Time was marching by. I was beginning
to feel part of the institution. I was also feeling more confident in what I
was doing. It had only taken 18 months!
Christmas was rapidly approaching. I
was able to get some children from our local primary school to come and sing.
What they didn’t know was the local football team were coming to the hospital
the same day. After the children had finished singing around the Christmas tree
and in our main reception areas the Chief Exec said a few words. It was lovely
to see so many smiling faces both patients and staff but what was really
fantastic was to see the faces of the children when the football players turned
up. Their little faces just lit up. This was portrayed in the photographs that went
out in the local papers. That day, being a chaplain had a real feel good
factor.
On Christmas Day I was called out to a
woman on CCU (Coronary Care Unit). She was a regular member of church, although
too ill to get there most of the time due to her heart failure. She wanted to
receive communion. As I gave her communion I said the words “The body of Christ
keep you in everlasting life” and I realised that this woman would soon be
experiencing that “Everlasting life” It was a very powerful and moving moment
for me. As I had learnt the year before, heart failure patients die in a
different way. This woman was very aware of her impending death and was
approaching it with her eyes well and truly open. I hope when my time comes I
can be a serene as she was. She died peacefully a few days later.
On Boxing Day I was called to NICU. A
baby had been born at 26 weeks and there was no hope for him. The family wanted
me to baptise him, which I did. The family were from Eastern
Europe and I got the impression they may have been Roman Catholic.
I tried to check this out but the parents were quite reticent about giving any
information. They were the same when it came to the funeral visit and the
subsequent funeral. It left me wondering whether they were worried about paying
for things. We do not charge for baby funerals at all but maybe that was a fear
for them. I hope whatever their fear was it didn’t paralyse them from grieving
for their much loved son. Sometimes it is just impossible to get to the bottom
of things and they have to be left unresolved in me but handed over to God.
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