What Christmas is NOT


Today Christmas is filled with many distractions.  Many of the things we do and love so much are nothing but distraction to the real meaning of Christmas.

Hospital visit that was never intended to be


In a sentence, what does a chaplain do?
Numerous times I have been asked what my role in the hospital is. In other words, people have asked me what a chaplain does in a hospital setting.
I would say my job is to show up in the hospital and support patients as they deal with health uncertainties.

Chaplains in hospitals spend time listening to patients, providing them counsel by giving them a listening ear and offer some reflections, on the issues they face.
On a normal day, I would come into the office and print out a list of patients on the floors I usually cover. Then I look at the chart notes and kind of figure out which patients I really need to see and who among them need argent attention.

On my printed list of patients to see this day, are among them referrals from other health care workers. Before this visit, I had made multiple contacts with other patients in the Unit which I would consider as routine and regular visits on a normal day.
However little did I know that by next visit would be different and very important for Mr. Walker (Not his real name).

Today is Tuesday and Mr. Walker has been in hospital since Thursday of previous week. As usual I knocked and entered the room as I called his name. Like many other visits, Mr. Walker answered by asking me to come in. Mr. Walker is sited on a chair. On his bedside desk, he has a laptop computer which made me assume that he was busy either working from hospital bed or watching a movie which is common with most patients.
Upon introduction, Mr. Walker made it clear that he had not make any request for a chaplain stating that he is "Okay". To my surprise I noticed that as he was stating that he is okay, he was moving his laptop computer to the side, which I interpreted as him saying, "Welcome I need to talk."

My interpretation of Mr. Walker's action and gesture, led me to ask him if he would mind if I sit down. Mr. Walker graciously offered me the opportunity to make myself comfortable.

No sooner had I sat down, Mr. Walker asked me if I were from any particular church.  I certainly sensed that he is taking control of this visit, which to me was a plus, since he did not anticipate a visit from a chaplain or to use his works, “did not make a request for chaplain.” On a professional level I was aware that this visit is not about me but him, I allowed him to take initial lead to build report with him.
Mr. Walker is a practicing Episcopalian married to a Roman Catholic wife- Dianna (not her real name). For over 20 years, they have been attending the Episcopal Church and the Roman Church, interchangeably. However Mr. Walker mentioned that, that practice has stopped after both he and his wife realized that sermons in these two churches are similar or close and they agreed to be Episcopalians. This arrangement works well for both of them, he noted.

However, there is only one thing Mr. Walker laments about; recently he has lost his favorite Episcopal Priest through transfer. As he explains how close he and the Priest were, I could tell he was becoming emotional.
Mr. Walker opens up at this time letting me know that since the transfer of his Priest, he has no confidant to whom he could share any sensitive matter such as his health condition and his fears and worries.

Mr. Walker narrated how drastically his life has changed since he retired from a refutable oil company 2 years ago where he worked as seismic and ground negotiator. I must confess that at this time I have no idea why he was in the hospital, and I left it up to him to let me know when he felt comfortable to do so.
Upon probing him, he explains that he has suffered a chronic heart failure, as result of cardiopulmonary bypass surgery he had less than a year ago. He made it clear that his heart failure is the reason he is in hospital the last 5 days. He made it clear that his prognosis is very poor. He further said that he has a history of high blood pressure, diabetes, faulty heart valves, coronary artery disease, inherited heart defects and damaged or inflamed heart.

As I listened to Mr. Walker I kept on wondering whether he is as sick as he says he is. He seemed normal and “upbeat” not to mention his jovial mode. Mr. Walker was seemingly looking better than the picture he painted of himself.
I offered my listening skill, probing him when needed, asked questions and clarifications; never mention why  I had come to his room.

I had come in Mr. Walker’s room to help him execute a Medical Power of Attorney, an order placed by one of his physician.  By the time I introduced the reason for this visit, Mr. Walker had shared his life’s journey for over an hour. However, he made it clear that he has a Medical Power of Attorney in place but he never brought a copy to the hospital.
Mr. Walker volunteered to call his wife ask her bring a copy of his already executed Medical Power of Attorney. After explaining to him that it is not necessary, he said that she is coming later in the day besides he want her see a letter he wrote to her prior to coming to hospital which was according to him in the same folder as the copy of his Medical Power of Attorney. He said that this was an opportunity for her to find the letter since he had no intention of telling her he has written it.

