Today is Independence Day!  Like many I am off work this weekend to enjoy rest and leisure.  This week I visited a hospice patient who had a decorative flag display on his table.  He told me the hospice program gave it to him.  I later learned that for all of our patients who are veterans one of our employees made and delivered these displays to them.  Most veterans I have met feel they have made sacrifices for their nation through the military service.  At the twilight of their life to receive an unsolicited token of remembrance and appreciation brought smiles to their faces and made them feel joy.

The lesson I am learning from this is that for all patients when you can help them feel joy from previous life events, you can help them feel better in the present.

Today I filled the role of teacher as I taught a new volunteer chaplain how to use our software for entering chaplain visits.  I remembered how when I learned the program I felt the emotions of being rushed and of feeling self conscious as I was being watched making every keystroke.

Taking my emotions into account made me a better teacher because I tried to time my instructions to the speed at which the student was moving through the data fields.  As she became more experienced I would let her make the entries while I was away from the screen and then double check them prior to the entry being saved.

Remembering my emotions from 4 years ago when I was a student made me a more effective today as a teacher.  Emotions can be great guides to shape how we do things.  But to learn from them we must recognize them as we experience them and then remember them for future use.

Today was my last day of on-boarding one of our new volunteer chaplain associates.  We spent most of our time teaching the process for entering visits made into our medical information management program.  The student did very well and practiced a high degree of diligence and effort at making sure what was entered was correct.

I tried to remember how I felt when I was learning how to use the program.  I remember feeling rushed and not liking being watched at the keyboard even though I knew it was necessary.  To take her feelings into account I told her to let me know if we were going too fast.  I also paced myself by speaking slowly and watching what she was doing so that my instructions were not several steps ahead of where she was on the screen.  As she gained speed then I would leave sitting next to her to let her make the entry and then have her let me know when she had entered the information.  Then I would check it over before it was saved.  This was good because she would think through the process by herself and yet I was able to make sure before the entry was saved it was correct.

I would like to think that my centering myself on how I felt as a student helped make me a better teacher.  This is just one example of how emotions from one experience can help us in another situation down the road.  Emotions are good teachers if we use them well!

This picture of a hospital hallway is one that I found on the internet.  I am using it to illustrate what I encountered on my first day back at work following vacation.  I had many employees tell me they noticed I had been gone and were glad to have me back.  Then I went into a patient’s room and the patient told me he had been there three days and he wondered why I had not been to visit him.  Once I explained I had been on vacation, my lack of visiting was immediately forgiven.  This opened my eyes in a new way to the fact that staff and patients both count on my presence and ministry.  More than the satisfaction of being missed these encounters again reminded me that chaplains are valued even though we don’t measure that value in the other statistical ways we measure other services the hospital provides.  To all the chaplains who read this and wonder if you are valued, this is a resounding YES!!

While I was on vacation our department held one of three “Services of Remembrance” that we hold throughout the year.  Families always find this service comforting.  I had phone messages from several families stating they could not attend.  So yesterday I wrote them individual letters and sent them copies of the bulletin.  Their requests for bulletins reminded me just how important keepsake items are.  I still have all the sympathy cards I received when each of my parents died.  When I think about how the messages in the cards made me feel and the connection I shared with the people who sent them, I felt supported at a time of loss and great emotion.

Our department is not required by any regulatory body to offer these services.  We do not receive any reimbursement for conducting them.  But we hold them to offer a time of healing for the surviving family members and add another recognition of honor to the lives of those who have died.  I expect that as long as families still attend we will continue to offer these services.  It is one more step in the provision of pastoral care that makes chaplaincy a valuable ministry to offer.

This picture was taken by me of the White House looking out from the observation level of the Washington Monument last week.  Normally when we see pictures of the White House the photo is cropped so the White House is the most prominent item in the photo.  I have been looking at this photo noticing how many other buildings are very close to the White House.

Examining this picture has caused me to pause and ask myself the question, “What is the most important item to God in this photo?”

Of course I can’t offer a definitive answer because I don’t presume to know the mind of God.  What did strike me is that since God loves all people the same, God loves the people in the other buildings just as much as God loves those who work or reside in the White House.

My goal for this week is to put myself to the test of seeing and treating everyone I meet with an equal amount of love.  I know it is an ambitious challenge, but that is the challenge inspired by this photo.

Many of you will recognize this picture as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington DC.  It was one of the sites my friend wanted to see.  I have been there to see it and witness the changing of the guard ceremony many times.  We were able to our visit to see the changing of the guard ceremony.  I was impressed that during the ceremony from start to finish the crowd gathered there was respectful and quiet.  So all present gave honor to our fallen heroes.

I was most impressed with watching the Marines go through the procedure with exact precision when the temperature and humidity here painfully high.  All of them had to be suffering from great perspiration but they did not let that dampen their conviction to perform the ceremony in the exact method that is dictated by years of tradition.  As we were walking away from the ceremony I could hear members of others who had been there reflecting on the contributions of human lives that their families had made over time to our branches of the military.  The respect for those who have fallen and love for country were very evident.  I am thankful we have a continuous method by which we honor our war dead and do so in a way that anyone who wants to be present and be a part of the ceremony is able to do so.  Providing closure is so essential for many life events.  I am glad this event of closure is still being provided today and bringing comfort to those who encounter it.

I was travelling in Washington DC with my friend from the post on June 23.  I did not want to post publicly on the internet that I was gone until I had returned.  Please excuse the several day break in new posts.

I am standing in this picture with a former parishioner from my pastoral ministry in Illinois.  He was in 7th grade when I moved east to Maryland.  Now he has completed High School and is in the National Guard.  He and his grandparents arrived yesterday for a visit.  Jon and I had grown very close to each other during the 5 years I was his pastor.  It has been great to be reunited with him and his grandparents.  What I am reminded of when I look at this picture is how connections we make with some people stand the test of time and distance.  When he arrived we picked up connecting with each other as if it had only been a few days since we last saw each other.

Working with patients I often find patients who have an important person from their past that they wish they could see again.  This reunion has let me experience the joy of being reunited.  Now I can feel emotionally rather than just understand intellectually the feelings they are experiencing with the desire to be reunited.  For all of you who long to meet up with someone you have not seen for awhile, I encourage you step forward and make plans.  You will be glad you did!

I preached today for our pastor who is on vacation.  In preparing for my message I discovered that 1.3 million children are homeless many are runaways.  I feel so badly for them.  I feel in a nation as rich in resources as the USA this should not be happening.  Since this concern has been on my mind for 4 days I can tell it is something that God is not going to let me leave alone.  At this point I am not sure what he is calling me to do about it.  Suggestions are welcome!  As I gain clarity I will report back here to you.