All in Tapestry
Professionally, Chaplains are expected to gain self-awareness. I already noted how personal identity is formed through the connecting links of stories, and awareness of this helps identify the stories of others. The motivations for a calling to ministry can be numerous and sometimes may appear self-serving.
Imagine receiving a call telling you to evacuate your home due to a fast-moving fire in your direction and there’s only one road out. What do you take with you? Where do you go, and how much time do you have? Such was our situation on September 4, 2011. I was in shock and had no idea what to do.
Many times, we care for those who are sick and in need of comfort, forgetting the men and women who care for the sick and dying. Let us lift them up in prayer daily.
While God is the source of our spirituality, let us dig deeper and consider what is spiritual to us and how might it benefit us.
Deidra said, “Small acts of kindness that remind me that I matter; that someone cares about me. It’s people like Miss Suzi who make me think that everything actually will be okay.”
Will I always so purposefully offer self-care to myself? Realistically, no. But now I’ve learned to reframe my question to the tired caregiver.
The Trinity put on flesh through Jesus’s birth, and when you show up as Jesus On You, that moment becomes an uncontaminated image, purely the companionship of Jesus.
Keeping grounded and fed by my faith, I am able and capable to help others heal and grow in their own spiritual and emotional wellbeing.
Along the way, I learned much about walking with patients and others, about relying on God’s Spirit to guide me, and about finding ways of keeping myself balanced.
I realized that chaplains are the spiritual connection for patients and families in times of need, but we are human, too.
May we too continually be surprised with the moments of joy in our care that reflect God’s presence in the world!
There is no doubt that chaplaincy has its own share of challenges. But I have found that often our assumptions about the work of chaplaincy and the actual work of a chaplain are often quite different.
With a great steering team of board-certified chaplains and a lot of interest from chaplains across the country, I’m delighted to see the initial vision to serve chaplains associated with the Stone-Campbell tradition and ACU come to reality.
