Part Of

Much has been written about the marginalized position of a chaplain.

We aren't the patient - thank God - who is the center of care. We are not the medical team, who provide amazing services with fantastic technology with profound specificity to an illness or disease. No, we are the ones on the outside, who have the opportunity and honor to be on the margins.

I was watching the other day as a man came in from a trauma. The helicopter people brought him from the field onto which he was ejected from his motor vehicle. The doctors attended to his bleeding face. The nurses monitored and managed his vital signs. The transport personnel removed the hard yellow backboard on which his blood had spilled. The registration guy got the man's ID and found who he was from several ID databases that the hospital can access.

Meanwhile, I observed and prayed and imagined and encouraged and gagged and stood back and witnessed it all. No, it was all of us together that healed him to a place where he could finally say, "Can you call my wife?" to me. That was his prayer.

I've been reflecting on this text from The Message:

But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. 1 Cor 12:19

How are you a part of... in this moment?