Tag: surgery

Posted in Ministry, prayer

It’s 6 am on a Thursday. The regular crowd shuffles in.

Posted on by William Douthwaite
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

If at all possible, I try to there when church members are scheduled to arrive for surgery. More often than not, their assigned arrival time is 6:00 am.

Not a problem. I am a morning person. I’m up at that time most days anyway. Most recently though, I and my parishioners (and a few other folks) arrived before the registration person! No problem. We had a few minutes to pray for the doctor and nurses, for the procedure and for the patient. “The prayer of a righteous person has great power” (James 5:16).

I know from experience that things happen quickly. Small talk can wait. We get to the prayer, seek the Lord and call on His name, and then we can converse about the day, the recovery and the future afterwards. Before you know it, you will hear their name called, and they will disappear behind a door with a nurse into the preparation area.

Over the years, I haven’t seen a lot of other clergy at the same-day surgery waiting area. All I know is that those are some of the best moments for ministry. No one pretends to have it all together. We all humbly kneel at the throne of the king, who also happens to be the Great Physician.

I hope someone will be there to pray with me. If nothing else, just to remind me that I’m in good hands.

Posted in Ministry

And one.

Posted on by William Douthwaite

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If I can, I try to meet members of the congregation when they check in at the hospital for surgery. Just to pray and be with them as they wait for their name to be called. Show up times are usually early in the morning, but I’m up early anyway, so I get to about 90%. I’ve been at the local hospital often enough lately that the receptionist commented today, “Oh, he’s here all the time.”

Now that the days are getting shorter but the time hasn’t changed yet, it’s dark, really dark when I arrive. The first wave of patients arrives about 6 am, so the place is already hopping by the time I arrive. Today, the family was there before me, already staged and ready. I immediately get to the prayer; you never know how quickly their name will be called. Then we have time to chat for a bit. Usually other family is there, so I get to meet and get to know them, too. Continue reading “And one.” →

Posted in Grace, Ministry

How strong do you have to be?

Posted on by William Douthwaite

About a week ago, I left early in the morning to meet someone at the hospital who was having surgery that day. As we sat down to talk and pray, she said, “I’m sorry for being such a wimp.” And I thought to myself, “Why do we feel like we must be strong all the time?” When you are about to have surgery and face some of the realities and unknowns of cancer, isn’t it OK to be scared, be weak, and cry? Of all times to feel vulnerable and mortal, this would seem to be one of the most appropriate.

Yet we don’t like to let on that we feel that way. It seems this is especially true of Christians. We’ve convinced ourselves that our faith means we will not be scared, we will not worry, and we will not feel weak. Even if we read numerous Psalms reminding us that God is our refuge and strength, we’d rather dig deep into our own resources rather than have to tap into his. It’s not easy to say that God is your strength and mean it, because it means you are weak, and probably a wimp, too. It’s OK to sing, “I am weak but he is strong” when you’re a kid, but not when you’re grown up.

The apostle Paul figured it out: “When I’m weak, then I’m strong.” Perhaps we need to learn how to be better wimps.