The Star Thrower Story by Joel Barker
There's a story I would like to share with you. It was inspired by the writing of Loren Eiseley. Eiseley was a very special person because he combined the best of two cultures. He was a scientist and a poet. And from those two perspectives he wrote insightfully and beautifully about the world and our role in it.
Once upon a time, there was a wise man, much like Eiseley himself, who used to go to the ocean to do his writing. He had a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work. One day he was walking along the shore. As he looked down the beach, he saw a human figure moving like a dancer. He smiled to himself to think of someone who would dance to the day. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, he saw that it was a young man and the young man wasn't dancing, but instead he was reaching down to the shore, picking up something and very gently throwing it into the ocean.
As he got closer, he called out, "Good morning! What are you doing?" The young man paused, looked up and replied "Throwing starfish into the ocean."
"I guess I should have asked, Why are you throwing starfish into the ocean?"
"The sun is up and the tide is going out. And if I don't throw them in they'll die."
"But young man, don't you realize that there are miles and miles of beach and starfish all along it. You can't possibly make a difference!"
The young man listened politely. Then bent down, picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea, past the breaking waves. "It made a difference for that one!"

This story has appeared in various places on the net, and in books that I have read, such as the current one. Spiritual Caregiving: Healthcare as a Ministry. This is one of the books that I picked up at the conference I attended last Friday. The keynote speaker was Harold Koenig who is a medical doctor talking about the need to include spiritual health as a part of the healthcare/hospital experience. He encourages medical personnel to consider a return to their roots... (hospitals were founded by religious groups, mostly Christian) and reintroduce the concept of spiritual care into their caregiving and also their personal lives.

Blustery Day and the results of Nature

It is interesting what things remind you of. Today, I am reminded of Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day.

Today has been very windy and rainy. Umbrellas broken and people almost blown over... and when I got home, well.. there was a tree blocking the road and sidewalk. It had fallen onto the road and covered a truck and a car. A few hours later the road crews came to clear it. The area was sectioned off with the yellow "Caution" tape but people drove through it and onto the curb anyways. The branches were thicker than my wrists and people still drove through it. I was in the middle of the road/tree, taking pictures when a car came right at me. I waved him to stop and he finally did about 2 feet from me. Then he gave this "what the..." look while he was on his cellphone.. and then DROVE over the tree branches and curb and went on his speeding way... people in BC are crazy.

Game time!!

When I was younger, my family had a tradition on the weekends. We would haul out a game on either Friday or Saturday night. There would be popcorn or something, and we would spend an evening playing Clue, or Parcheesi, Sorry and a host of others. I remember these times with a smile. As this is a tradition that I intend to continue.

My latest acquistions, as of last night, are Cranium and Trivial Pursuit of the 80's version.

Some games are timeless. I look forward to a group of friends getting together for game night.

The important thing to note about playing a game.. is to play for fun. True, it feels great to win. But I think the important point is to play. I can't remember what the score was for the last game of Dutch Blitz but I do know that I had fun. And I could play all day and not care about winning or losing a game as long as it is fun. There is just something about games that brings out the child (hopefully not childishness) in people.

Medicine's soul is suffering, activists say

This story was published in the November 13th, edition of the Vancouver Sun. I went to this conference on Friday.

Medicine's soul is suffering, activists say
Modern health care is technologically rich but spiritually poor, conference is told

In its drive for scientific purity, modern medicine has forgotten its roots and become a wasteland in which humanity does not thrive, says a keynote speaker for an international conference on spirituality and health care. In a sense, he says, health care has lost its soul.
Stephen Graham Wright, a nurse, minister and professor who has devoted much of his career to restoring spirituality to health care in England, was in Vancouver for a weekend conference sponsored by University of B.C. Interprofessional Continuing Education and attended by 300 people from around the world.
Referring to the Arthurian legend in which a king rapes one of seven virgins guarding seven wells and then hoards the water for himself -- an act that gradually turns the countryside into a wasteland -- Wright says the modern health-care system has similarly wasted away, starved for the human touch.
Back when health care was provided by the churches, it was based on the idea of compassionate care for others, he says. There was little technology and the workers devoted much of their time to providing comfort to the patients.
But as medicine aligned itself with science, it developed many cures and treatments for patients. That was good. But the focus of health-care professionals changed to treating diseases rather than people.
"The assumption is that people can be cared for, satisfied and nurtured purely through the scientific realm," Wright says.
But it creates a profound disconnect among health-care workers in which patients are seen as "the appendix in bed three" or "the liver in bed nine," he says in an interview. He adds that it hasn't been good for the workers either, who suffer increasingly from burnout.
Wright argues that the loss of the soul is the single biggest omission of modern health care, increasing dropout rates among both patients and staff and pushing costs to the limit.
"There is a growing sense around the western world that something is missing in modern health care," he says. "It is technologically rich but spiritually poor. People don't just get better by having the machines working efficiently or the right drugs put in. There is more to it than that.
"The question is how can you restore this sense of connection so that health-care workers can really be there for people."
That is where Christina Puchalski comes in. As director of the Institute of Spirituality and Health at George Washington University, she works with the Association of American Medical Colleges to develop learning objectives and ethical guidelines for including spirituality in medical school training.
"It's not religion," she emphasizes, noting that the medical colleges would never accept proselytizing. "Spirituality is expressed in how someone finds meaning and purpose in life.
"It might be religion, but it might be family, nature, arts, humanities. Bike riding could be your source of transcendence. It's whatever puts you in touch with what awes and inspires you."
Puchalski became aware through studies and her own patients that spiritual beliefs or attitudes can have an impact on how people cope with things.

