Suffering

So, with chaplaincy comes a few topics that you have to explore and wrestle with.  One of those topics is suffering.  No body likes it, and if you do, please see a psychiatrist. 

But seriously, in a hospital, you see a lot of people in pain and with pain comes suffering.  Whether it is physical or emotional.  As a chaplain, I will tell you first and foremost that you cannot make the pain go away.  But as a chaplain, you can be with them to show them that they are not alone.  In a more religious understanding, you cannot tell a patient that God WILL perform a miracle in the next 5 min.  But you can tell them that God is with them and suffering with them and is trying to help them through the darkest moment of their lives. 

Why?

Because even though God is capable of performing miracles, God has always been a God of relationships, which includes being there when you need God most.  And when it comes to suffering, no one else understands it better than God.

You wish you can do everything for the patient.  You wish you could make all the pain go away.  To some extent, it is possible...not in a flash or a miracle (please let God do what God does best)...but through smiles...and jokes... and memories of loved ones and good times...and prayer...and holding hands while praying...and hugs...and tears...and reminding them that God is still present at the bed side and in the waiting room.