The Constance of Change
Article by Malcolm Marler
My daily work is teaching me that change is the only constant in my life.
Things don’t go according to my calendar on many days, and today was one of them. I’m learning that change gives me an opportunity to think, to pray, to be creative, and to listen. If I’m open to learning these needed lessons, that is.
I thought I was going to start today with a staff meeting, send applications to potential students for our summer Clinical Pastoral Education Program, attend a committee meeting on Patient Satisfaction, and supervise one of my volunteers in her work in one of our ICU waiting rooms.
I’m learning that some days, one out of four is not so bad.
A call came into our office about an employee who died suddenly during the night, and the co-workers needed support. I spent a few hours with caring, medical professionals who were in shock and grieving.
And yet they had to continue taking care of their patients and families as if today was the same as yesterday. But it was not the same. A person they loved for decades was not at their side according to the schedule posted on the door. Just yesterday, this co-worker was doing her job with expertise and compassion, teasing her colleagues, and going home to her husband and children.
But today was different. Very different.
When you are a patient or family member, it is easy to forget that the medical staff standing in front of you are people with lives, issues, and feelings too. We are all the same. Some days we are patients, some days we are medical professionals.
But every day, we are part of the human family. We love, we die, we grieve, too. And so today, I reflect on what this change can teach me.
How does this change the way I think or live? How do I pray for my colleagues? How can I be creative in my compassion and care of them? And how can I listen to what they can teach me?
God help our patients, families, and today, especially our employees. God’s peace, comfort, and strength to all of you.
Malcolm
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.
Malcolm Marler is Director of Pastoral Care for UAB Hospital in Birmingham, AL. In addition to his interest in spirituality and health, he loves to identify physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of persons, then design and build programs that help meet those needs. His warmth and humor along with his powerful message of hope and grace is his greatest strength. Malcolm grew up in Alabama and attended Clemson University (S.C.) on a football scholarship as a defensive back where he graduated with a B.A. degree in Psychology. He is a graduate of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, KY with Master of Divinity and Doctor of Ministry degrees. Malcolm lives on a lake in North Alabama with the love of his life, Mary Bea Sullivan. He has two open-hearted, loving stepchildren, Brendan and Kiki who are both freshman in college. For more information or to contact Malcolm, please visit www.MalcolmMarler.com.
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