder of the clinical pastoral education movement. It was also through Foy that I was introduced to Images of Pastoral Care by Robert Dykstra of Princeton Theological Seminary. This book, along with Foy's teaching, helped me breakthrough into care ministry with a methodology and level of care that exceeded anything I had experienced previously.

When we esteem people to the level that they are worth studying, we care the way Jesus did. As we listen to their story we help them, and it is important to realize, we also grow as we learn the struggles of their inner life and the ways of God. It is at this intensity of caring for others that the care receiver is most helped and the caregiver is most blessed.

The Living Human Document can be studied as we would a great story. 

"The plot unfolds.
Their story is linked to God's unfolding story.
The plot thickens with events and drama that seek to ruin the story.
The twist happens when we see God turn it back to his original intention." (Adapted from The Indigenous Storyteller, Edward P. Wimberly in Images of Pastoral Care--Classic Readings, p.182).

As simple as it is to actively listen to the suffering person's story, it is also intensely complex and full of theology. We might never get to tell our insights and discoveries but they will shape and form us into a wise, skilled and compassionate pastor of care.

As we go deeper into caring we also go deeper into God and life, living the drama of life until the Divine story is completed.

What you do matters immeasurably more that you can imagine! I hope this post helps you care in the very best way!