 11/17/2004
Vol. 1, No. 20
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Professional
Practice |
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Rev.
Martha
R. Jacobs
on lifting
our voices
through
the written
word
Just
Write!
In
my role
as managing
editor
of PlainViews,
I have
been
attending
the major
cognate
group
conferences.
So far,
I have
been
to the
APC,
AAPC,
ACPE
and NACC
gatherings.
I set
up a PlainViews display
and sit
behind
a table,
awaiting
people
who pass
by. Now
that PlainViews has
been
in “publication”for
nine
months,
many
who stop
by the
display
table
have
very
positive
remarks
about PlainViews and
comment
on the
relevance
of the
articles
to their
everyday
work.
Yet,
when
I suggest
to them
that
they
consider
writing
an article
for PlainViews,
the look
on the
majority
of their
faces
is one
of disbelief,
and in
a few
cases,
horror.
While
covering
the display
table,
I have
been
privileged
to hear
the stories
of so
many
chaplains
and other
spiritual
care
providers
about
the work
that
they
do and
the personal
challenges
that
have
come
into
their
own lives,
even
as they
deal
with
patients,
family
members,
clients
and students,
who are
also
dealing
with
personal
challenges.
I have
felt
graced
to be
a witness
to these
stories.
You have
read
about
several
of them
in various
issues
of PlainViews.
There
are many
more
stories
about
which
you have
not read.
Why?
Why have
these
professionals
discovered
new meanings,
had new
understandings
and observations
and been
recipients
of great
grace
as they
walk
people
into
life
and into
death,
and yet
are not
represented
in PlainViews or
other
publications?
I
am currently
working
on my
Doctor
of Ministry
degree.
I have
spent
the better
part
of the
past
year
researching
end-of-life
issues
and the
impact
clergy
have
on those
who are
dying
and their
family
members,
as well
as the
impact
of having
advance
directives.
I have
amassed
over
100 articles.
Less
than
15 were
written
by chaplains
or other
spiritual
care
providers.
The majority
were
written
by doctors,
nurses
and social
workers.
We deal
with
death
and dying
and yet
our voices,
for the
most
part,
are silent
in professional
journals.
What
is holding
us back?
Are we
afraid
that
someone
might
challenge
our idea
or our
theology
or our
view?
Do we
think
that
we do
not have
the capacity
to write?
Do we
think
we have
nothing
to say?
Do we
think
we are
not qualified
to write
an article
about
something
with
which
we are
intimately
involved?
Or about
someone
with
whom
we are
involved?
Are we
so overworked
and so
under
inspired
that
we don’t
have
the time
or energy
to write?
Perhaps
one of
these
reasons
is why
you have
not written
for publication.
Perhaps
you have
not thought
of yourself
as a
writer.
I
would
like
to encourage
you to
write.
Write
for submission
to PlainViews (only
500 words/2
pages).
Write
for your
place
of employment.
Write
for a
professional
journal.
JUST
WRITE!
PlainViews is
the quality
publication
it is
in large
part
because
of those
who contribute
to it.
We are
only
as good
as the
articles
that
are submitted
for consideration.
We can
only
remain
a quality
publication
if all
of us
who work
in our
profession
begin
to be
heard
through
articles,
columns
and commentaries.
Let us
not continue
to allow
others
to write
the articles
and books
that
we should
be writing.
Let us
not have
to grouse
when
we see
yet one
more
book
on spirituality
and healing
or death
and dying
written
by someone
who has
initials
after
his/her
name
that
are not
M. Div.
or D.
Min.
or Ph.D.
We
need
to create
a body
of work
that
best
exemplifies
our vocation.
There
is no
time
like
the present
to begin
this
step
towards
a more “legitimate”place
in the
world
of ministry,
spirituality,
medicine,
and life
and death
issues.
We become
known
by our
work,
our writing
and our
willingness
to share
our own
pain
and the
pain
of those
we serve.
In
addition
to her
role as
Managing
Editor
of PlainViews ,
the Rev.
Jacobs
is the
associate
director
of outreach
and community-based
programs
at The
HealthCare
Chaplaincy.
