'Her listening presence gave me more healing than any of my medical treatments. The first time I received spiritual care spurred me to spend my life providing spiritual care for others.'
I love how God often gives us these kind of life-altering invitations in our most painful seasons ...
I am still finding my calling, but the questions you ask are compelling and I wonder if my calling is asking "what is your ultimate concern?" of healthcare providers, perhaps through creativity and song? I'm sure you probably do that within your work,but to be honest, the idea that I as a doctor could talk to a chaplain while I am working is a totally novel concept to me :)
After hearing from others I might do a future post about how to discern one's calling. Y'all got my polished up version that took me years to figure out, but there's lots of grittiness in the act of listening to a call.
Ooh, that sounds like a great calling to me! And I want to hear more about the creativity and song, that is intriguing. I wish you worked as a doctor in my hospital so we could chat while you work!
So, I just realized a couple months ago how much I want more song to be part of my life. Then I had a crazy awesome idea (that I suspect my colleagues will think is just crazy) to lead song circles for the women physicians in our EM group. I also have been thinking about creativity inspired by the elements (earth, air, fire, water, ether) to help people express the emotions we repress and suppress at work.
Yeah, I think there are a lot of feelings that need an outlet. That being said ER doctors are uniquely cynical even by phyisician standards. Like that one time they hired a hypnotist for our holiday party 🤦♀️
Thank you for sharing! Love this so much! My calling to spiritual caregiving in the hospital setting also stemmed from being a 12-year-old candy striper at the hospital where my mom was a nurse! My journey took twists and turns but that was a decade I’ll never forget. Right now I’m on to another journey.
Oh so funny that you were a candy striper and your mom was a nurse! I'd love to hear more about your journey too. And the way it has evolved, is evolving.
This is fun to read especially as I feel like my call story is changing. It is not what I first thought when I finished seminary or served my last church nearly 10 years ago. Something else is happening and I''m not really sure what God is doing but I'm grateful for the ways God grows with us. I know God is growing with you too., Christine.
Thank you for this lovely piece, Christine. I sometimes feel I have buried my calling somewhere. I think it has been always teaching. And facilitating.
Oh I think you are very much living your calling in the community you created and continue to create! But I understand the sense of burial as well. I will be praying as you continue to unearth it. An easier way to approach it, I find, is think of what your calling is for that day or week or season. This always seems less overwhelming to me and speaks to the changing nature of our calls.
oh, that is so well said! there is indeed an overwhelm in the idea of calling as it would be one thing over the life span. Instead it is shifting and shaping just as we do. Thank you for giving voice to that movement :-)
Oh Christine, this is such a beautiful piece. So glad I found your account. Funny though I was reading about the Japanese concept of Ikigai on finding purpose in life and also refreshing my memory on Logo Therapy by Viktor Frankl. I don't believe in coincidences. Thank you for sharing your story.
I'm glad you found your way to me too! I love both of those concepts and the beauty in the breaking and meaning making is so crucial to all of our identities and callings.
I loved reading your call story! My short version-I was on a youth mission trip to Kansas City, at the soup line of a rescue mission. The sermon before the meal was wretched, calling the downtrodden men sinners and urging their repentance of whatever made them homeless. I was so angry, I wanted to show a different way. I started as a journalist, then a housing activist in seminary. But I also found that it was in the personal presence with people in their suffering and questions that pulled me in. The "why's" people asked got my attention.
Thanks for sharing your call story. I would be interested in the longer version too, if you ever post it! Isn't it funny how watching others do something badly can also motivate us to do it (differently) ourselves? (This might be true of how I came to be a CPE Supervisor.)
I'm also intrigued by your background as a housing activist - a few months ago I joined a board focusing on housing for families and am learning a lot - and if you have additional resources, send them my way!
