When many congregations celebrate All Saints Day one of the components of that celebration is to light a candle for each person being remembered.  I like that custom, and have used it in many of the congregations where I have served as pastor.  This year in church we read the names of those who had died since the last All Saints Service, but no candles were lit.  I came away from the service feeling a bit restless until later in the day, my restlessness was caused by the missing candle lighting.

I know this may seem like a trivial matter, but for many of us the customs we get used to give us meaning and when they are missing the event is not as powerful for us.  This got me to thinking about patients who enter the hospital.  While they are there many of their customs in their daily routine are changed.  No wonder patients feel restless and out of place at the hospital.  No matter how much we try, we can’t duplicate the home environment of every patient.  So the next best approach is for us to recognize that people are out of their comfort zone and let them know what they can expect.  This will give them the peace of mind of knowing what is going to come next.

My experience with All Saints Sunday and the missing candles have given me an appreciation for the customs my patients are missing while they are in the hospital.  Hopefully this appreciation will translate into better spiritual care as I interact with patients and their visitors.