An ordained
minister
of The
United
Church
of Christ,
she is
an adjunct
professor
at New
York Theological
Seminary
and serves
as the
chair of
the Ordination
Committee
of The
Riverside
Church.
For eight
years Martha
served
as chaplain
for The
HealthCare
Chaplaincy
at New
York United
Hospital
Medical
Center,
Port Chester,
NY. She
received
an M. Div.
from New
York Theological
Seminary
where she
is currently
pursing
a doctorate
degree,
exploring
the attitudes
of UCC
clergy
around
death and
dying issues.
Martha
holds a
Bachelor
of Fine
Arts degree
from U.S.
International
University,
School
of Performing
Arts. She
served
as State
Certification
Chair for
the Association
of Professional
Chaplains
from 1998-2003.
She is
a member
of the
American
Association
of Pastoral
Counselors,
sits on
the Quality
Commission
of the
APC, and
is the
president
of the
United
Church
of Christ
Chaplains
in Health
Care.
Do you have
thoughts
about professional
practice
you’d like
to share
with your
colleagues?
Send an e-mail info@PlainViews.org.
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Advocacy |
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Chaplain Melvin Ray on retaining
faith so that you will prevail in
the end
The
Stockdale Paradox
Admiral Jim Stockdale
was the highest ranking officer in
the “Hanoi Hilton”during
the Vietnam war. His eight-year POW
experience resulted in the Stockdale
Paradox: Retain faith that you will
prevail in the end, regardless of
the difficulties, AND AT THE SAME
TIME, confront the most brutal facts
of your current reality, whatever
they might be.
The current realities of professional
chaplaincy are not being addressed
in a confrontational manner. Most
brutal of facts is the professional
health care chaplain (defined as
a Board Certified Chaplain of the
APC, or corollaries in the NACC & NAJC)
is not perceived to be a health care
provider; but in essence, a religious
oriented person whose priority focus
is religious ministry, as opposed
to spiritual health care. Experience
informs me that even professional
chaplains find difficulty in articulating
the contrast between religion and
spirituality. There is little room
for contrast if the title of the
professional organization contains
a word which designates a religious
belief, i.e., Catholic or Jewish.
Even the requisite endorsement by
a religious body could be a barrier
to becoming a fully empowered health
care profession.
Indicators of such empowerment will
be commensurate with established
standards and expectations of other
health care disciplines; dominate
among the standards is licensing
by a state regulatory board. In my
attempts to initiate such a process,
a state legislator asked, “What
problem will this solve?”My
reply was the problems of: continuity
of quality and delivery of health
care service; reliability and proficiency
of the provision of professional
health care treatment; safeguarding
the public by assuring that all clinical
health care disciplinarians are accountable
to standards established by law.
I also submitted the following suppositions:
1. Care of the spirit is an integral part of health and wellness, as is care
of the body and mind.
2. Clinical spiritual health care is to be differentiated from religious care.
Religious care is practiced and provided by parish ministers (professionals)
who have met standards of their particular religion.
3. A health care chaplain is defined by the Joint Commission of Accreditation
of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) and provides health care treatment in a
health care setting without discrimination in regard to religion, or lack thereof.
4. The standards for Chaplains center on Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE),
which is a post graduate degree and includes at least one year of supervised
internship and residency at an approved teaching institution, usually in a
medical teaching facility.
5. Requirements for Board Certification are similar to (exceeding many) other
professionals in the area of formal education, examination of competencies
and credentialing by a national accrediting agency, certification (Board Certified
Chaplain, BCC), continuing education, ethics and submission to the disciplinary
authority of a national organization.
6. Citizens will appreciate the security, assurance and peace of mind that
no discipline is able to practice clinical health care interventions without
state licensure.
The legislator, a physician, asked
me for similar statutes in other
states (none of which I am aware)
and input from my organization’s
legal department. My impression is
that efficacy of licensing will be
broadly supported when preceded by
a paradigm shift among leaders who
desire professional chaplaincy to
survive and thrive in an uncertain
future. This shift is not forsaking
our religious heritage, rather claiming
of our place at the table with other
health care professionals (who would
think it ludicrous to involve volunteers
in practice).
