End of an Era

Some of my regular readers might not be aware, but I have changed my direction in life and left the field of chaplaincy, and vocation ministry. This was not an easy decision to make, but it has been liberating. This is the beginning of the rest of my life. Where the road will take me is unknown at this point.

While I am no longer in vocation ministry, I know that spirituality, life and God don't go on vacation, or hiatus, just because we do. I'm not sure if I will be doing a lot more with this blog on an intentional basis any more.

I'm looking forward to the next phase of life's journey. Where I'm going to exactly, is as yet unknown and I'm looking forward to the challenge.

It's been quite a ride eh?

The Fall from Grace?

The latest in the news is the revelation of Robert Munsch, beloved children's author, that he is a recovering alcoholic and cocaine user. Why did this not shock me? Does it change my love of his writings? No. I remember my first encounter with Mr. Munsch was a television recording of his reading of "Mud Puddle". "A MUD PUDDLE JUMPED ON ME!!" I will never forget his wild hair and over dramatic reading on this story. I fell in love with Mud Puddle, and Mr. Munsch at the age of 5. But never owned one of his stories until the printing of "Love you Forever", which I bought for one of the children in my life. (Then it dawned on me that I could buy one for myself..)

Considering the work that I have been doing for the past 13 years, it is not surprising to me --that Mr. Munsch has revealed his struggle with mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. I remember my first encounter with bipolar disorder. I met a woman in the throes of mania. Her mind racing, and the outlandish things coming out of her mouth, jumping from one subject to another... trying to get her to "see reason" was not an option at that point. After the regulation of her meds, she seemed to find a calm medium, but it was quite a ride.

For Mr. Munsch to reveal the disorder and drug usage, one would think that this would cause a plummet in the respect that the world has for him, but according to reports, the incoming mail for the author, to his family and publicists are positive. One would think that this is not an "image" or "role model" that we would want for children. But my initial thought was that this revelation of a mental illness and subsequent drug use was a reasonable explanation for the outlandish but charming stories. Not that all bipolar persons have delusions, or hallucinations, but from my experience, there are the outlandish thought processes.

The fact that Mr. Munsch has prospered in the face of his struggles, and has been loved for so long. ... only makes some of us love his achievements even more.

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."

Right drug, right reason

I have noticed a poster on the board on one of my units. It was a "new" protocol a few months ago for nursing. There were 5 "rights" that has now become 7. 2 were "right' drug to the "right" patient for the "right" reason. This change was likely implimented so that people could make certain that they were medicating patients in the proper doseages for the proper reason.

I was thinking about this and some of the decisions that we make in life. It has always been important that my decisions are based on the right reasons. Often we make decisions that seem right for that moment, but in hindsight we regret it. And once implemented cannot by changed..with huge consequences.

The difficulty related to our decisions/actions and the seemingly right motivation, I think, is that we tend to make decisions either from an intellectual reasoning... or an emotional reasoning. Or in the "heat of the moment". But more often than not, people do not consider the rationale or consequences of their actions at all. No one wants to admit that they are wrong about something that they did... or didn't do.

Back to the "right drug, right reason" premise -- the idea is to consider why we are performing the action. Rather than because this is how it is done, or this is what we have always done... (not considering all factors to a decision..) I think this applies to other decisions in our lives as well. Some are mundane, (what to have for breakfast, what to wear), to monumental (what I believe about the world, how I treat other people) and while overthinking is not recommended, it is still good to pause from time to time and consider the rationale to our actions.

Am I doing this for the right reason at the right time? ( and at times, you have to trust your instincts, and act on faith.)

Update on life

Yes I know... it's been a while since I put something of substance rather than throwing a poem or picture on here while cleaning files.

So life has calmed down from the roller coaster craziness for the time being. I think I have alluded to the CPE training that I took to get to this job. For 3 years now, I have been working on my specialist certification. So it is done. I will not go into details of the labor and pain that it took to get to it , but suffice it to say, I have passed. And it will be ratified soon. Then I can move on with my life. It is a big weight off my shoulders as I have been struggling to acquire/gather all the documentation required for the interview.

The certification is important because in most places hiring CPE trained, specialist is minimum. To get to specialist, you need 2 basic units and 2 advanced. One "unit" is usually 8 months for 2 days a week, or 5 days for 12 weeks in the summer. So either way, it takes a while to accumulate. It is intensive and emotionally and financially exhaustive. The way I explain to people is that it is like I now have my masters with this certification. (I have a masters degree, but this is the best metaphor for the CPE training.)

So now I will take a nice break and go visit my family who live elsewhere, so I don't see them that often. Then we'll see how work goes and whether the renewed vigor has returned.

Quote of the day

Yesterday I was consoled by a friend with the quote "we plan and God laughs." I've really learned how annoyingly true this quote can be. (But I know that God in his/her wisdom, knows better than I, so let's see what curve balls life will throw.)