".........And God is There"

One of the primary learning tools in training to become a hospital chaplain is the verbatim. After visiting with a patient, the chaplain “writes up” the visit, trying to reproduce the interaction from memory in the same format as one would write a theater script. The visit is then reenacted by the chaplain’s peers who broaden their own understanding of pastoral care and offer suggestions as to how the chaplain might be more effective in attending to the patient. It also gives the chaplain who made the visit the opportunity to think about what he or she might do differently in the future, away from the pressure of an unfolding encounter.

Part of this exercise involves adding written analyses of various aspects of the visit. Perhaps the most difficult is what is often called the theological reflection. This reflection might address an ethical dilemma, discuss a patient’s struggle to understand God’s role in his or her medical condition, or wrestle with a particular theological issue that troubles the chaplain. Often, however, an interaction with the patient seems straightforward and devoid of deep religious significance: a passing introduction to a new patient, listening to the frustration and stress on someone waiting for tests to be performed, speaking briefly to the parent of an injured child in the Emergency Room’s waiting area. Yet the question persists: what was God’s role in the encounter?

How could there be any theological content in a brief meeting in the ER waiting area? After all, all we talked about was how the accident happened, the frantic trip to the hospital, and who is staying home with the other children. For a long time, I didn’t know how to look for any underlying theological question. Finally, I began to understand.

Whenever we engage another person, we validate his humanity. Whenever we listen to another person, we become witness to her story. Every person is a reflection of God, and the bridge between two people is the manifestation of God in our midst. Even the most brief and ordinary encounter with another person evokes the sacred — if we are willing to open our eyes to God’s presence.

As our Caring Community reaches out to more and more people, God’s spirit permeates the new bonds forming within our Temple family. The simple act of sharing gifts during Purim brought joy to so many in our community. And that joy has been reflected back to the many hands and hearts that prepared and delivered Purim bags — bags filled with sweet foods, warm messages and the light of the Eternal One. So many people have begun extending a quiet hand to others in our community — offering meals, words of comfort or condolence, wishes for recovery and health. And those who have reached out have been touched by the sacred, just as have those whose lives they have themselves touched.

May God’s presence continue to fill the spaces between us. May our community continue to be enveloped with the kindness, care, and hope we offer each other. And may God’s greatest blessing, the blessing of shalom, continue to draw us toward wholeness and to peace.

B’shalom,
Andrew Bernard
Cantor