Allegany comes from the Indian word “oolikhanna” meaning “beautiful stream.”   I found this information on the home page of the County Orphan’s Court.  It is campaign time and I see lots of people as candidates for the court.  It made we wonder how many judges we need.  The answer to that question is we have 3 judges currently.

In my search for information I had a bonus.  I found out the meaning of the name of our county.  This area is appropriately named because we have many beautiful streams.  On nice days just driving or riding around is great fun because of the scenery.

I am also thankful for the internet.  It is like the library is right in my home.  What hidden treasures has the internet brought you recently?  Let us share the wealth of the good things that are out there!

Anyone who works in health care today knows that many medical records are kept electronically.  I am used to 20 minute segments once in awhile when the system is down.  Today I had a surprise the system was down the whole time I was in the hospital, which was six hours.

The irony of the outage is that today I was supposed to train a new member of our team how to make entries in the electronic health record.  So much for that plan!  We were able to take my patient list from the previous day and make visits.  Of course we had to check with each nursing unit to see what changes in patient bed assignments had taken place since the previous day.  In order to keep my notes clear, since I used black ink on Thursday, I used red ink today.  This may sound messy but I was surprised how easy it was to tell which notes applied each of the visits.

The beauty of the change in plans is that we visited with patients we probably would not have seen if the computers had been working.  Through some of the conversations it was evident the patient/family benefited from the visit.  In the end I am behind in training and document entry, but more patients were given pastoral care that they benefited from.  Our patients frequently deal with changes in plans for their tests and procedures.  Through having my plans so significantly changed I saw the change in plans the patients experience in a new way.  I think today’s experience will help me relate with patients in the future when they are concerned about delays in their health care plan.  Have you had an experience when circumstances beyond your control forced you to do something you would not have normally been doing?  How did it work for you?  Please respond and together we can see examples of how we can be flexible in our ministry as chaplains.

When you look at this photo it shows three people together talking.  They are looking directly at each other and smiling.  That is a sign that you matter to someone when they will look you in the eye and smile.  It is what builds a relationship.  Life seems so busy these days and there are so many activities competing for our limited time; because of these facts when someone gives us the gift of their time, the gift has value.

I engaged with a famiiy in the last week that I had never met before.  Now through 3 ministry encounters I have a standing invitation to visit them anytime I want to.  I didn’t do anything that others would not have been capable of doing.  I was able to convey at the moments I was with them they were my priority.  Who has been your priority this week?  Have they felt your presence and responded to it?  Each day has opportunities to share of ourselves.  Let’s be joyful in sharing ourselves with others in meaningful ways!

For those of you who check this site daily I am sorry for 2 days I had no posts.  It turned out I worked over 10 hours each day and just did not have the creative juices to post something worthy of your time to read.  Please bear with me as I get into the discipline of daily writing.

I read The Upper Room Daily Devotional Guide every day.  Today the author pointed out how common it is for us to pray for victims of crime with no thought of praying for those who have performed the crime.  Our first instinct is to look for justice and a way to even the score.

Scripture and the example of Christ point us toward a different way.  While it is great to pray for the victim of a crime we also need to pray for the offender.  Whether we like to realize it or not, the offender’s life is just as much a creation of God as the person who bears the burden of the crime.

All this is not to say that a criminal should not be punished or make restitution.  But Christ himself says we are to love our enemies.  I know it is hard work for me and I see it is hard work for others.  When I think about it, I really don’t like to have mandate to forgive enemies.  But on the other hand I want to be the best person I can be with the strength of Jesus supporting me.  So with this new encouragement from the devotional guide, I will work on praying for those I have up to this point been unwilling to lift before Jesus in prayer.  I am not sure where this prayer journey will take me.  But I do offer you join me in this prayer journey.  Please post your experience in praying for enemies as comments to this post.  Perhaps reading and praying together we all learn better how to pray when it is not our first instinct.  Be well, and i pray it is well with your soul today!

I read a post on another site yesterday that gave the meanings of the colors used in the U.S. Flag.  I began to research the flag and realized the information I had originally read was popular myth rather than truth.  The funny thing is the colors meaning the article said pertained the U, S. Flag in reality belong to the Seal of the USA. (Pictured above)

The flag is a much more common image of our nation than the seal.  But since there is confusion about the meanings of the colors I thought I would help clarify the confusion.

This is how the colors for the U.S. Seal were determined:

On July 4, 1776, the Continental Congress passed a resolution authorizing a committee to devise a seal for the United States of America.

“The colors of the pales (the vertical stripes) are those used in the flag of the United States of America; White signifies purity and innocence, Red, hardiness & valour, and Blue, the color of the Chief (the broad band above the stripes) signifies vigilance, perseverance & justice.”

Chaplains often have to learn to distinguish the difference between what people think is true and what real truth is in various situations.  I thought I would share this example from a non-health care setting so we could see together the wisdom of verifying facts and searching for the meaning behind what we see.  I wish you well on this weekend and hope that you do something to show your thanksgiving for the life we lead here in the USA!

A clergy friend of mine writes a blog daily.  In one of his posts this week he wrote about hearing through his network that those that who work in the hospitality industry find church groups to be most difficult to deal with because the complain a lot more than any other group.

This statistic sounds incompatible with the descriptions that Scripture gives us of what the church and its members should be.  So why do church groups leave the impression that we complain too much?  First, I am sure it is unintentional.  Second, I hold the assessment of the staff member that told my friend about the impression the church conventions make on those who serve them is correct.  The workers do feel there are too many complaints whether those who complain realize they are being a burden.