Prior to coming to hospital, he had written a Will since he was not sure he will go back home. In the Will he had explained Dianna his wife how to balance family retirement finances and most importantly he had said his goodbyes to a woman he has lived with for 43 years.  
Mr. Walker excused himself to make that important call to Dianna. I could tell from the direction he is giving her on where to find the copy of his executed Medical Power of Attorney that he knows where all his documents are and or he is intentionally directing her to where she can for the Will. This was a clear indication that he was prepared in case it happens that he would die.

After hanging up the phone with his wife, Mr. Walker laments that his wife may have it rough if he die, saying that she does not have interest of learning how to run things around the house like book keeping.
I felt comfortable to end this visit knowing that Mr. Walker has unloaded himself, discussing his fears, worries, frustrations and concerns. I promised him to check on him following day.

Later the following day, Mr. Walker called the office spoke to my supervisor and indicated to him that him and I had a very productive visit and he would want me visit if time allows.

Watch for the next visit with him in this blog

Impromptu Nuptials in Birthing Suite

Cynthia Kallay wanted nothing more than a modest ceremony at the county courthouse. But her unborn baby daughter had other plans.

Cynthia Kallay was never the type of woman who dreamed of her wedding day. Yes, she had fallen in love with the perfect man – an old acquaintance from high school – and she knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with him. But for her, planning a marriage was more of an afterthought.

Then, after spending nearly a decade together, the couple got an unexpected Christmas surprise: Cynthia was going to have a baby. That’s when the two decided to get hitched. Cynthia, a patient care assistant at Memorial Hermann Southeast Hospital, wanted nothing more than a modest ceremony at the county courthouse. No flowers, no cake. Just a nice dress, a pair of rings and a few loved ones to help them celebrate the special day.

But their unborn baby daughter had other plans.

The morning of her wedding day, Cynthia’s water broke at home, nearly a month before her due date. She and her fiancée, D’Angelo “Trey” Doughty rushed to Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center where it was confirmed that Cynthia’s labor was well underway.

“I jokingly told my nurse that I needed to run to the courthouse quickly to get married because today was supposed to be our wedding day,” Cynthia said. “I had no idea that that they would actually try to recreate my special day right here in the hospital.”

Cynthia may not have planned for a traditional ceremony, but Cynthia’s nurse and chief wedding planner, Amber Kyler, RN, along with the rest of her L&D care team at Memorial Hermann Memorial City Medical Center sprang into action on Cynthia’s behalf, pulling together all the necessities for the impromptu nuptials.

“I was determined to make sure she had the best wedding ever!” Amber said.

The entire L&D team on duty that day helped coordinate the surprise, including: Morgan Thigpin, Amie Strech, Anthrenette Daniel, Andrea Alonzo, Brenda Shook, Crystal Lockhart, Chelsea Taft, Jennifer Rocha, Hanna Buchanan, Rebecca Marchan, Shana Randle and Verna Deans.

As Cynthia rested in bed hooked to an IV with oxytocin, a drug used to induce labor, the nursing team worked to secure a bouquet of pink flowers and a white wedding cake with “Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Doughty” scrawled in red icing. They called chaplain Ephapharus Kaburu to Cynthia’s birthing suite and brightened up her patient-gown-turned-wedding-dress with a snipped yellow tulip tucked behind her ear.

Before the ceremony began, one nurse asked Cynthia if she had a preference for the wedding music.

“I hadn’t thought about it,” Cynthia said with a laugh. “So I just told her to pick whatever she had at her wedding.”

As D’Angelo stood at Cynthia’s bedside, surrounded by family, friends and Cynthia’s 12-year-old daughter Kamayah, Cynthia’s contractions intensified to every three minutes. Her nurse stood to the side anxiously watching the dips and spikes on a monitor measuring Cynthia’s contractions, but Cynthia kept a wide grin as she exchanged vows with D’Angelo even as her labor pains worsened.

