Bunsold PeaceHouse
Being and doing, belonging and longing to serve always to the Glory of God. Bunsold PeaceHouse is a blog journal of one person living the life of faithful discipleship in the twenty first century. "Let all that is within me praise the Holy One!" Come and see, come and read, come and learn and share with me what the Lord is doing in our lives of faith.
Friday, September 24, 2021
Go East
Witness
It’s a curious thing I do
Listening to others talk their way through
The muddle they feel, the hopeless despair
Sitting, nodding, holding stories of devastation and terror.
Nothing could be more precious or rare
as to sit with a person in the midst of despair.
Lamentations, heartache, unrequited love
"How can one sing songs of praise" in the cave of despair?
Lightyears from the celestial
Millenia from the New Earth
Minutes from the last breath
In comes Chaplain to witness, to listen,
to acknowledge the humanity in suffering
to offer compassionate connection face to face
It’s a curious thing I do
Listening to others talk their way through
The muddle they feel, the hopeless despair
Sitting, nodding, holding stories of devastation and terror.
Nothing could be more precious or rare
as to sit with a person in the midst of despair.
Saturday, January 7, 2017
Bedtime Prayer
Monday, December 19, 2016
Sitting still
Mitry Lake, Yuma County, Arizona
Sitting still
wondering, praying,
listening,
drinking the beauty of all creation
Winds rustle leaves
birds flit and fly
Spirit enfolds silently
calming the desire for certain direction
Wellspring of grace
Thursday, March 31, 2016
Confessions as Actions of Liberation
For the past seven months I've been actively engaged in ministry and continued pastoral formation through Clinical Pastoral Education (C.P.E.) in an acute care setting. My assigned units include women and children's services. Sadly, chaplains aren't called to Labor and Delivery for the multitude of joyous healthy deliveries. We are mostly called to attend at the times of sorrow.
The challenge for myself in this ministry area is that I am blissfully and perhaps naively living without having any personal experience with miscarriage, stillbirth, or death of a beloved and dearly desired baby. To become attuned to the unique grief experiences has been a privileged place of observation as well as self examination.
Every family has some hidden story- some secret(s) and some unspoken rules. My CPE peer group spent our last unit working on genograms and using that to further our understanding of family dynamics.
As a chaplain, it is not uncommon to have a patient share the places of their deepest long unspoken pain, their deepest fear. The confessional nature of the conversation is most sacred. The healing that the patient experiences in the process is sometimes immediate.
More often the transformation occurs gradually and without obvious markers of change until reflected upon much later by the speaker.
This is most priestly work of which I am engaged in, with peers and with patients. The work begins with personal assessment and reflections on my own life narrative and flows outward from that awareness.
My offering learned from this work flows as poetry, not prose.
The most difficult work of the chaplain is resisting the urge to "solve a problem". The truly difficult work is to remain present, open and attentive to the emotions which have been bottled up, sometimes for many decades. The chaplain often must resist the impulse to rush to judgment, or condemnation. To truly allow the patient to give voice to the secret of the self which has so long been concealed is the act of emancipation, liberation, and healing the prophets spoke of and Christ enjoined his followers to mimic.
One C.P.E. Supervisor enjoins students with the aphorism "conversation is medicine".
Monday, September 30, 2013
First Impressions
When you spot a person with a garment label peeking up at their neckline what do you do?
- Point it out immediately.
- Introduce yourself, begin casual conversation and then casually slip in a “oh, by the way, I love your outfit. Did you know our tag is breaking out?
- Ignore it.
- Introduce yourself, begin casual conversation and then casually slip in a “oh, by the way, I love your outfit. I hope you will forgive me pointing out that your tag is sticking out. I don’t know about you but that is my personal pet-peeve.”
Saturday, September 7, 2013
Third Year Climber
San Diego 911 Memorial Stair Climb is celebrating it's third year as a signature Fundraising event for the San Diego Relief Association's Benevolent fund, Firefighter Aid. It is the only 911 Memorial Stair Climb in Southern California.
Every day I think about taking a big pass on my morning workout I recall those 401 men and women who died responding to the aid of the occupants in the twin towers.
No, I'm not an athlete by any sense of the word. I do however, have the ability to push myself to achieve the goal... Make it to floor 30..and walk to the elevator. Each time I make it to the top I get the unique pleasure of connecting with real heroes from across Southern California. And then repeat times two. All together, it's about an hour workout. AND we all talk about the people who we are walking to remember. WE have vowed to #NEVERFORGET
So, Tomorrow is the big day! And I've been really low key on putting the fundraising squeeze on anyone.