"If you are pessimistic about something or believe your illness is a curse, you are not likely to do as well as if you can find some hope and meaning," she says.
She started teaching a course at George Washington University in 1992 on spirituality and eventually founded the institute. At that point, not counting the religious medical schools, only two other medical schools included any curricula on spirituality. Now 102 of the 141 medical schools in the U.S. include spirituality in the training and 70 per cent of the schools make it compulsory.
Puchalski says she is very pleased with the trend because she wants medicine to return to its earlier focus on providing compassionate service to others.
"We take an oath to put our patients' needs above our own, but the health-care system makes that hard to do. We are trying to bring back that service."
After conducting a survey of Canadian medical schools and learning that spirituality is not taught here, Puchalski is working with the Association of Faculties of Medicine in Canada to develop similar programs.
She recommends that physicians conduct a spiritual history just as they do a medical history, lifestyle history and emotional history, when they meet a patient.
For example, she will ask patients if they consider themselves spiritual or religious. If they say no, she will ask what gives their lives meaning. Then she will determine how important those beliefs are in times of stress and if they have specific beliefs that might influence their health-care decisions -- beliefs such as those of a Jehovah Witness, who might refuse blood transfusions.
"If you are truly interested in a person and who they are as a human being, that will signal to them that you care," she says.
She says spirituality programs in medical schools also help set ethical limits on the risks of over-stepping personal boundaries.
"We teach that proselytizing is unethical. Don't do it," she says. "We say the physician has an obligation to respect the patient and must understand that there is often a power differential. In that case, it is beyond unethical, it's abusive because the patient may coerced."
But she says if a patient wants to talk about God, the doctor should listen even if the doctor doesn't agree with the beliefs. "You would talk about it just as you would talk about sports," Puchalski says. She doesn't have any interest in sports herself, but she will still discuss them if the patient wants.
"By understanding people's spiritual beliefs, we can make better diagnoses and treatment plans." kgram@png.canwest.com
- This story can be heard online after 10:30 a.m. today at www.vancouversun.com/readaloud.
© The Vancouver Sun 2006

Case of the Vanishing Remote ...

So Sweetie and I cleaned up the house the other day. We gave a grand tour to a guest and after they left, sat down to watch a show. We have 4 remotes and the one that is for the VCR is gone!! We have hunted through the whole room. Sweetie said that he used it to turn on the TV and then picked up a different one for the DVD player. Well, we hunted. In the couch, under the couch, behind the couch, in boxes, near the computer, in the bathroom, in the kitchen ... it ... is GONE!!
And the annoying thing is that I need it to tape my shows... and without it, I can't get a tape into or out of the VCR!! UGH! Wierd!! We both agree it is wierd. It has been 2 days now sans remote.. wierd. I'm wondering where it walked off to and where we will laugh at finding it.

Being sick is not fun!! My sweetie has been sick for the past few days and felt well enough to go to work today. I have not been as bad as he, (nausea and vomitting) but have been queasy for the week. Today, I said enough is enough. I kept waking up last night. So I decided to bite the bullet and just not go to work today. I am supposed to go to a conference tomorrow, just for the day though. I hope to be able to make it. It looks really good. I can't remember what I registered for though..

Some times ministry happens when you aren't looking...

Some days you encounter people who touch your heart as they reach out for help... and you wonder what happened to them? How did their "soap opera/drama" play out? Today, I had one such answer. It is ironic because I had mentioned to my colleague yesterday about the people that show up in our office requesting help and you honestly don't know what to think. Well today, R showed up in my office again to thank me for my assistance in the previous incident. He told me how well things are progressing and that he is safe, happy and healthy. The situation he had come for help with was resolving nicely and unexpectedly.


After R, I went to my floor and saw a lady who attends my church. This is where the ministry happened. But not mine, hers. Here is a woman who has immense pain and yet is a strong witness for God. She spoke about how she uses her gift of "talking" in our congregation. She ministers to people who come to our church by greeting strangers and welcoming them. She told about how she has been approached by others to help them learn of the God that she loves when there are "plenty of other qualified teachers, why do they pick me"?

I sat there with tears in my eyes and I did not hide it. Not something that we want the Chaplain to do when they visit. "What is troubling you my child?" "Oh you have given me a gift, don't you know? You have reminded me that there are people who use the little they have at every chance they can. This is not something I get to hear from patients in immense pain as your condition dispenses." She continued to tell me stories of her life and how she got through her illnesses in the past, all due to her faith in God. This was a far cry from the story I heard in the next room. Another Christian lady who has been stricken with a rare and debilitating disorder. She told me she does not feel she has anything left to contribute. Oh! If only I could get these two women together... Very different perspectives on a similar circumstance.

Some times ministry happens when you aren't looking for it.. Sometimes we minister, other times we are ministered to.