She is confused.

She has body lice.

She has rat poop in her shoes but won’t give them up.

Her children love her.

So does Jesus.

Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) is becoming the life transforming experience that I had hoped it would become.  I had read, and been told, that CPE was about patient care and that it was about the interior journey.  It is everything that I hoped it would be and more.

Our group of five spends a great deal of time in study and reflection.  CPE is based upon an experiential learning model which builds reflection into the process.  The gift I have been given is to be with a group of people who are insightful and who are able to speak the truth in love.  I really appreciate the loving honesty as they have gently guided me in the interior realm.

My strong goal has been to deepen my listening skills in spiritual direction and to identify issues that would impact the care I might give to patients.  This CPE process is helping me see in a deeper way those things that keep me from listening as fully as I might and provides me with a safe place to try out new ways of listening and expressing.

Today was my first day to be on call as chaplain.  This was my trial run by having a nine hour daytime shift with other chaplains around before I do my first 24 hour on call (next Monday).  What an experience!

My primary unit of service is the cardiac care unit (yes, rather ironic), however, when on-call, one can be serving just about anywhere.  My CPE colleagues kept telling me this past week that their first on-call experience was rather quiet.  Shall we say that mine was NOT!  What a day….including a power surge that temporarily shut down the elevators at the hospital requiring that we use the stairs.

I cannot talk about patients, but I can say this…..there is a wide variety of human need.  There is an incredible blessing in joining in the spiritual journey with those who are in health transtions.  There is a power in the love of God as connections are made with those in crisis.

One of my primary goals is to learn how to listen more effectively as individuals express their needs and to listen more effectively to the heart of God as God responds to those needs.  What a blessing it is to be able to explore these various dimensions.

Ministry is about listening and it is about hospitality.  These principles get reinforced for me every day.