Pandemic Parables: For Such a Time as This
I am not sheltering at home. No. I am collecting stories. Incredible stories. Seriously.
Until the end of August I am working as a Resident Chaplain at my local hospital (Frederick Health Hospital in Frederick, Maryland.) It is a program where you work, and also take classes. By the time I finish I will have five CPEs (Clinical Pastoral Education Credits - professional chaplaincy courses.)
And unbelievable stories.
In my wildest dreams I could never have imagined that I would be working full time in a hospital in the middle of a pandemic!
The hospital is on high alert. Except for the main and Emergency Department entrance, all the outside doors are locked. Before anyone can get out of their cars they are being questioned about their health. They are then funneled past security at both the front entrance and the Emergency Department. Anyone who has Covid-19 symptoms, or doesn’t have a valid reason to enter is turned away (testing for the virus is done in a drive through site across the road.)
All elective surgeries have been cancelled. There is almost supernatural quiet in the corridors as only one visitor is allowed to visit a patient at a time, and most secretaries and office personnel are working from home.
Volunteers can no longer enter.
The numbers of patients have been dramatically reduced.
Extra beds are being readied.
It is as though the tide has gone out before the tsunami arrives. As the CEO said, they are preparing for the worst and hoping for the best.
At times the tension is palpable.
There is a serious shortage of hand sanitizer. Supplies of protective masks are dwindling. They are being rationed. The spare industrial sized rolls of toilet paper are under lock and key. But there is no shortage of dedication and selflessness among the doctors, nurses, cleaners, medical staff, security personnel, kitchen workers, and chaplains left behind. And the directors and department heads are doing a superb job of implementing changes and spreading calm.
The chaplain’s office rocks with fervent prayer, moving stories of patients’ lives, as well as laughter. Laughter is essential in hard times.
God bless my fellow chaplains!
Most of all I am deeply thankful to be where I am for such a time as this.
Thank you Lord!
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