Working in a hospital as a chaplain means that I am often present when a death is about to occur or has occurred. There are areas in the hospital, like the Emergency Room, where nurses will comment upon seeing me and exclaim, “Oh no, what’s happening.” For me being present when death occurs is not a difficult assignment because it is an opportunity to support the family with spiritual care at what will always be … Continue reading →
Facing the end-of-life of a loved one or a family member tends to raise the stress level of the would-be survivors. There are decisions that must be made in cooperation with the medical team and there is the weight of knowing that decisions will need to be made post-medical care. Healing has decisions that must be made and dying has its own set of decisions that must be made. It is easier for the family … Continue reading →
During the height of the COVID pandemic I got a text message from a patient who was dying. She was about 30 days into an isolation stay and the medical team had given up hope of being able to do anything to help. The patient was a nurse and we texted during her hospitalization, most recently her texts were an honest reflection on dying. On this one particular day, her text was simply, How should … Continue reading →
I want to address two statements by the Apostle Paul that are commonly known by the phrase, “Absent from the body, present with the Lord.” The first of these is in 2 Corinthians 5:8 which states, “We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, and to be present with the Lord.” The second of these is in Philippians 1:23 which states, “For I am in a strait betwixt two, … Continue reading →
Today I turn 60-years old. I know it’s a big milestone in life, but at the moment I am not finding it as depressing as I thought I would when I considered this day in years past. As I wrote before, turning 50 was an emotionally difficult thing for me because it kind of took me by surprise. I have expected the same reaction to turning 60 but it hasn’t happened. Probably because I have … Continue reading →
One of the saddest things for me to witness is a person who is nearing the end of their days without any spiritual strength to draw from. It’s something I’ve seen many times in my pastoral and hospital chaplaincy ministry. An individual is facing death but having no spiritual strength in them their emotional stress is compounded with spiritual distress. There is a common anxiety among all men in facing death because it causes the … Continue reading →
Today at church we discussed the old adage that goes “When it’s your turn to go, it’s your turn to go” (or something to that effect). I had mentioned that I would look up some verses that would seem to concur with this thought, because I couldn’t pull out of my memory and the clock was running out on us, but here are a few that I was thinking of… • “And as it is … Continue reading →