Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few." Matt 9:37It was early in the evening when I was paged to the Emergency Center. As I stood around waiting for the medical team to stabilize the patient, a woman from a nearby EC room stepped out and asked for a cup of water. Of course, m'am, one moment please. When I delivered the water (with a lid on it!), the patient in the bed looked at me with such sad eyes. She was ill, clearly, and simply sought some reassurance. I took a moment to be with her and her friend.
As I walked out of that room, the patient rep asked if I could meet a different family who was now struggling with a new diagnosis. They were in the small conference room. I sat with them as the doctor explained next steps. We prayed together and one by one, the family members visited the patient.
Walking back to the original page, I met the patient and the family members and provided pastoral support. As I left that situation (by now it was late night), one of the nurses asked if I could just step into one of the other rooms to be with a young adult who was all alone and very tearful....
As I reflected on the evening, I found that whether I was paged or not, the harvest of spiritual needs was indeed plentiful, and with only me in the EC at that time of night, the laborers were few. Where were my colleagues? Shall I wake them? ... (grin)
I'm curious about how your harvest is plentiful right now?
I guess my harvest took place at Room in the Inn last night. I simply sat at a table in the room. At first I sat next to a quiet redhead and a very soft-spoken older lady who told us her name in such a soft voice that I thought it hurt for her to speak. Eventually the redhead told me her story. It was and still is a hard one. She feels alone, but is not without hope.
ReplyDeleteLater, just by being available, another lady, seven months pregnant sat down and told her story. She is a proud survivor.
You "showed up" on call, and I "showed up" in the parish hall. The spaces were filled with human pain, strength and hope that went two ways, didn't it?