Of the ten APC strategies, four
address empowerment. Perhaps it is
pessimistic to observe that, as a
discipline, we continue to marginalize,
disenfranchise, and surrender our
power, status, and definition to
others. When Admiral Stockdale was
asked, “Who didn’t make
it out?”he replied, “That’s
easy, the optimists”who confused
faith with the discipline to confront
the most brutal facts of reality.
Melvin Ray, BCC, is a graduate
of University of Texas (Arlington,
TX) and Southwestern Baptist Theological
Seminary in Ft. Worth, Texas, he has
been married to Candy for 30 plus years
and is the father of three sons and
two grandsons. He is endorsed by the
Baptist General Convention of Texas
and has been Director of Spiritual
Services,Hunt Memorial Hospital District,
at Presbyterian Hospital of Greenville,
Texas for ten years.
Do you have thoughts about advocacy
you’d like to share with your colleagues?
Send an e-mail to info@PlainViews.org.
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Education & Research |
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The Rev. Dr. John Bucchino
on our true caring skills
The
Art of Generously
Sharing our Humanity
In the 1800s a renowned
physician named Dr. Treadeau,
when asked by a group
of colleagues what is
the essence of the “ministering”of
healthcare, responded
with the following: “To
cure when we can, to
be concerned about the
relief of pain, always
to give care, consolation,
love and support.”
Reflecting on this vignette
through my 21st century
filter, I first reacted
to the description of
medical service as “ministering”and
then to the resoundingly
clear pastoral tone of
the doctor’s response.
I thought to myself how
wonderful a role model
he was for dealing with
the whole person, wishing
that our medical residents
today could experience
someone from their own
field like Dr. Treadeau
to learn the true meaning
of healer. As I bemoaned
how far we have moved
from using “ministering”as
an important word for
holistic healing, and
how few in the healthcare
field would want their
work described as offering “consolation
and love,”I was
challenged by a recent
personal experience that
jumped into my consciousness.
I once took my 90-year-old
father to his doctor’s
appointment to a then
colleague Dr. Michael
Fuller. My father had
been complaining about
fatigue and light-headedness.
I was always invited
to sit in the office
during the doctor-patient
encounter, and for some
unknown reason was keenly
aware on this particular
day of Dr. Fuller’s
approach with his patient.
As my father sat and
complained of his ailments,
Dr. Fuller first knelt
beside him on one knee
(in my religious tradition
it seemed like a “genuflection,”an
acknowledgement of humility
in the presence of sacredness).
Gently placing his hand
on my father’s
knee, the doctor listened
intently while looking
directly at his patient,
blocking all other concerns
and not even allowing
phone rings or pagers
to interrupt this special
moment of connection.
By now I was beyond curious,
realizing with fascination
that a sacred encounter
was being lived out.
I imagined having my
myriads of past CPE students
witnessing this moment,
a teachable one better
than any didactic on “approaching
the patient”I had
ever given. And then
the unexpected happened;
as my father risked opening
his emotional pain to
his doctor and friend,
Dr. Mike responded with
a look of anguish exposing
his own suffering in
response to my dad’s!
The human cycle of connection
was now completed! The
words of sociologist-author
Arthur W. Frank came
to mind: “We as
a species, and as individuals,
may need to be ill!”[1]
In other words Dr. Mike
gave my father permission
to open his spiritual
pain into the encounter,
by receiving it as gift –human
to human. His allowing
his own spiritual pain
to emerge was gift in
return revealing an encounter
of spirits! Roles fell
away as this incredible
moment! I was moved by
the deep level of mutuality!
Frank speaks of this
type of encounter as
one of shared generosity.
True care-giving skill,
he says, must include
generosity –which
is difficult as we all
know –for the present
medical world strongly
encourages both patient
and physician to hide
their human pain!
“We as a species,
and as individuals, may
need to be ill!”is
an idea resisted and
treated as heresy! When
this happens, it leads
to a “degeneration
of generosity”also
often described as demoralization.
The rest of the story
is that my father appeared
physically better at
the end of his visit
than when he went in,
without the immediate
use of medication or
medical procedure. I
am grateful to Dr. Mike
for this experience.