So how could we change to make a better impression when the
church gathers for conventions?  I think it is simple: treat every worker you meet the way you would if you were trying to get them to join your congregation.  You would do these things:

• Be kind in your speech.
• Smile and say customary “please” and “thank you” when appropriate.
• Show grace when something does not meet your expectations and if you need to report it, do so in a kindly fashion.
• Call them my name.  It only takes a moment to read their name tag.

We have the power to change the impression we leave wherever we go.  The question that remains is do we have the resolve to take the time to make a better impression?  I hope more people begin to say “YES” to this question!

Today I received a call from a church secretary who was trying to track down one the members of the congregation.  The pastor was out of town on a missions trip and the pastor covering the church did not know the congregation’s code in our census system to find the member he needed to visit.  The secretary was newly hired and had no idea what process was in place to locate church members.

I was able to connect her with the information she needed and provide for her the sequence she would need to follow to get the information she needed in the future.  Throughout the phone call she kept thanking me for helping her.  During our conversation I realized she needed affirmation that learning a new job as a church secretary is difficult and even made more difficult when the pastor is not there to help you through procedures the first time.

At the end of our phone call I told her I appreciated her dedication to her job,  I also reminded her that there are many different ways to do the same thing in a congregation and for a year she will learn this particular church’s habit as each season of the church year comes along.  She appreciated my noticing her excellent drive to do the best she could and wishing her blessings as she begins this first year learning cycle in her new job.  Even though we did not meet in person I felt like I had met a new friend today.  Keeping positive relationships with local congregations is one way our Pastoral Care Department utilizes to build relationships with the congregations in our area.  I know the congregation involved indeed has a great employee they are in the process of on-boarding and the fact that I could help even a little bit in that process was my pleasure.  I hope this one phone call will build bridges that will help our interaction in the future.

First I want to apologize for not writing for several days.  I just had so many irons in the fire I was not able to get to the computer while my brain was functioning well enough to write proper sentences.

Today at the hospital we had a Continuing Education event which was a case study about a shooting at a hospital in Maryland in 2006.  The case study examined what happened from all perspectives and those of us in the room were able to see what we could and should do if this frightening event were to happen at our hospital.  The case we examined involved an inmate who was able to get the correctional officer’s gun from him, murder the officer and then flee the hospital.  During his escape attempt he took hostages.

These are the entities that played a role in the event:

• The Hospital
• The Prison
• The 911 Command Center
• City, County and State Police

Everyone in the room was saddened as we learned how the events unfolded that fateful day back in 2006.  All of us very much want to be prepared as well as put in place precautionary procedures so an inmate could not get a weapon from the officer who is guarding him,

Coming away from watching the case study I could relate to the family of the officer who was killed, the people who were taken hostage and their loved ones, and the hospital staff who worried for their safety and the safety of the patients entrusted to their care.

My own take away from this event is that as a chaplain I have no business trying to secure an inmate.  This is because I am not a highly muscular person and would more likely get injured than prevent the inmate from moving.  If this event did happen though I could have several important roles.

If I was a witness to the event getting an accurate and thorough description of what the inmate was wearing and what direction he or she was headed would great aid in the search.  Using the appropriate code system I could and should summon help.  For the staff and patients who are traumatized by the event I could offer them comfort and support and a forum to discuss their feelings.  These conversations would have to take place in cooperation with law enforcement so my conversation would not play any role in creating inaccuracy in their statements.  So I would wait for conversations until I had permission.  I could offer a hug and emotional support to them while they were waiting to be interviewed as long as I did not play the role of unofficial investigator.

With the rise in recent years of shootings in schools, malls, hospitals and other public places; we all need to be vigilant to be aware of surroundings and notice and report with accuracy anything or anyone who seems out of place.  A proactive approach could very well interfere with those who are planning violence.  Wouldn’t that be a blessing, to help keep tragedy from happening?  I know I am committed to the cause!

While in DC I did many things.  One of my last stops was in Rockville MD to eat brunch at the Mosaic Cafe.Here you see the inside of the dining room.  The cafe was the creation of a family originally from Lyons France.  It is rated as one of the best places to eat in the DC area and it is reasonably priced.  They are famous for the waffles, and being someone who LOVES waffles I can tell you these waffles are worth driving for!  I’m just lucky I could go 2 hours for them instead of having to go all the way to France.

While I was there I struck up a conversation with the couple at the table next to me.  They had no sweetener container on their table and I shared the one on my table.  As we talked the topic of conversation moved toward my occupation.  When I said I was a hospital chaplain, I was asked, “What branch of the military had I served in?”  The couple was shocked when I said I had no military service.  They asked how one could be a chaplain and not be in the military.  So that started a conversation about the training needed for chaplaincy and that military service is not a required component.  Military service is just another specialization of chaplaincy just like health care is a specialty.  The conversation was still on a very friendly tone, then I as asked about my  denominational affiliation,  When I said I was United Methodist their was a change in attitude in the air.  So I asked the couple what was their denominational affiliation.  They said they were AME Zion.  Then I knew what the tension was about.  During the that slavery took place in our country the Methodist denomination treated black people as second class citizens.  That second class status continued long after the Civil War was over.  So I spoke up and said I felt how black people were treated historically by the Methodist denomination was wrong and I am glad we have moved past that painful period of history.  My comments lifted the weight that crowded into our conversation and we had a delightful time during the rest of our meals.

Meeting people and listening to them with both what they say and how their body language communicates is the key to building a relationship with them.  Without even realizing it during the meal I was practicing some the components of chaplaincy as I developed the relationship with them.  We met as strangers and parted on a friendly basis.  What a productive meal, enjoying my favorite waffles and teaching about chaplaincy and applying the tools of chaplaincy all at the same time.  I hope this encounter motivates you to speak with strangers as you have opportunity.