rob's reflections

I meet all kinds of people who are in the hospital what seems like random reasons: someone on the road lost control of their car and hit them; a bacteria that was in their body randomly caused a debilitating infection; they were running on the street and tripped and fell, and now they are partially paralyzed. 

As I reflect on these stories, I am reminded at how fragile our bodies are. I am reminded how fragile our health and well being is. None of us is immune from long term health problems. A long term hospital stay can happen to anyone, even to those who are careful about their health.

I recently met a patient who was in a motorcycle accident. It was a serious crash, but he ended up with minor injuries. He was a young guy in his early 20’s. Dozens of his friends came to see him in the hospital. His dad flew from across the country to sit with him. He had this sense of overwhelming gratitude. He knew that even though he was stuck in the hospital, that his accident could have been much, much worse. He was filled with gratitude at the outpouring of love and concern from his friends and family. Even though he had no faith, he was beginning to believe in God because only God could bring such goodness into his life.

As I walked away, I was overwhelmed with gratitude. This role has taught me to be grateful for every step that I can take on my own; for every friend who check in on me; for a family that loves me; for lungs that breathe and a heart that pumps. I’m grateful that I can use the bathroom and shower on my own; I’m grateful that I can feed myself and walk outside if I chose to; I’m grateful that I can choose what I’m doing at any point of the day. 

People often wonder: why is there so much going wrong in the world, or in my life? As I interact with these people I am reminded that that for everything that seems to be going wrong, there are a million things going right that I’m not even noticing: my brain is sending messages throughout my body, my lungs are breathing, my heart is pumping, my body is fighting off illness on its own, my cells are cancer-free. 

The Scripture tells us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18, “Be joyful always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will in Christ Jesus.” 

There is so much to be grateful for. Gratitude is such a beautiful place to plant your heart. When I stop to look around at all of the good that God is doing all of the time, I can’t help but to be overwhelmed by gratitude. 

That has been a wonderful surprise about stepping into chaplaincy: my cup of joy and gratitude is always filled to overflowing.

God is love.
-rev-rob