He consoled and he loved
my father, and reminded
me once again how privileged
we are as chaplains and
healthcare providers
to be called to the art
of generously sharing
our humanity at its profoundest
levels.
[1] The Renewal
Of Generosity: Illness,
Medicine, and How to
Live, Arthur W.
Frank, (University
of Chicago Press: Chicago & London,
2004).
The
Rev. Dr. John Bucchino
is a member of the Franciscan
Order and a Roman Catholic
priest, born in Cambridge,
Mass. He has been working
in hospital ministry for
almost 20 years and is
a nationally certified
CPE supervisor both in
the NACC and ACPE. He received
his Doctor of Ministry
degree in Clinical Studies & Pastoral
Counseling from Andover-Newton
School of Theology. He
is presently the Director
of Pastoral Care & Education
at Lenox Hill Hospital,
NYC, a partner of The HealthCare
Chaplaincy. He assists
on weekends at Our Lady
of Peace church in Brooklyn
in serving the Hispanic
community. He recently
just celebrated his parents'
70th wedding anniversary
in April. He plays the
piano, and is an avid Boston
Red Sox fan.
Do you have thoughts
about education & research
you’d like to share with
your colleagues? Send
an e-mail to info@PlainViews.org. |
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Spiritual
Development |
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Chaplain
Melody Meeter on struggling
with a daughter's decisions
A
Tale of Two Cultures:
A Mother's Struggle
to Embrace Multicultural Ideals
I‘m
proud to work as a chaplain
for The HealthCare Chaplaincy, “a
multifaith community
of professionals from
many cultures dedicated
to caring for persons
in spirit, mind, and
body.”And I was
proud when my college-age
daughter chose to do
an exchange semester
in Morocco to study Arabic
culture, religion and
music. But when she broke
the news, two months
into the semester, that
she had a Moroccan boyfriend,
my imagination flew toward
a future hell –separation
from my daughter, stuck
in Morocco with a husband
who couldn’t get
a green card. And since
my son already lives
in Germany, I imagined
drearily divvying up
my annual vacations for
years on end: one week
in Germany, one week
in Morocco, one week
in Michigan with my aging
parents, one week with
my husband at our cottage
in Ontario.
I went to visit her there, as we’d planned. Daughter and boyfriend met
me at the airport. For a few hours I managed to be gracious, but soon my body
gave way to grief and anger. She was serious about this guy! Our time in Morocco
was marked by many difficult conversations, in which I was angry and tearful
and she was angry and hopeful. Everything irritated me, from the absence of
toilet paper, anywhere in the country apparently, to the 3:00 a.m. call to
prayer from the mosque next door. The grief! No matter how much I tried to
tell myself to “get a grip,”or “this will blow over,”my
body was hearing none of it.
We had good times too, of course, traversing the land by train, by bus, by “petit
taxi,”and on foot. I knew my grief was selfish: I don’t want my
daughter on the other side of the earth from me. But much of my grief was for
her: I want to protect her from the pain of an interfaith, cross-cultural marriage.
Statistically speaking, such marriages are doomed. Marriage is difficult enough!
Don’t do this to yourself! I also hurt for the world. The newspapers
were filled with the photos of the tortured Iraqi prisoners in the Abu Ghraib
prison. My daughter’s boyfriend was grieved, enraged, and unimpressed
when I told him that Bush’s popularity had gone down to 37% because of
these revelations. “Thirty-seven percent?!!,”he said, “why
is not 0%?!!!”
I do not know the ending
to the story. My daughter
was home for the summer,
working. We enjoyed each
other’s company.
We laughed about the
emotional wreck I was
in Morocco, even about
the time I cursed at
her in the taxi. She
wants to go back to Morocco
and teach, to learn Arabic,
to…well, I’m
choosing not to think
about it. It’s
called denial; or, living
in the moment.
Working for my multifaith
chaplaincy organization
doesn’t cost me
much. In contrast, if
my daughter were to marry
a Muslim, she would be
waging peace with her
own body. I don’t
want her to do this.
No more than parents
want their soldier children
sent to Iraq. But can
her father and I do anything
less than let her go
with our blessing?