“Afterward, my nurse told me, ‘I can’t believe you smiled throughout the whole thing,’” Cynthia said. “Actually, I thought it was a pretty good distraction.”

Two hours after Cynthia and D’Angelo said, “I do,” baby Kadence made her arrival, weighing just 5 pounds 4 ounces and sporting a full head of hair. The family is home now, growing accustomed to their new existence with a newborn in the house. Cynthia is planning to spend the next several weeks on maternity leave with Kadence before returning to work in the hospital’s Medical Surgical Unit.

“This year has really been a whirlwind for our family, but I’m so grateful for everything that has happened,” she said. “God works in mysterious ways.”

 
Author- MH Hospital marketing person

When faith, politics and ethics collides in healthcare


Every day I walk in the hallways of the hospital where I work as a chaplain for the last 14 years. Although I love my job, I’m always uncomfortable visiting with a young patient who is fighting for his or her life. Even more tough is dealing with parents of kids living their last days.
In one of the famous Children’s Hospital where I frequent to provide care to destressed patients and or family, Kisha (name changed) a 3 weeks baby boy is a patient fighting for his life. Kisha sustained a broken skull from mysterious circumstances that neither the mother nor grandma can explain.
The 3 weeks-old boy from out of town had been at the hospital for almost 2 months being treated for blunt force trauma on the skull. His family had held a nonstop vigil by his bedside for weeks.
Already in a coma, Kisha had been declared brain dead; his brain had stopped functioning a few days upon admission in the NICU, a decision that was made by his team of doctors. But his family said their faith, as Christians didn’t define death as such and sought a court order to keep him on life support.
As time went by, the conflict began to draw political attention and before the court made its decision, Kisha’s heart stopped beating on its own ending the debate.
As a professional chaplain and pastoral care provider, my goal was to help Kisha’s parents make informed decision on the care they would want their son receive. I could see their agony as they navigate the very complicated family ethics meetings from which they were given enormous information and were expected to make decision asap.

While religion and medicine don’t always collide so dramatically, the two realms do coexist. It is clear that when “religious beliefs and practices are tightly interwoven with cultural contexts”(i), both constitute a powerful reminder of the healing, sustaining, guiding, and reconciling power of sustaining, guiding, and reconciling power of religious faith.
However the intersections between them are sometime uncomfortable.

A case in review is from a different ethics meeting not related to Kisha, where a famous experienced Pediatrician was getting ready to treat a child for Candida Yeast Infection. Dr. Yuko ( name changed), had the whole family in the family consultation room explaining the treatment when the grandmother stood up and said, ‘I think I understand everything, doctor, but all I need to know now is whether you’re a Christian.”

Unfazed, the doctor (who was Moslem) handled the situation gracefully by saying, “Ma’am, I’m as Christian as you need me to be.”[ii] Luckily, that answer sufficed. Religion is a deeply emotional and personal topic, and some may argue that a person’s faith and his health are unrelated. On this I disagree.
Over the period I have served as Hospital chaplain, I have learned that many physicians find religion a tough subject to integrate in healthcare practices. Religion is hard to talk about because it’s felt so deeply and matters so much. When you talk about an issue you run the risk of disagreeing. And disagreeing about religious beliefs can be painful for a lot of people, including the author of this article.
However, it is important to note that medicine is a practice that applies science in ways that depend on one’s moral and spiritual ideas about what it means to be human. Hospital Chaplains, of who I am, serve as members of patient care teams by; participation in medical rounds and patient care conferences, offering perspectives on the spiritual status of patients and participation in interdisciplinary education to both patient and staff.

There are areas where patients or loved ones and doctors disagree and this is the case of Kisha on how to apply science, faith and yet keep politics out of medical field.
While the AMA requires medical schools to teach students how to at least inquire about a patient’s religion, and more than 80 percent of medical schools address spirituality in their curricula, this training is usually embedded in an ethics or humanities course and is sometimes an elective.[iii]

In the last few days our Television international briefs are occupied by the story of Charlie Gard an 11 month old boy in London who is in legal battle to keep his life support machine running. Both the Pope and President of the Unites States of America have weighed in this case. The Pope weighing on religious views while the later weighs on political. The London hospital where Charlie is being treated has asked permission to remove him from life support.
Now the British infant is at the center of a global debate over what medical treatment, if any, he is entitled to receive, and who decides — his family, his doctors or the courts.