I found it difficult to use words like "calling" and "ministry" when I was doing my CPE because I felt they were words more fitting for clergy. I am more at ease with them now as a lay person. Amazing how God prepares us to do the work that He has "prepared in advance for us to do". (Eph 2:10) Looking back, I can see how chaplaincy pulled together so many strands of my previous life and work experience. I am enjoying your posts. Meant to comment on the last one about the need for escapism. I had been worrying that I had been indulging in that a little too much! Now I can put it under the heading of "Self Care" and carry on!
I so loved reading your calling story, Christine. Thank you for being willing to share your journey with us. I didn't even know that chaplaincy was a 'thing' until I worked in the hospital as a physical therapist. The hospital is where I have most felt a sense of purpose with regards to helping people heal on any level, including spiritually, more than any church I have been a part of. I loved when I got to be in MICU multi-disciplinary rounds because I knew the chaplain would be there and I loved hearing their perspectives with regards to the spiritual care of patients. I feel that I have yet to discover my calling, but reading those of others helps me understand the 'anatomy' of such a thing :)
Most people don't know that chaplaincy is a "thing" which was part of my reason for launching this substack, but I'm thrilled that you got to know it first hand and appreciate that discipline within the hospital.
It sounds to me that you were living out an aspect of your calling as a PT in the MICU, but it can also take on different shapes and shift over time.
What an awesome journey. Thanks Christine for taking us along. It truly is wonderful to see how your heart's desire to serve others took diverse turns yet, you were still able to keep your calling as your primary goal. So glad you were able to just let your faith evolve to the point where you are today. This is a wonderful story, Christine.
Thanks, it's much easier to see in retrospect versus when we are going through it. This was a bit more of the cleaned up version - but I'll throw some Dark Night of the Soul posts up sometime soon!
I love this so much, Christine! It's so cool how all the different pieces came together at the perfect time. And also: one of your biggest gifts in Human Design is the gift of deep listening. We listen with our souls instead of our heads (I have this gift too) and people feel drawn to tell us their life stories. It sounds like you're exactly where you're supposed to be.
Im learning that God‘s ways are definitely not mine. Through all the times of confusion, excitement and worry God kept leading me on. He had a plan for me and each time I was a piece making up that plan. Now, at 59 years of age, I believe that God has many more plans and Callings for me in this life. I pray that I stay humble and keep looking for those times to serve and be of service. I thank God that HE is clearing up the wreckage of my past and even in times where I don’t feel that useful he can use me. He is GOD!!! HE does not make trash!! HE always has a plan!! I will Trust HIM. ✝️
Mark, thanks for sharing about your callings and how they have evolved over time. Confusion, excitement and worry certainly sound familiar as the paths are not always as straight and clear as we want them to be - but often have twists and turns and unseen vistas ahead of them!
Wow, that is an incredible story of perseverance, not giving up and trust in the Almighty God that he would lead you on. I felt a true calling to be a lease and pastor in my early 20s and I pursued it for three years. time led me to see that was not where God wanted me and I moved to another state to get into another ministry that ministry being a DCE did not pan out either, but through that move I meta lady that now is my wife.
Thank you for writing and sharing your story with us. I’ve been parish pastor, hospital chaplain, hospice chaplain, and now (much to my great surprise) college chaplain. Like you, bearing witness to the life struggles of people has drawn me to my why. That question on the psychosocial assessment is where I’d want to spend my time too. I can see that you are perfect for chaplaincy. ❤️
'Her listening presence gave me more healing than any of my medical treatments. The first time I received spiritual care spurred me to spend my life providing spiritual care for others.'
I love how God often gives us these kind of life-altering invitations in our most painful seasons ...
It truly was a sacred moment. Took a few years (or a decade) to realize and put it all together.
Amen.
I am still finding my calling, but the questions you ask are compelling and I wonder if my calling is asking "what is your ultimate concern?" of healthcare providers, perhaps through creativity and song? I'm sure you probably do that within your work,but to be honest, the idea that I as a doctor could talk to a chaplain while I am working is a totally novel concept to me :)
Same!
