Claimed, gathered and sent

Today another seminarian and I were on the road with Pr. Randy. We went to a chaplain's meeting at the Garrett County Memorial Hospital and got a tour of the hospital. Later we had lunch with another area pastor and then visited a congregant who was in the nursing home. Much of what we did today reminded me of the ministry I was involved with at Bethany Village for CPE. Driving back to where I'm staying in Friendsville, I could not help but be caught up by the beauty that surrounded me. It drew me in. I listened to see what God was saying. I could see myself in a similar setting. The people here are wonderful. I didn't hear anything. The Henri Nouwen devotion below spoke to me concerning the issue of hearing God's voice for direction. Enough Light for the Next Step Often we want to be able to see into the future. We say, "How will next year be for me? Where will I be five or ten years from now?" There are no answers to these questions. Mostly we have...

My CPE supervisor right from the beginning told us the residents of BV would be our teachers. CPE is now complete and I couldn't agree more. This is the story of a relationship with just one of them. When I first met R, she was pretty well bed-ridden and on hospice care in her apartment in assisted living. I went to her room in response to a note from the associate chaplain that she was not doing well. R didn’t speak much when we met as she was struggling with pain, but still managed a few words and looks of communication. Her eyes were bright clear blue and were warm in spite of the soreness she was experiencing. As one of her two daughters introduced me to her as one of the chaplains, she smiled in response and seemed glad to see me. The conversation we carried on was very limited due to the medications she was being given for pain. They made her sleepy and she would nod off. She was remarkably warm and welcoming given the circumstances and her own suffering. When awake,...

My recent absence from blogging has not been because nothing is happening. Much is happening, but much of it is confidential. That which can be shared has taken some time for me to process before I could write about it. The last few weeks have been full of encounters of all kinds, events, and personal reflection. It has been a roller coaster ride full of tears and joy--moments of "Aha" and others of "Oh crap." Here is a bit of what can be shared. The retirement community I'm doing CPE in, being a chaplain this summer in, is a truly amazing place. Volunteers abound and those volunteers are residents of the retirement community. My weeks have consisted of times in one area to "Chat with the Chaplain." Wednesday mornings I do the devotions that are broadcast to all areas of the community. Friday mornings is a Bible study in memory support. Memory support encompasses a variety of abilities--some appear fully functional cognitively while others do not even ...

Yesterday was my first day of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) at Bethany Village . This is an experience I have been looking forward to. I have heard wonderful things about this place and its CPE program and supervisor. It was an exhausting first day however. Daily devotions and announcements are part of the morning routine at Bethany and this morning it's my turn to do the devotional part. This is what I'll be sharing with Bethany's residents this morning. Praying According to God’s Will It can be hard and frustrating to know how to pray for yourself or someone else. We know we should pray, we may want to pray, but find ourselves at a loss for words. We cannot pray correctly. As crazy as this may sound, our inability to pray according to God’s will is good news. Hear these words from Scripture: 26 Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we ought, but that very Spirit intercedes with sighs too deep for words. 27 And Go...