Monday, August 23, 2004
As a trauma chaplain, working with people of different faiths,
I empirically tested those three:
how ritual (however impromptu or improvised in an intensive care ward),
in a gathered community (however small around a bed side),
combined with love and hope in an ethic of care,
is awesome, can work miracles.
Those three generic things make pain more tolerable,
make letting go—even of life—easier, bring new creation out of chaos.
My now reasoned, tested, and streamlined commitment to the religious enterprise is this:
The content of the teaching is far less important than
the gathering of a community,
the practice of a ritual,
and an ethic of caring behavior.
Rev. Barbara Jamestone PhD. 8/22/04 UU Gainesville,Fl.
I empirically tested those three:
how ritual (however impromptu or improvised in an intensive care ward),
in a gathered community (however small around a bed side),
combined with love and hope in an ethic of care,
is awesome, can work miracles.
Those three generic things make pain more tolerable,
make letting go—even of life—easier, bring new creation out of chaos.
My now reasoned, tested, and streamlined commitment to the religious enterprise is this:
The content of the teaching is far less important than
the gathering of a community,
the practice of a ritual,
and an ethic of caring behavior.
Rev. Barbara Jamestone PhD. 8/22/04 UU Gainesville,Fl.
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