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.
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.
