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."

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.)

Quote of the day

God made you
as you are
in order to use you
as he planned.

S.C. McAuley

Quote -- cleaning files from my desk

Learning a language
is learning what people are really saying.
The non-verbal as well as the verbal language...
You must go deeper...
And discover what it means
To listen deeply to another...
In order to understand people in both their pain and in their grief, to
Understand what they are really asking so you can hold their wound,
Their pain and that flows from it...
You must go deeper and discover what it means to see another-
To see the light shining in the darkness..
To give hope and trust.

Jean Vanier-the Broken Body

Quotes

I have no idea where this is really from, but it is scrawled on a paper in my office.

" Human disease is a normal state of the species, not a moral judgment. It's not the disease that evil, it is the thought that it can happen to you. "

"Maybe people were not human beings seeking spiritual experiences, but spiritual beings seeking human experience."

Quote of the day

In my office, it is a common question from one of my bosses, "if you are here, who is looking after God's people?"

Well last night, after being paged into the hospital, I returned home to tell my hubby the story of the mishaps that occured to get there and to get home. In the end, I finished my story with "well, I looked after God's people, but I went through hell to do it."

Thought for the day

My colleague mentioned that he had heard a speech by a military chaplain who referred to our work as "intentional loitering". Neat idea.