Charlie’s case echoes Terri Schiavo case, a young Florida woman who was left in a persistent vegetative state for over 10 years after a cardiac arrest and was also the subject of a court battle.
According to New York Times, Charlie has been treated since October 2017 at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where doctors eventually decided that withdrawing life support was the only justifiable option. Do Charlie’s parents have parental responsibility religious or otherwise to override control vested in the court by the court exercising its independent and objective judgment in the child’s best interests? Is the Pope the moral person to set presidency on medical care for Charlie? Should the president of the United States be involved in matters of medical decision making especially Charlies case which is out of his jurisdiction?  Should Doctors be final as far as the care of patients is concerned? This and many other questions lead us to question the role of politics in patient care.

From an individual point, I belief faith is part of care for patients healing.



[i] Spiritual needs and chaplaincy services – Bartholomew Rodrigues
[ii] Ethics consult at the TMC
[iii] AMA Journal of Medicine USA

BOOK Summary- Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life- Donald Whitnely

Summary

Donald Whitney’s book teaches the biblical necessity and practical application of ten spiritual disciplines for the Christian adult. These disciplines stand alone in that Whitney does not argue that one must of necessity master any single discipline before engaging in another. He also refrains from grouping his disciplines into subsets, as does Foster with his twelve. However, Whitney makes clear in his exposition on the first discipline, Bible intake, that “it is is not only the most important Spiritual Discipline [capitalization Whitney’s], it is also the most broad” (29). He emphasizes this importance and breadth by devoting two chapters to this discipline while the others receive one each. Whitney’s other disciplines are prayer, worship, evangelism, serving, stewardship, fasting, silence and solitude, journaling, and learning. They share essential similarities to those in Foster’s book but differences in application.
In his introductory chapter, Whitney states the goal for practicing spiritual disciplines is development of personal godliness (17). Indeed, each chapter title reinforces this theme by appending the words “… for the Purpose of Godliness” to its title. Together they are “those personal and corporate disciplines that promote spiritual growth … that have been practiced by the people of God since biblical times” (17). Whitney names spiritual disciplines, other Christians, and life circumstances as the three catalysts God uses to form His children into Christ-likeness (19). Because we cannot control the other two, he states, intentional discipline is a believer’s personal contribution to the goal of godliness. While noting that prominent Christians in history exhibited disciplined lifestyles (17), Whitney holds up Jesus as the One who perfectly modeled such personal devotion for us to imitate (21). This is one instance in which he uses Foster’s similar argument as support for his own.
Each chapter in “Spiritual Disciplines” features biblical and practical explanation and application, as well as a “More Application” segment that provides questions intended to encourage the reader to begin practicing the discipline as soon as possible. Whitney uses frequent illustrations and analogies to emphasize his arguments, quoting often from conservative Evangelical and Puritan theologians. He also occasionally refers to the works of Foster, Willard, and others who have written on similar subjects, but neither builds his teachings on their works nor argues against them. In each chapter on disciplines Whitney provides examples of how faithful practice and application will reap positive rewards for the believer, both personally and within the church context.
Whitney’s work culminates in a chapter devoted to perseverance in spiritual disciplines (235). He explains that because Christians are typically busy people regularly occupied by demands of church, family and work, practicing disciplines must find support in personal commitment. Whitney cites the role of the Holy Spirit to sustain the believer (237–239); fellowship with other Christians for encouragement and support (239–242); and the importance of personal struggle (242–245) as three forces that help one to overcome deterrents to such perseverance. With a final charge (245–249) he exhorts the reader to begin practicing these disciplines faithfully to progress in godliness and spiritual maturity.