But now, with only 25 hours before the start, I'm asking, begging, everyone to help me make my fundraising goal.
It's a tiny goal; just $250.00. that's not even $3.00 per floor of the two towers destroyed.
Its' not even $1.00 for every public servant that died in the towers on September 11, 2001.
Sheesh... now that I look at it that way, I really should have set a higher goal, because I know how generous all of my friends and family are.
So, please, can you help me make my goal? You can find my fundraising page right HERE
the whole story of who I'm climbing with and who I will
You can go directly to the donation kiosk here
I'll actually be part of the most awesome team of climbers imaginable this year, Team Mission Possible is being lead by my granddaughter.
The Teams Competion
and here are a couple more pictures from the first year...
Hailey singing America The Beautiful with her grandpa Flint
Before I ascended the Bay Hilton in 2011 with my always best cheerleader!
Kids all got to have a great time doing fire rescue activities.
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
World as Parish
Why am I thinking about such an analogy? Well, quite simple really. If you read back in this blog you'll find this little post about the start of a church community through the use of Facebook.
John Wesley found himself stirring up things quite a bit in his day. He often took advantage of invitations to fill a pulpit to preach messages that conflicted the hearers. The established Church of England had become a place for people of wealth and position, but the average man rarely stepped a foot across the sanctuary threshold.
That led to his rather unorthodox practice of preaching in fields, and public spaces on many occasion. Not only did he preach, but he even conducted Eucharistic celebrations to serve the gathered people.
What do some outside the box priests and congregants do today?
They do "Church outside the church". Sometimes to skid row. Sometimes in the subways.
They take rituals of meaning to the people instead of waiting for the people to come to them.
During John Wesley's life he spend a great deal of time visiting the sick and prisoners as well as encouraging members of the Methodist classes to do so. His admonition, "Do all the good you can, as often as you can to as many people as you can for as long as you can." With more people claiming to be spiritual but not religious, institutional chaplains are more likely to encounter people with a need for someone to listen and offer a ministry of compassionate presence. In my own continuing discernment process I have run toward, away and then returned to this significant place of ministry, recognizing that as a chaplain, I serve from the place of my own spiritual strength, not with an intent to change the existing set of beliefs, only to help the other name them and find strength for their journey.
John was known for his intense daily schedule and his ability to maintain correspondence with a vast number of people both in and outside the Methodist Movement. He was a giant in the field of mentoring in the Christian life for both men and women. He wrote tracts that were published to help the preachers and class leaders, to equip them for their work of forming faithful disciples.
What do we do today?
BLOG! Self-publishing has become easier than ever.
We no longer even have to spend money on paper, ink or printing labor.
All a person really needs to begin to form a community online is to spend time on the computer, and engage with other people.
Being open to the Divine Dance and relevant relationships that the Holy Spirit may be inviting us into seems, at least to me, to be the key.
But one little item still seems incomplete...
Human beings need tangible human contact.
While all this online communication helps create familiarity, when the world around you begins to fall apart at the seams, most people need all their available senses to be engaged. The touch of a hand, the calm presence of another person sitting across a cup of tea or coffee. Even someone that will be moved to offer a prayer of intercession. These things cannot be fulfilled through an online community.
And in this respect, I think that John Wesley would urge each of us to find ways to commune often around a table, with Chalice and Paten, as well as Scripture to complete the work of growing in grace and giftedness to the Glory of God.
How that looks on the ground might look like one of these in the New Monasticism or in might look more like this gathering around the table in Brooklyn.
One thing I am pretty certain of. The missional focus will look beyond just the individual's needs and wants. The missional focus for the core of any such group will have a passionate interest is doing more than "hatching, matching, and dispatching" of people to "meet their maker" at the end of human life, and it won't be entirely consumed in what simply makes the members feel comfortable. It will be a place where people become proficient in listening to the Holy as She whispers and swirls among the people gathered.This kind of community will be a fountain of healing and holy living, inviting all who are thirsty to drink from the well of the Living Water.
Just my thoughts...
What do you think?
Monday, June 17, 2013
How long, O Lord?
"How long, O Lord?"
A timeless cry from deep within.
The ancients, the moderns, the traditionalists, the emergents,
The 99%, and even I, myself, as I lean into my pastoral call
"How long, O Lord?"
I am in a long season of waiting.
While I make myself useful in serving here and there
I have been waiting patiently for the acceptance and
approval of the application for authorization of an
aspiring entrepreneur to commence offering
Hospice services.
Since January....
Ministry Midwifing can be tediously boring;
nearly draining all reserves of patience and hope.
Every day requires revisiting the confident words of the applicant,
"We aren't looking for anyone else. You are our chaplain."
