“You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.” Ps. 68:9
The Dead Sea isn’t actually dead. Some things live in it, just not many things. The extremely high salt content of its waters will not support many forms of life, with the exception of some bacteria and fungi. The primary reason for this high salinity is that the Dead Sea has no outlet. Water from the Jordan River and a few other streams flow in. Nothing flows out. Ministers, myself included, have sometimes used this fact to underscore the importance of serving others. As we receive, we should also give in order to avoid the spiritual equivalent of becoming a Dead Sea ourselves.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is the deadness that follows giving and giving without receiving any refreshing inflow. In either case, the outcome is the same; the absence of the ability to support life.
This has been an incredibly busy week at our hospital. The volume of patients that have come through our doors and the acute nature of many of their health problems have challenged and stretched our Care Givers. Yesterday, one family member of one such patient noted with no small amazement how their nurse was crying with them as they wept over their loved one’s waning moments of life. She was not unique. That caring spirit pervades every department of our hospital. I am so grateful to work with so many caring hearts who make the choice not only to be excellent at their task, but to be exceptionally caring too.
To continue in this ability to be touched by the pain of others, to be able to connect emotionally and spiritually, caregivers must also care for themselves. Taking the time to exercise, relax, do something fun, and feed your spirit keeps the inflow coming so that your outflow does not result in emotional and spiritual exhaustion. Around here we don’t have “Dead Seas.” Let’s care for ourselves, and each other, so that we don’t have any dry lakes either.
Blessings to you all,
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Friday, January 23, 2009
Glimmers
January 23, 2009
“If something cannot go on forever, it will eventually stop.” Nathan S. Kaufman
Recently, Nathan S. Kaufman spoke to the leadership of our hospital about healthcare in the United States. He focused on the overall picture of the healthcare system, government policies, insurance, and hospital-physician partnerships. It was at times a sobering, humorous, and in the end, hopeful presentation about how healthcare systems can survive and thrive in this difficult environment.
These are indeed challenging times for healthcare with rising costs, declining reimbursements, physician shortages. But it got me to thinking about how the quote applies to so many other things. How many people are saving for retirement? I wish I had started earlier! Got a living will? We often act as if things will never change and just go on forever as they are.
But they won’t. The question is have we made any plans?
Blessings to you all,
Glimmer Man
January 23, 2009
“If something cannot go on forever, it will eventually stop.” Nathan S. Kaufman
Recently, Nathan S. Kaufman spoke to the leadership of our hospital about healthcare in the United States. He focused on the overall picture of the healthcare system, government policies, insurance, and hospital-physician partnerships. It was at times a sobering, humorous, and in the end, hopeful presentation about how healthcare systems can survive and thrive in this difficult environment.
These are indeed challenging times for healthcare with rising costs, declining reimbursements, physician shortages. But it got me to thinking about how the quote applies to so many other things. How many people are saving for retirement? I wish I had started earlier! Got a living will? We often act as if things will never change and just go on forever as they are.
But they won’t. The question is have we made any plans?
Blessings to you all,
Glimmer Man
Thursday, January 15, 2009
The Power of Encouragement
Glimmers
January 15, 2009
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…”(1Thessalonians 5:11 NIV)
It struck me this morning as I tried a new exercise on my Wii Fit that there is powerful psychology at work in that little machine. The exercise was jogging in place. The screen showed a beautiful park with mountains, waterfalls and lush foliage. My task was to “run” at a pace sufficient to keep up with the Mii in front of me (Miis are computer-generated characters in the program) but not to pass him. Every couple of minutes or so, he looked behind to see how I was doing and gave me a wave as if to say, “keep it up, you’re doing great.” Along the course, other Miis appeared. Some were running in the same direction, some coming toward me. Sometimes they jumped up and down with delight, hands raised like a football official signaling a touchdown. All of it helped me want to keep going to reach the finish line.
People need encouragement. We need it, our spouses need it, our children need it, and so do the people who come to our hospital for care. How can we offer encouragement? I think an insight from Larry Crabb is helpful here.
