Sunday, April 25, 2010

As you may know, pastoral care was founded by Christians and has mostly Christian following/foundation behind the work. Most of my colleagues that I have run into through CAPPE are Christian. It is rare for me to find a Jewish, Buddhist or other tradition.
This morning, in my church, the minister was preaching about the sending of the Holy Spirit. The text was John's gospel, chapters 14 and 16. One of the comments about this text is that Jesus left us but sent another. That being the Holy Spirit. In Greek text, the term for the counselor or Holy Spirit is "paraclete"
παράκλητος (paráklētos, "one who consoles, one who intercedes on our behalf, a comforter or an advocate").

One of the other definitions given was "one who is called in to come along side". This I thought was interesting as this is what chaplaincy is.

Chaplaincy is about walking along side with someone through the various experiences of life. We are called to come in, and to walk along side the person, as a means of providing comfort, assistance and guidance through a difficult time.

One of the minister's comments or rather a notable quote, was about a previous time that he preached about "paraclete". He said that one of his parishioners who is hard of hearing came up to him at the end of the service and said "I didn't think that the Holy Spirit was a parakeet. I always thought of the Holy Spirit as a dove, but you kept saying that it was a parakeet."

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