Day 54: "Vessels for the Grief and Fear of Others"

DAY 54

Faith in the Midst of a Pandemic

A series of daily reflections for people of faith

by Rev. Robert Bayley, Interim Pastor

Patuxent Presbyterian Church, California, Maryland

WEEK EIGHT: THURSDAY 7 MAY 2020

Vessels for the Grief and Fear of Others

“As emergency rooms are flooded with coronavirus patients and ICU’s exceed their capacities, hospital chaplains are finding their jobs changing. Certified in clinical pastoral work and tending to people of all faiths, chaplains are no strangers to daily tragedies. They serve as vessels for the grief and fear of patients and their families.” - From a newspaper article on 14 April 2020 Hospital Chaplains Try to Keep the Faith in a Strange New Landscape

My wife, also an ordained minister, did her clinical pastoral internship at Bellevue Hospital in New York City, and worked before retirement as a hospital chaplain, often in the emergency room. There were times when weariness was in her eyes as she would come home with stories of pain and suffering and loss and grief. And that was before the pandemic.

Pastors by definition, by training, and often by personality, are those who are available to “serve as vessels for the grief and fear” of others, a quiet unseen ministry not spelled out as such in their job descriptions. For the chaplains in the Seattle hospital referenced above, the weight of it all is something unlike anything they were trained or prepared for.

Being vessels for the grief and fear of others is really the calling of all Christians – to one church Paul put it this way: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.” Galatians 6:2. To another: “Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” Romans 12:15. And in his letter to the church at Corinth, Paul used an analogy common in Greek culture as a metaphor for the church as the body of Christ: “Now you are the body of Christ … if one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.” 1 Corinthians 12:27, 26. I like the way The Message puts it: “If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing.” Break a bone and see how your whole body feels the pain. Thus also are we connected to each other in Christ’s Body.

Reflective question: Connected to others, whose pain or grief can you help carry today?

Reflective Scripture: Galatians 6:10 – “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”

Reflective hymn:

“The Servant Song” – Richard Gillard (1953 -    )

We are pilgrims on a journey; we’re together on this road.

We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load.

I will weep when you are weeping; when you laugh, I’ll laugh with you.

I will share your joy and sorrow till we’ve seen this journey thro’.