The Role of Hospitality in Healing
Rev. Chris Madison, Chaplain, M.Div.
Franciscan St. Elizabeth Health
Lafayette, IN 47905
A number of years ago, Dr. Martin Marty, addressed a group of United Methodist clergy in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Dr. Marty reminded us that hospitals began as an extension and expression of Christian living, witness, and faith practice.
He said, “There are people who ask, ‘Why is the church involved in healthcare (or in education)?’ And his answer was, “We were the ones who started hospitals and schools.” The church was in this effort from the beginning.
If one reflects on the relationship between the words “hospitality,” and “hospital,” it doesn’t take long to make the connection that “hospitality” is a huge part of the healing ministry of hospitals.
How we welcome and extend hospitality to those who have come to us because a loved one is ill, or because a frightening trauma has taken place, can make a huge difference to patients and to families.
When a loved one is critically ill, and may not survive their illness, the humanity of caretakers, whether from the medical side of hospital ministry, the spiritual services side, or any other department, figures strongly in the way healing happens. And, should there be a loss, our humanity can help those suffering the unendurable and sometimes the unthinkable “get through” those losses, and help them take the first steps in healthy grieving.
In the hospital when we, as staff, meet someone hurting and deeply in need we often discover that we encounter others who are just as human and needy as we are. In the faces of patients and their families, we not only greetfolks like us, but, we also in the Christian tradition meet Jesus Christ (Matthew 25:31-46). “As you have done it to one of the least of these, you have done it to me.”
Jesus had a way of entering rapidly and deeply into the lives of people in need, whether it was the woman who had lost her son, (Luke 7:11-17), or a greedy tax collector, Zacchaeus, who had lost his way (soul?), (Luke 19:1-10). Jesus wept over Lazarus’ death. There are times when we will weep with families who have lost loved ones. As Jesus’ followers, we participate in “the priesthood of all believers,” (1 Peter 2:9), becoming “little Christ’s” who share the love and Presence of Christ when we meet with patients and other staff.
There are also times, when the pain may be so great in the midst of a trauma, that silence is much more appropriate than words. Our presence, a hand on the shoulder, a look of compassion as we meet a fellow suffering human being, speaks more eloquently and on a much deeper level than a spoken prayer.
No matter which department we represent or what we bring to the healing of human beings, beyond our years of training and experience, beyond lab coats, beyond titles, there is something much more elementary: hospitality. It is a part of AIDET, and it often begins with words like these, “Good morning, my name is (insert name), and I am the chaplain on the unit today. Is this a good time to visit?”