When the Royal Air Maroc
plane lifted up above
the Atlantic, I felt
release from my savage
emotions. The plane was
filled with people in
traditional Moroccan/Muslim
dress, with mothers,
fathers, babies. I sat
down next to a young
American man who was
engaged to a woman from
Fez. Everything seemed
possible, and possibly
okay. Sometimes I’m
scared and sad, anticipating
loss. I crave ice cream,
cigarettes, sleep, a
good cry. Last year,
before she went to Morocco,
my daughter wrote an
anti-war song called “Peacekeeping
War.”It’s
on a CD with eight other
of her songs. I close
my eyes and listen to
her sweet voice. I think, “You
go, girl!”But I
also think, “Oh
stay with me, live in
my neighborhood, oh,
sing to us, there is
so much peacekeeping
you can do right here
at home.”
Melody Takken Meeter
is an ordained pastor
in the Reformed Church
in America (Protestant)
and staff chaplain
at Lenox Hill Hospital.
She has worked as a
chaplain in various
settings in New York
and in Michigan. Her
special interests are
in hospice/palliative
care, medical ethics
and end-of-life issues,
and spirituality for
mental health. She
enjoys teaching, preaching,
and facilitating small
groups. She has led
retreats on prayer
and is currently developing
modules that combine
meditation with ancient
and contemporary poetry.
Do you have thoughts
about spiritual development
you’d like to share with
your colleagues? Send
an e-mail of any length
to info@PlainViews.org. |
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|
EthicsWalk |
EthicsWalk addresses
spiritual
care
as
an
ethical
enterprise.
It
explores
why
relationships
between
spiritual
care
providers
and
those
they
serve
need
protection,
and
examines
what
that
protection
entails. PlainViews invites
our
readers
to
share
their
responses
to
each EthicsWalk column,
which
will
be
published
in
the
following
issue.
If
you’d
like
to
respond
to EthicsWalk,
please
send
a
comment
of
no
more
than
100
words.
You
can
use
the
e-form
below
(click
on "hearing
from
you," link)
or
submit
your
commentary
to
the
editors
in
the
body
of
an
e-mail
(or
as
a
Microsoft
Word
attachment)
sent
to Info@PlainViews.org.
Please
put
the
phrase
“EthicsWalk”
in
your
subject
line.
We look forward to hearing
from you.
Professional
Power: Claim It, Own It!
Ethics
codes
and
work
place
polices
encourage
recognition
and
responsible
use
of
professional
power.
Religious
professionals
especially
must
be
ever
mindful
of power
imbalances created
by
the
expectations
and
realities
of
ministerial
relationships. Fiduciary
duty
requires
ministers
act
solely
in
the
best
interest
of
persons
in
their
care.
Fiduciary
duty
applies
to
the
treatment
of
another’s
financial
concerns,
private
information,
employment
issues,
emotional
needs,
psychological
state,
sexual
desires,
or
religious
quest. Professionals
who
transgress
their
duty
in
one
area
often
transgress
other
areas.
Their
problem
is
handling
power
responsibly.
Power
does
not
exist
in
a
vacuum.
Power
is
relational,
and
in
itself,
is
neither
good
nor
evil,
but
morally
neutral.
Most
adults
possess
some
degree
of
personal
power,
with
varying
manifestations,
in
most
relationships.
Among
adults
in
family
and
friendships,
there
is
mutuality
of
power.
Each
person’s
power,
although
different,
balances
that
of
the
other.
While
people
defer
to
the
knowledge,
expertise,
or
skills
of
friends
or
family
in
some
aspects
of
life,
those
same
relatives
or
friends
defer
to
them
in
other
aspects.
There
is
mutuality
of
need
and
reciprocity
of
response.
Power
differentials
shift
within
situations
but
remain
overall
in
balance.
In
professional
relationships,
the
balance
is
upset. There
is,
hopefully, “mutuality”of
consent
to
the
relationship.
But
there
is
not
mutuality
of
access
to
information
about
each
other:
the
physician
does
not
bear
her
chest
for
the
patient
to
examine;
the
lawyer
does
not
open
his
financial
records
for
the
client
to
review.
The
professional
has
the “power”of
expertise
and
the “power”of
knowing
the
other
person
in
ways
which
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