I've missed you!

I have not posted anything in a very long time. I am a hospital chaplain in the midst of a pandemic…I’ve been very busy…too busy…for two years! Nothing I can write will accurately portray what it has been like. Much like combat veterans…if you weren’t there on the front line, you won’t understand. I do not intend any judgment in that statement - it is a simple fact. I have seen more suffering and death in the past two years than I did in all my prior ministry years combined. Perhaps in a future post, I will share some of my experiences.

Last week I had my annual physical with my doctor. He asked how things were going at the hospital and I shared that my chaplain team had worked 25 deaths in the past seven days. (That is insanely high for a hospital our size…those are not normal numbers for us.) He asked me how I’ve kept going during the pandemic. I get this question a lot. Working shoulder to shoulder with the ICU doctors and nurses with so much fear, death, and suffering around us has been a holy privilege, but it has also been brutal. Exhausted doesn’t begin to explain how hospital staff feels. My chaplain team has spent as much time supporting our staff as we have supporting patients and families.

Personally, I am in a good place spiritually and emotionally. I intend to share how I’ve managed that in a few upcoming posts. Today I simply want to say I’m back. I hope to post more regularly and perhaps begin working on some new books.

I’ll leave you with a “Morning Inspiration” I shared with our staff a few weeks ago. While this prayer was written for a hospital setting, I think you’ll find most of it applies to anyone.

Creator of all,

So often we feel so small

and our tasks feel meaningless.

Our culture celebrates the extraordinary:

The movie superhero with superpowers,

The young entrepreneur, now a billionaire,

The star athlete who seems to defy the laws of physics.

The voice in our head tells us our labors are insignificant.

Help us to find the power of the ordinary.

Preparing the next meal for our family.

Taking a child to practice

or a parent to a doctor’s appointment.

Paying the next bill.

Bathing one more patient

Or answering one more question from the patient’s family.

Finishing the next report or presentation.

Help us realize that it is the ordinary that keeps the intricate dance we call humanity going.

Persistence and perseverance take great strength.

Doing the next right thing that lies before us is its own superpower.

On this day, with that next task, and all that follow it,

Give us the wisdom and strength

to do the ordinary

with a smile

with compassion

with gratitude

with excellence.

Each ordinary act may be done in a way that makes it an act of love.

Transform our ordinary tasks into these acts of love

Knowing that love is the greatest superpower of all. 

Amen