I realized something the other day whilst thinking of this blog (that I have failed to add to in almost a year); I have been so worried about producing something profound that I felt nothing was good enough. Well I apologize, because that fails my whole premise of simply trying to state observations and vent frustrations.
So here it is, I'm DONE trying to be DIVINE. As a matter of fact we should all quit trying to be divine.
My observation is this: "spiritual" people forget that they are just people like the rest of us, especially when they are giving advice.
Most of us have heard the phrase "too heavenly minded to be any earthly good" but no one told me that it can sneak up on you. I was a chaplain this summer in hospice care. My goal was to bring hope and comfort to those in a difficult time. And isn't that what anyone truly wants when hard times hit? HOPE?? Well all the advice and spiritual thinking in the world does no good to someone staring at death and disease, or stumbling through Alzheimer's or dementia. Honestly it does no good for anyone who feels no control over their life or the situation. So what is the solution? How do you provide hope? It is amusingly simple. Be yourself. Be confused, be unsure, but ABOVE ALL just be present with them. If I may share some advice and issue a challenge at the same time:
it is not the divine-ness of your answers that will comfort people. It will be in
your own humanness and craziness. So be human. Let your craziness hang out, and don't be afraid of rejection. Sometimes people need to excise some control during a time when they feel they have none.