In his book, Connecting, he talks of God’s delighting in us even in the messes we have sometimes made of our lives. “Rather than entering the dark places of our souls with a flashlight and a scalpel, intent on repairing what is wrong, he enters with a flashlight and a smile, eager to let us see how he feels about us even when we stand exposed in his presence. He looks at us with eyes of delight that see a goodness beneath the mess, with a heart that beats wildly with excitement over who we are and who we will become” (p. 10).
How can we do that? It is not exactly what Crabb says word for word, but a strategy I have adopted, even when the person has done terrible and self-destructive things, is try to find somewhere in the conversation to say, “I like it that you_________.” And fill in the blank. It never ceases to amaze me how that little phrase draws people out and helps me connect with them. People respond to encouragement, they really do.
Blessings to you all,
Glimmer Man
January 15, 2009
“Therefore encourage one another and build each other up…”(1Thessalonians 5:11 NIV)
It struck me this morning as I tried a new exercise on my Wii Fit that there is powerful psychology at work in that little machine. The exercise was jogging in place. The screen showed a beautiful park with mountains, waterfalls and lush foliage. My task was to “run” at a pace sufficient to keep up with the Mii in front of me (Miis are computer-generated characters in the program) but not to pass him. Every couple of minutes or so, he looked behind to see how I was doing and gave me a wave as if to say, “keep it up, you’re doing great.” Along the course, other Miis appeared. Some were running in the same direction, some coming toward me. Sometimes they jumped up and down with delight, hands raised like a football official signaling a touchdown. All of it helped me want to keep going to reach the finish line.
People need encouragement. We need it, our spouses need it, our children need it, and so do the people who come to our hospital for care. How can we offer encouragement? I think an insight from Larry Crabb is helpful here.
In his book, Connecting, he talks of God’s delighting in us even in the messes we have sometimes made of our lives. “Rather than entering the dark places of our souls with a flashlight and a scalpel, intent on repairing what is wrong, he enters with a flashlight and a smile, eager to let us see how he feels about us even when we stand exposed in his presence. He looks at us with eyes of delight that see a goodness beneath the mess, with a heart that beats wildly with excitement over who we are and who we will become” (p. 10).
How can we do that? It is not exactly what Crabb says word for word, but a strategy I have adopted, even when the person has done terrible and self-destructive things, is try to find somewhere in the conversation to say, “I like it that you_________.” And fill in the blank. It never ceases to amaze me how that little phrase draws people out and helps me connect with them. People respond to encouragement, they really do.
Blessings to you all,
Glimmer Man
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Sympathy
I really should be more sympathetic. I know, "you're a chaplain, that is your job." Well, yes, but nothing reminds one of how bad feeling sick feels like being sick. I don't get sick often. And I hardly ever get so sick I just want to go to bed. But that is what happened over Christmas vacation. Not the whole vacation, thankfully. But a few days of it I felt miserable.
Compared to the people I see in the course of my job, what I suffered was really minor league stuff. However, I am so used to feeling good that I found it hard to remember what feeling sick felt like. Not now.
I know that not everything that happens to me has some deep, spiritual meaning. But I can certainly reflect on what happens to me and be open to the possibility that God can use it in some way. I know that since my little taste of illness, I am feeling the sicknesses of others a little more personally. So, today I give thanks for whatever viral bug infested my being for the past 2 plus weeks. I don't want to go through it again anytime soon. But I don't want to forget it either.
Compared to the people I see in the course of my job, what I suffered was really minor league stuff. However, I am so used to feeling good that I found it hard to remember what feeling sick felt like. Not now.
I know that not everything that happens to me has some deep, spiritual meaning. But I can certainly reflect on what happens to me and be open to the possibility that God can use it in some way. I know that since my little taste of illness, I am feeling the sicknesses of others a little more personally. So, today I give thanks for whatever viral bug infested my being for the past 2 plus weeks. I don't want to go through it again anytime soon. But I don't want to forget it either.
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