Just in case you have been wondering with me
"How long, O Lord.?"
I am told we are progressing, moving closer to the goal.
"Soon."
to which i think to myself... wasn't that among the famous quotes of Jesus?
Thursday, May 30, 2013
On Call
Good question:
The answer:
First you find a community that will provide you spiritual and emotional support, acknowledge as many of your gifts as possible and then put your whole self into the life and ministry of the community.
Next, you look around, and see if there is anywhere that needs a chaplain, hoping that it will be in a place that intends to provide a fair wage.
Then, when you realize that the industry standard for Acute Health care settings is 4 units of Clinical Pastoral Education. This is 3 more than were required for denominational service prior to deployment as a pastor. So you look for a setting that has the need for chaplains but lacks the financial resources at present to compensate their department personnel.
And that is where I am. For the present I serve as an On Call Chaplain in such a location.
In that capacity I've been called in to serve in some very special and holy events.
I cover Sunday Day, Monday Night, and from time to time covering for another chaplain other days.
15:00 Sunday... reading...
"chaplain, this is ICU nurse... we have a patient here, her family and she requested pastoral care.. please come"
17:20 Sunday..I just sat down to eat dinner..
"Chaplain, this is ICU nurse.. we have a family whose mother just passed away. Could you come to be with them?"
10:45 - Sunday... the Great Thanksgiving just about to start...
"Chaplain, this is ED Secretary.. we have a family, the 19 year old granddaughter just died..Could you come be with the family?"
16:00 - Sunday..just finished writing...
"Chaplain, this is ED Secretary.. we have a patient in critical condition, his daughter is here all by herself, could you come be with her?"
10:20 - Sunday...our priest is starting the homily..
"Chaplain, this is Nurse D in the ED... I have a patient who really could use someone to talk to..can you come by today? It's not urgent, just whenever you can come would be fine.."
18:40 -midweek...meeting just about to begin...
"Chaplain, this is ICU Secretary... we have a terminal extubation about to be performed, and family present. Please come..."
19:05 midweek...class about to start...
"Chaplain, this is ED Secretary.... can you come be with family. Patient died and daughter with mother, they don't have any faith community to call on."
08:15 Sunday...the Gospel is just now being read...
"Chaplain, this is ED Secretary....there is a full arrest being brought in..lots of family coming..can you come please?"
Holy places that require quiet calm, an ability to think quickly but speak carefully. Sometimes the discovery phase in the initial minutes are so raw and intense with emotions I wonder, "Lord, what's happening here, really?" "Who are all these people? How do they relate to one another and what is their connection to the admitted patient?"
This is holy and sacred space filled with the raw intensity of emotions of people whose hearts are broken at the very moment they hear the words "I'm so sorry, we tried everything, as long as we could, but we weren't able to revive .." and the wails and keening that rises up in the space sends a gentle shiver through me. But in that space, at that moment, my job is to witness, silently, respectfully, and be fully present to their grief, not to engage in agonizing or shutting them down immediately. Not to force my theological positions upon their experience. Their experience is wholly theirs as one of loss and initial shock. My task in that time is to listen for every clue that will help me put together some sense of how they relate to some spiritual framework, some belief system that will sustain them through the coming hours and days.Only after I've observed patiently can I begin to ask questions, to dig a bit into history and belief for the family.
This is so different from congregational ministry in one critical way. In chaplaincy, I cannot presume that my spiritual worldview is at all like the patient and family's spiritual worldview. In a parish I've already built a relationship for dealing with the death, through our worship and study together. In the Acute care setting my role is to assist the family in connecting with their chosen pastoral relationship to continue the grieving process. In the hospital I might be able to directly relate words of comfort due to our shared general faith preference, but not always. I must never become offended if the family indicates a desire for help from their own clergy..in fact, my role is really to help facilitate that connection if at all possible.
Only after a respectable space has been given for their emotions to flow will I begin to find words and voice. Every event presents itself as a free form expression of lamentation at the initial announcement of death. Only after listening and observing can I begin to ask them about the sources of strength and hope for themselves and the departed. Never until I hear them name those sources can I begin to engage them more deeply in finding their solace and hope.
Sometimes I falter, and feel that I have failed to wait long enough in silence to them. "Did I flinch?" I might ask myself later. Flinching means that I exhibited a subtle inability to be calm and present in their anguish.
After every call, I'm filled with a sense of reassurance that this was the one important event of the day I for which I set aside the time to be available..to be On Call, to live out my call, to seek and serve Christ in every person. The yogic greeting NAMASTE clearly fit the unfolding encounter..The Divine in Me acknowledges the Divine in You.