There are probably a few too many ornaments and craft things in our house, but\u00a0most\u00a0are soaked in memories and won’t get thrown away.\u00a0 Some originated with the play specialists from times in Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH), and\u00a0their invitation to paint, draw, and imagine, and some of what was created hangs on our Christmas tree each year.<\/p>\n
These delightful\u00a0visitors to the bedside use play to help children (and their families!) feel more comfortable in their environment, express their hopes and fears,\u00a0 and deal better with the unknown and with what is going on with them.<\/p>\n
That’s not unlike another team who find their way to\u00a0wards and bedsides and who, at their best, also\u00a0play a part in creating safe space for\u00a0patients and visitors alike to express\u00a0the tangled emotions and concerns that being vulnerable can bring.\u00a0 The\u00a0multi-faith team of chaplains. Loitering with intent.\u00a0 Twenty four hours a day.\u00a0 Seven days a week.\u00a0 “Available to lift and soothe spirits of our patients, families and staff…in times that are hard and sad, confusing and anxious, and also to celebrate good news and healing.”\u00a0<\/em> And since their purpose is to offer support, it doesn’t matter whether a person is religious or not, whatever their faith is, or isn’t, and “we won’t mention God unless you talk about God first!”<\/em><\/p>\n There’s a skill to being around but not being intrusive, available but not disturbing.\u00a0 A skill to popping a head round the door with or without an appointment, and\u00a0sensing the moment well enough to offer to stay and chat, or pop back later.\u00a0 The smiles help.\u00a0 And, for some of us, even adults in the Children’s Hospital, a chaplain’s outrageously colourful shirt smothered in teddy bear patterns or Christmas motifs was never off-putting.\u00a0 Quite the opposite, and it’s hard not to crack a smile yourself.<\/p>\n Then the listening ear, and every other gentle, respectful way of reading the patient and the other people in the room, helping trust and respect to grow.\u00a0 Like the play specialists, some of the best chaplains are those who come to explore things with us and not explain, to invite our thoughts and feelings rather than just give us their own.\u00a0 It strengthens the experience of respect and dignity, something that can slip away too easily\u00a0when you’re at the mercy of everybody else’s action and ideas.<\/p>\n In the BCH chapel,\u00a0as in many more, there is a welcoming space to be.\u00a0 Somewhere to go in the gaps, day or night.\u00a0 \u00a0To think, or try not to think.\u00a0 A place for tears too, and those\u00a0silent screams of pain – or joy – silent only out of respect for those around.\u00a0 A gentle place, with\u00a0simple things to hold on to when\u00a0other things are crumbling, changing, frightening.\u00a0 Like the small basket of pebbles, some marked with words – fear, trust, hope, strength, joy, pain, courage…\u00a0 Something to hold and focus a thought whatever it may be and wherever it may lead.<\/p>\n Small tealight holders on a side table with slips of paper that may become requests for prayer, for support, gathered at the end of the week and\u00a0spoken by chaplains in a simple space together as the candles are lit.<\/p>\n A dry tree branch\u00a0for\u00a0hanging leaf-shaped cards\u00a0bearing\u00a0the names of those we care for, are concerned for, or who have died and whose names are honoured again as they are read by others.<\/p>\n The book at the back of the\u00a0room\u00a0for prayers, in any language, addressed to any hearer or none, human or divine; a book which becomes a kind of log for those on prolonged periods in the hospital.\u00a0\u00a0Some trace\u00a0the stories of others\u00a0there, sharing their need for compassion and kindness, and a desire to be that for each other.\u00a0 There is gratitude on many of those pages…<\/p>\n It might sound a bit obvious to say, but there’s great\u00a0wisdom\u00a0in being included in what’s happening in your own story, your own healing.\u00a0It\u00a0can add to confidence in conversations with the doctors and consultants.\u00a0 It strengthens the faith we can bring to it all, our faith in the hospital, in the staff who look after us, the family and friends who are with us, in the donors and their precious gift, faith in the kindness of those who care.\u00a0 Faith in those who are doing and will do their best with skill, wisdom, passion and dedicated attention.<\/p>\n So a thumbs up, a smile, and thanks, to the best of the chaplains, and to all others like them, who keep faith and hope alive…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" There are probably a few too many ornaments and craft things in our house, but\u00a0most\u00a0are soaked in memories and won’t get thrown away.\u00a0 Some originated with the play specialists from times in Birmingham Children’s Hospital (BCH), and\u00a0their invitation to paint, draw, and imagine, and some of what was created hangs on our Christmas tree each […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","_wpcom_ai_launchpad_first_post":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,6,8,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1216","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog","category-news-and-events","category-personal-story","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/phtpid-jC","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1216"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1254,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1216\/revisions\/1254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1216"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1216"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/live-loudly-donate-proudly.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1216"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}