Like most clergy I have a number of
roles, one is chaplaincy. I also write as someone who in common language is
‘disabled’, though I prefer differently-abled as I have never found the perfect
specimen of the ‘able bodied person yet.
Rehabilitation comes after trauma;
the trauma can be an accident such as a fall which leads to massive tissue
damage, or sometimes bone fractures that need either operations to repair or
time in plaster casts allowing ‘nature’ to take its course. I say nature always
knowing that God created us and made us so that at times we can repair
ourselves. But of course there are times when we cannot, so it is worth
remembering that in the book of Genesis it says that God created us ‘Good’ not
perfect. Other trauma can be due to massive infection that causes people to
stop their normal activities for a period of time, which means they need help
to get going again. There are other illnesses that also attack our nervous system
our muscles and even our own defence system which stops us being active in our
normal way.
Rehabilitation is part of the long
road to help people by physiotherapy to regain, some, or all of their previous
abilities. But along with physiotherapy comes many other therapies such as
speech therapy for example for people post stroke, there is occupational health
who help people to regain safety instincts around their own home when making a
cup of tea, bathing or moving from room to room. There may also be an
intervention from psychology where someone wants to talk about the changes in
their lives and how it has affected them. Someone may need social services to
help with moving to a new home, or assistance with money issues, or even family
problems. Of course there is the
chaplaincy for all spiritual matters, and prayer being our most important gift
to share together; as well as just a chat if someone just wants a different
face to talk to. A good chaplaincy will always cater for all faiths and none.
Let us not forget the Nurses and Doctors who are always there to offer advice
and assistance for medical issues. There will be many other people who come and
go offering great and valuable support and care.
The sad truth is not everyone gets
back to their starting place. This can be that age has crept up on us and it
takes an accident or illness to stop a person for a time, then suddenly the
body is not capable of getting back to where it was before the accident. There
are also those injuries and illnesses that have such a traumatic effect on the
body that the person cannot recover no matter how good the medical
intervention. It can sometimes seem random when a person has had major life
threatening trauma recovers to a near prefect self. Then another person has
something that seems minor and ends up with life changing disabilities. As a
chaplain my role is not to try and explain or even comfort, for experience has
taught me that you cannot comfort someone who has lost all independence. My
role is to be there, and when I can represent the face of Christ. This may seem
a rather presumptuous claim, but often the chaplain in the dog collar bearing
Christ’s cross will be the one who reminds people of the Goodnews. Of course
some reject this outright, though I say confidently that this would be less
than two or three percent of all people I have met ignore me completely. Of the
rest, the majority believe in ‘a’ God. Now I do not whip out my Bible and start
to preach and attempt to convert, no, I smile and chat. I only have the God
conversation when the patient wants it, and often they will. This is how I read
Jesus in the Bible, he got on with life, led by example, and when everyone was
ready spoke about the Father.
Chaplain
Major Jeffrey (Chad) Leach,OSP
International
Chaplains Association of the Celtic Cross Foundation in Ministry
Medical
Outreach Division
Associate Minister; Wednesfield St
Gregory the Great
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