Critical Evaluation

“Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life” provides an adequate framework in which an adult Christian can learn to understand, appreciate, and implement regular practices that will contribute to spiritual growth and ministry effectiveness. However, the Christian would do better to compartmentalize use of this book rather than subscribing to its more holistic messages. This is because while Whitney’s specific biblical extrapolations of his disciplines typically fall within a proper hermeneutic — with occasional errors of which this report will provide examples — at least part of his expressed reasons for communicating the importance of spiritual disciplines fall outside biblical limits.
One must examine Whitney’s introductory paragraph to find the flaws in his premises. First, In his “three catalysts” argument Whitney states that spiritual disciplines are the forces we operate upon ourselves from within to effect positive change (17–18). Yet with the proper understanding of the Christian as a justified yet spiritually imperfect being warring against yet-sinful flesh with spiritual weaponry (Ro 7:14–25; Eph 6:10–13) one could classify many of the disciplines examined in this book as external forces. Indeed, the only truly “internal” of Whitney’s disciplines may be “Bible intake” and “prayer,” since although having an external component are activities that depend fully upon God’s internal work to be of value.
Second, there can be no refutation of the many scriptural commands to the Christian to engage in regular disciplined behaviors. Yet Whitney’s argument, with referential support from Willard, that the Lord Jesus “modeled” (21) disciplines for the church does not find support in correct interpretation of the gospels. Certainly all of God’s Word is profitable for teaching, correcting, rebuking, and training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16), but this is not license to apply each of these four qualities to every passage. The popular “What would Jesus do?” fad of years past belies its weak theological underpinnings; the only practices Jesus exhibited that His church is obligated to imitate are those He commanded. Such commands are limited in scope, including His instructions on prayer (Lk 11:2–4); that His disciples love one another as He loved them (Jn 15:17); and in the case of Luke’s further writings that His followers go into the world making disciples (Ac 1:8), teaching them all He had commanded them. Whitney’s chapter on solitude and silence, then, cannot rightly hold up Jesus’ many solitary, isolated prayers as instructive to the Christian in that our Lord never commanded we do the same.
Examining Whitney’s disciplines individually finds much to commend, yet with the occasional exegetical caveat. His two chapters on “Bible intake” form the proper foundation of God’s Word as primary to spiritual instruction and formation. There is ample emphasis on reading, studying, and applying God’s truth. His chapters on “prayer,” “meditation,” and “worship” avoid the mysticism and questionable inspiration Foster so readily employs, finding instead biblical underpinnings for these practices. Similarly “evangelism” takes seriously our Lord’s command to carry His gospel message. Yet at the point of “service” Whitney retreats to a cliched statement that all believers are endowed at the moment of salvation with spiritual gifts (123). He provides the proper biblical explanation from 1 Corinthians 12 about the nature of these gifts but does not back up his earlier claim about when God gives them. His “stewardship” chapter ranges widely from an indirect refutation of Foster’s spiritual valuation of dreams (133) to the notion that believers will experience regrets in heaven for the time they waste on earth (139).
Whitney’s most egregious interpretive error is likely his example of the poor widow in Mark 12:41–44 as someone whom Jesus “commended” for her generosity and trust in God (143). Nowhere in this passage does the Lord commend this woman, but in context shows her to be a victim of the false Temple worship system that would fall to pieces in A.D. 70.
The content on “fasting” is refreshingly biblical, but “solitude and silence,” which find no biblical mandate, includes a dangerously unclear encouragement to “hear God’s voice better” (186). Whitney weakly supports the discipline of “journaling” with an improper allusion to David’s psalms and Jeremiah’s book of Lamentations as examples of “charting spiritual growth” and “keeping track of goals” (206, 214). “Learning” is certainly a biblically supportable discipline with innumerable references in both testaments to gaining wisdom, understanding, and discernment.

Conclusion

Donald Whitney’s Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life is a fine, biblically based alternative to other more mystical and subjective works on this subject, yet also flawed in certain aspects of doctrine. The discerning reader would do well to examine each and every discipline, and its subsequent explanation and application, in light of the Bible’s overall message on spiritual growth and development. Where Whitney adheres to proper exegesis and interpretation of these scriptural instructions, this book can provide fuel to help the believer grow in faith and maturity.

 

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