View Point
View Point
LAST year saw some horrible events in our community. One of those was last summer. A terrible land slide happened at Sacred Falls, where eight people died and many others were injured. Hospital ministers
help those in crisisPacific Health Ministry has a history of attending to people in crisis. We do that on a daily basis in the hospitals and also participate in other ways.
With Sacred Falls, we became involved with the survivors who were transferred to the hospitals.
One young man who had been injured came to the hospital in a coma. One of our resident chaplains (a person in training, much like a medical resident) was on-call.
When she went to the emergency room and learned that no one knew where his family was, she set about trying to locate his parents. When they were found, she called them to the hospital to be with their son.
This young man was a soldier who had just earned a university degree. His parents and sister had come to Hawaii to attend his graduation.
Before the ceremony, the young man wanted to show his sister a place he thought was particularly beautiful. So the two of them went hiking at Sacred Falls on Mother's Day.
When the side of the cliff came loose, the falling debris struck the young man. He was badly injured and evacuated to the hospital.
When his parents were told of their son's serious medical condition, they expressed their horror. They were also frantic about their daughter, whom no one could find.
When the rescue workers were finally able to return to the accident site at Sacred Falls, they found the young woman under a mound of earth and stone. The chaplain sat with the family as they were told of their daughter's death and the increasingly grave condition of their son.
At times like this, chaplains provide support to families. We explore options for care and services.
Spiritual care providers attend to the flood of emotions and talk with people about their questions, like "Why me?" or "Why did God allow this to happen?"
Many times, we hold special religious services for people to deal with their anger, fear, hopelessness, feeling of abandonment by God and separation from all that's good and right in the world.
As the days passed, the parents spent endless hours praying for a miracle, hoping that their son would awaken. It slowly became clear that his injuries were too severe.
The chaplain sat with them as they were offered the option of removing the respiratory support equipment. They prayed, talked, cried and shouted into the night.
Finally, they decided to let their son die by removing the breathing device.
Before they left Hawaii, a memorial service was held for the family and staff so they could share the unimaginable pain of the parents.
THERE was nothing we could do to make that pain cease. What the chaplain could do, however, was create a place of care and healing that helped the parents move through that terrible time.
This is one example of what our staff does every day. Some of this work is done in hospitals. Sometimes, it is done in people's homes by our nursing staff.
Sometimes we meet people on the streets and in back alleys. Sometimes, the work place is where people face the wonders and horrors of life.
Where people confront the ultimate questions, struggle with loss or attempt to address what the future will hold, that's where our staff is called to provide a healing presence and compassionate care.
The Rev. John H. Moody is president of
Pacific Health Ministry and is the certification chairman for
Hawaii of the Association of Professional Chaplains.