Here's this week's video message, with transcript below for those of you without speakers on your computer.
Opening Prayer:
God of the still, small voice, quiet us within.
Help us to understand your guidance.
Let the words of the scripture inform us:
“Be still and know that I am God.”
In weakness, help us know our strength.
In depression, help us know our joy.
In apathy, help us know our love.
We pray all his with grateful hearts and in your name, Amen.
Merry Christmas Friends! In the news this week Dr Fauci let children know everywhere that he had personally vaccinated Santa Clause and checked his immunity. He said it was OK for Santa to do what he does every Christmas if all the children went to bed early to keep a social distance.
It touched my heart that Dr. Fauci would do that. This generation of children growing up amidst all that is going on in the world right now need Santa!
And you may ask, Chaplain Birdie, why are you talking about Santa when we are recognizing the birth of Jesus this week?
Bear with me. I am talking about Santa because children are concrete thinkers. It is often difficult for children to understand abstract spiritual ideas, like a virgin birth. So, Santa is often their first interaction with belief.
Belief is an essential aspect of one’s spiritual life, yes? Santa is real to them because real things happen, they can see the real gifts he leaves under the Christmas tree.
As we get older, we come to understand the spirit of Christmas. That in order for that spirit to be upheld, we must become Santa’s helpers.
I think it is a similar process in any kind of spirituality. We come to understand that God, or Jesus, or any historical prophet me might follow for that matter, has no actual arms or legs in this plane of existence. It is our job to follow the wisdom of any spiritual teacher and then put those teachings into practice.
This is why in many Christian denominations, we understand that the Christ is not so much Jesus’ last name as it is a Divine nature that was expressed remarkably in Him. It is possible for us to express this too, perhaps in not as dramatic ways as raising the dead, but in kind and compassionate words and deeds.
This is something that can be done throughout the year. But at Christmas time, for some reason I cannot explain, in healthcare, we seem to have more opportunities for that than usual.
We are challenged to do just that right now. I know that we are having more visits in the ER due to COVID 19 than usual, and it is often difficult to care for them. It is frustrating and exhausting, without a doubt.
I know providers are being called upon to provide more spiritual care than usual. I know because I must minister to patients with COVID 19 from behind glass, on the phone, or in doorways to rooms. Providers are also filling in for families that cannot visit their loved ones, giving the kind of support as a family might normally do.
I see you doing just that, providing spiritual care so very well. Life often seems senseless right now, but through your care and words you provide sense.
You bring compassion and that spirit of Christmas to all you serve here at the hospital by being you, being present, giving care. I know because I have seen you do it……in the case of COVID 19, from a distance. In every way, in every department of the hospital.
I’ve always got your back in spiritual care, by the way, contact me if I can support you in providing it. But you do fine, more than fine, really!
I am so proud of you and so grateful. You are healthcare Santas, bringing with you a concrete experience of belief to those we serve here. And that my friends, is where we start from in spirituality of any kind. From the concrete to more abstract thinking about divinity and what that is.
To my mind, in this circumstance …..what you do, and how you work, is divine.
Please do not stop, don’t ever give up, you inspire so many and are bringers of hope just by being you.
May you be blessed this day and always. I thank you for listening.
Just because we are not meeting in person does not mean we cannot make prayer requests. You can do so in the chapel on the first floor of the hospital, or by email to jshawker@connallymmc.org Your requests are kept confidential and prayed over for a total of sixty days.
The Prayer for Protection (Rev. James Dillet Freemen)
The light of God surrounds us.
The love of God enfolds us.
The power of God protects us.
The presence of God watches over us.
Wherever we are, God is.
Amen.
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