After hearing from others I might do a future post about how to discern one's calling. Y'all got my polished up version that took me years to figure out, but there's lots of grittiness in the act of listening to a call.
Love that, Amy!
Ooh, that sounds like a great calling to me! And I want to hear more about the creativity and song, that is intriguing. I wish you worked as a doctor in my hospital so we could chat while you work!
So, I just realized a couple months ago how much I want more song to be part of my life. Then I had a crazy awesome idea (that I suspect my colleagues will think is just crazy) to lead song circles for the women physicians in our EM group. I also have been thinking about creativity inspired by the elements (earth, air, fire, water, ether) to help people express the emotions we repress and suppress at work.
That is amazing, I look forward to hearing how it goes! We've had drum circles in our hospital that have been surprisingly well received!
Yeah, I think there are a lot of feelings that need an outlet. That being said ER doctors are uniquely cynical even by phyisician standards. Like that one time they hired a hypnotist for our holiday party 🤦♀️
Oh my! That is something!
Thank you for sharing! Love this so much! My calling to spiritual caregiving in the hospital setting also stemmed from being a 12-year-old candy striper at the hospital where my mom was a nurse! My journey took twists and turns but that was a decade I’ll never forget. Right now I’m on to another journey.
Oh so funny that you were a candy striper and your mom was a nurse! I'd love to hear more about your journey too. And the way it has evolved, is evolving.
This is fun to read especially as I feel like my call story is changing. It is not what I first thought when I finished seminary or served my last church nearly 10 years ago. Something else is happening and I''m not really sure what God is doing but I'm grateful for the ways God grows with us. I know God is growing with you too., Christine.
I meant to write about how calls are constantly evolving. I am delighted that I get a front seat to how yours is taking shape!
Thank you for this lovely piece, Christine. I sometimes feel I have buried my calling somewhere. I think it has been always teaching. And facilitating.
Oh I think you are very much living your calling in the community you created and continue to create! But I understand the sense of burial as well. I will be praying as you continue to unearth it. An easier way to approach it, I find, is think of what your calling is for that day or week or season. This always seems less overwhelming to me and speaks to the changing nature of our calls.
oh, that is so well said! there is indeed an overwhelm in the idea of calling as it would be one thing over the life span. Instead it is shifting and shaping just as we do. Thank you for giving voice to that movement :-)
Oh Christine, this is such a beautiful piece. So glad I found your account. Funny though I was reading about the Japanese concept of Ikigai on finding purpose in life and also refreshing my memory on Logo Therapy by Viktor Frankl. I don't believe in coincidences. Thank you for sharing your story.
I'm glad you found your way to me too! I love both of those concepts and the beauty in the breaking and meaning making is so crucial to all of our identities and callings.
Divine timing 👌🏽🤗
Wonderful combination 😇
Thank you Almut!!!
I loved reading your call story! My short version-I was on a youth mission trip to Kansas City, at the soup line of a rescue mission. The sermon before the meal was wretched, calling the downtrodden men sinners and urging their repentance of whatever made them homeless. I was so angry, I wanted to show a different way. I started as a journalist, then a housing activist in seminary. But I also found that it was in the personal presence with people in their suffering and questions that pulled me in. The "why's" people asked got my attention.
Thanks for sharing your call story. I would be interested in the longer version too, if you ever post it! Isn't it funny how watching others do something badly can also motivate us to do it (differently) ourselves? (This might be true of how I came to be a CPE Supervisor.)
I'm also intrigued by your background as a housing activist - a few months ago I joined a board focusing on housing for families and am learning a lot - and if you have additional resources, send them my way!
