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‘In sickness and in health……’
By definition the ministry of workplace chaplaincy takes place … in the workplace. But there are occasions when members of staff require a little more attention than they would ordinarily receive.
For instance, at bereavement or when a serious illness has occurred and this might warrant a call to the person’s home or to a hospital when it is appropriate, and usually with the agreement and co-operation of the employers.
A labourer who was in his forties suffered a serious stroke a number of weeks ago and I felt that it was a situation where a visit would be appreciated by the man and by his employers.
He was a popular guy at work, ‘one of the boys’ (or bhoys as he is a Celtic fanatic!) and in the first week or two he was visited by quite a number of his workmates. He had never really been very responsive to me during any contact we had at work and I think that my first visit or two to the hospital were quite difficult for him, particularly as he was still quite debilitated by the illness. He has recently been moved to another unit where he is now undergoing therapy which we hope will get him mobile again.
On my latest visit I asked him during conversation (more fluent now!) if anybody had been to see him recently from ‘the work.’ ‘Only you’ he said, and I was quite touched by the fact that he saw me as having come from ‘the work’ and that he had recognised in his own way that there was a commitment from me towards our new relationship: I wasn’t going away! It will be a long haul ahead for us both, but it will be worth it.
Another man had a breakdown in October and was admitted to the psychiatric hospital. He and I had been on excellent terms when he was well, but he was now absolutely shattered and it was almost impossible to get anywhere with him – his head was down, he wept uncontrollably, and he saw no hope for the future whatsoever.
This went on for week after week. His domestic situation meant that his family were not coming near him and he had very few other visitors. I was pleased that the hospital chaplain responded to my request to give him a visit or two; I think it doubled the number!
Christmas and New Year were spent in that hospital, and the months dragged on, seemingly with little change. Until one day recently when I arrived and found a new man! What a joy to sit with him and to hear him talk incessantly, and to learn that he hopes to be out in seven to ten days.
He will have to find a new home and face his circumstances again, but I hope that he will know that I will be with him in this, just as I have been there for him during these long dark months.
What a privilege we have as those who have been entrusted to this wonderful ministry.
Peter Donald