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"What a privilege it is for any of us to be alongside people who need us".

CHAPLAINCY COMMISSIONING - SEPTEMBER 2000

I don't know how many of you here tonight share my particular childhood memory of a mother who insisted that clean underwear and socks were a constant requirement in case one was involved in an accident, and ended up being admitted to hospital.

This notion was obviously a very powerful one for when I started nursing as a 17 year old, 44 years ago, I fully expected to be taught how to assess the cleanliness, or otherwise, of underwear, and to learn the significance of this for treatment.

I quickly realised when I was sent to work in what was then known as Casualty, now the Accident and Emergency Department, that while there were nursing tasks to be learned in relation to clothes, determining whether they were "whiter than white" was not one of them!

What I did need to learn was how to remove clothes to expose and prepare the patient for examination by the doctor. This had to be done in a way that would minimise pain to the patient. We also learned that if trousers, for example, needed to be removed and could only be cut away to expose a leg wound, we should cut carefully along the seam so that they could be sewn up and used again. Remember this was post-war Britain, and clothing coupons had only stopped being necessary three years previously.

Later on in my life as the country became more prosperous, we all came to appreciate how the clothes we choose to wear send out important messages about how we see ourselves. You will recall for example how the phrase "power dressing" became associated with smart suits with large shoulder pads for women establishing themselves in new careers in the 1980's.

But when the clothes come off, the person underneath remains the same. When a patient is admitted to hospital there is no be-spoke tailoring or no designer label clothes that will affect the course of the illness, or help the individual to face painful and difficult treatment with courage. When somebody is admitted to hospital not only are the physical manifestations of illness exposed as clothes are removed, but the individual, "the whole person" has psychological and spiritual needs that are also exposed as part of their admission. Patients are metaphorically "unclothed", as they are removed from their normal support systems, leaving the individual feeling very vulnerable.

This vulnerability is recognised and needs to be supported in an environment that offers an appropriate level of care from all involved in the therapeutic process.

That is why we are here today. To recognise that those being commissioned this evening have chosen to be part of that environment, have chosen to be alongside people who will be undergoing treatment, and who's spiritual needs are exposed.

What a privilege it is for any of us to be alongside people who need us.

But why are you doing this? At one level you have chosen to take on this responsibility because of your beliefs that as individuals we should love one another. You will also be here because of your belief that this is what God wants from you at this point in your life, but at another level you will also have recognised that there is a deeper motivation. Let me use words written over 60 years ago to explain.

In 1937, Archbishop COSMO LANG, the then Archbishop of Canterbury, addressed a group of nurses from around the world at a service in London. The service was being held to inaugurate the International Council of Nurses. In his affirmation of the theological inspiration for care the Archbishop described this deeper motivation, and although the words he uses are grounded in the 1930s they are equally applicable today, and I quote:-

"Jesus said "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren ye have done it unto Me. So completely has He identified Himself with the whole of our human nature that He bids you believe that He is Himself present not only when you tend the sick but within the sick whom you tend. In serving them you are also directly serving Him. "One of the least - that rough workman stricken down by accident, that child taken wondering and perplexed into the hospital, that poor mother suffering the pains of childbirth in her overcrowded home - yes: and there also though unseen the Son of Man ".

It is in response to what is at the core of this statement, that you are offering yourselves today.

But although you agree that this is why you need to do this, what will you be doing? The role of chaplaincy helper is not one that can be filled without a course of preparation. This is not just a "doing good" activity. You will, in your preparation for the role, have had to come to an understanding that "being alongside patients" means being alongside all patients, not only those who call themselves Christians, or who ascribe to values and beliefs that are part of the Christian Tradition. You have needed to learn that the role is not that of an evangelist. Of course in all our daily life activities we "show the Christ who is in us", but while we may share the varied fears and hopes of all with whom we come in contact, and while we may respond by speaking and sharing words of comfort, these words cannot be imposed as intrusions on the vulnerable patient, who is to some extent captive in their situation, and who may have a different belief system to that of yours.

Where your help is specifically sought, it will be your responsibility and privilege to support the Chaplaincy function, with a clear representation of God's faithful offer to the sick and suffering, the offer of hope, the offer of freedom from guilt and fear, the offer of acceptance, the offer of reconciliation, the offer of peace.

In this way when the doctor, the nurse and all others involved in the work of this hospital exercise their unique treating and caring skills, at birth, at death, during illness and injury, you will be part of the team, led by the Chaplains, who will also exercise their sacramental role, ministering and using pastoral skills to assist the patient at any of these times.

But your course was not only about what would be required of you, but I am sure that you have all learned something about yourselves, and the support you will need in order for you to carry out your new role effectively.

You will need your own support system, continuing to learn from and support each other, and the other members of the team. You will need to encourage each other; you will need to pray together so that you remain equipped for the task.

But while this is the beginning of something new in your life, there is always more to be released in the work of our Lord.

I want at this point to share the last two verses of a poem by Eddie Askew that forms a prayer. The poet introduces the poem by referring to the potential that lies in all of us, and how we should rejoice in it.

I use these words as they apply to all of us here this evening:-

Lord touch my life
With that same hand
That fingered all to being.
Unlock the bars that hold me back
And draw me out
In the mainstream of your purposes.

Turn latent energies to use.
Give me a new dynamic
That I may reach, in you
All that can be.
Live out the possibilities
That in your love
You've planted in my life.

I believe that some of these possibilities have been unlocked in your life, and that you will carry out your new role expecting to grow in Christian maturity.

So far we have focused on you and your giving, your growth, your service.

But I want to finish with a reminder of what you will receive. In Isaiah Chapter 45 verse 3 we have a promise that those who honour and obey the Lord our God will be rewarded.

Let me remind you of that promise:

"And I will give you treasures hidden in the darkness, secret riches, and you will know that I am doing this, I the Lord, the God of Israel, the one who calls you by your name " .

Just before I started speaking we shared in the reading of Paul's prayer for the Ephesians, a prayer that has give strength to so many Christians. It is the knowledge of this wonderful love of God for us that will enable you to carry out and grow into your new role. You will be part of making people "whole" again, you will help to cover the spiritual wounds exposed by admission to hospital, and you will be alongside those who are making their last journey in this life. And it is in so doing that you will discover that which is still hidden in you, the treasures that are still hidden in the darkness of your being, the secret riches that come from being in the Lords will, for this is His promise, not only to you but to all of here tonight, who seek to do His will.

Ruth Hawker

This is Copyright Ruth Hawker- for information about reproduction in any form, send details of your request to copyright@hospitalchaplain.com

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