I found it difficult to use words like "calling" and "ministry" when I was doing my CPE because I felt they were words more fitting for clergy. I am more at ease with them now as a lay person. Amazing how God prepares us to do the work that He has "prepared in advance for us to do". (Eph 2:10) Looking back, I can see how chaplaincy pulled together so many strands of my previous life and work experience. I am enjoying your posts. Meant to comment on the last one about the need for escapism. I had been worrying that I had been indulging in that a little too much! Now I can put it under the heading of "Self Care" and carry on!
I'm glad you reclaimed the concept of calling and ministry for yourself! It is quite something to look back and see how those strands weave together.
Thanks for reading and glad that you are doubling the joy!
I so loved reading your calling story, Christine. Thank you for being willing to share your journey with us. I didn't even know that chaplaincy was a 'thing' until I worked in the hospital as a physical therapist. The hospital is where I have most felt a sense of purpose with regards to helping people heal on any level, including spiritually, more than any church I have been a part of. I loved when I got to be in MICU multi-disciplinary rounds because I knew the chaplain would be there and I loved hearing their perspectives with regards to the spiritual care of patients. I feel that I have yet to discover my calling, but reading those of others helps me understand the 'anatomy' of such a thing :)
Most people don't know that chaplaincy is a "thing" which was part of my reason for launching this substack, but I'm thrilled that you got to know it first hand and appreciate that discipline within the hospital.
It sounds to me that you were living out an aspect of your calling as a PT in the MICU, but it can also take on different shapes and shift over time.
What an awesome journey. Thanks Christine for taking us along. It truly is wonderful to see how your heart's desire to serve others took diverse turns yet, you were still able to keep your calling as your primary goal. So glad you were able to just let your faith evolve to the point where you are today. This is a wonderful story, Christine.
Thanks, it's much easier to see in retrospect versus when we are going through it. This was a bit more of the cleaned up version - but I'll throw some Dark Night of the Soul posts up sometime soon!
I love this so much, Christine! It's so cool how all the different pieces came together at the perfect time. And also: one of your biggest gifts in Human Design is the gift of deep listening. We listen with our souls instead of our heads (I have this gift too) and people feel drawn to tell us their life stories. It sounds like you're exactly where you're supposed to be.
Oh the idea of soul listening absolutely resonates and I'm not surprised that's your gift too!
Wonderful, sacred story, Christine. Thank you!
Thanks Mary! A little bit of a different version then I wrote up for Certification a number of years ago!
Im learning that God‘s ways are definitely not mine. Through all the times of confusion, excitement and worry God kept leading me on. He had a plan for me and each time I was a piece making up that plan. Now, at 59 years of age, I believe that God has many more plans and Callings for me in this life. I pray that I stay humble and keep looking for those times to serve and be of service. I thank God that HE is clearing up the wreckage of my past and even in times where I don’t feel that useful he can use me. He is GOD!!! HE does not make trash!! HE always has a plan!! I will Trust HIM. ✝️
Mark, thanks for sharing about your callings and how they have evolved over time. Confusion, excitement and worry certainly sound familiar as the paths are not always as straight and clear as we want them to be - but often have twists and turns and unseen vistas ahead of them!
Wow, that is an incredible story of perseverance, not giving up and trust in the Almighty God that he would lead you on. I felt a true calling to be a lease and pastor in my early 20s and I pursued it for three years. time led me to see that was not where God wanted me and I moved to another state to get into another ministry that ministry being a DCE did not pan out either, but through that move I meta lady that now is my wife.
I remember that time so well. I am incredibly proud of you. ❤️
Thanks for being such an integral part of my story! I am so grateful for the care you gave me and all I learned from you.
Thank you for writing and sharing your story with us. I’ve been parish pastor, hospital chaplain, hospice chaplain, and now (much to my great surprise) college chaplain. Like you, bearing witness to the life struggles of people has drawn me to my why. That question on the psychosocial assessment is where I’d want to spend my time too. I can see that you are perfect for chaplaincy. ❤️
Oh so you very much get it! I'd love to hear your call story too. And college chaplaincy - that is it's own animal entirely!