An inconvinient truth.

No this topic doesn't refer to Al Gore, that said, I would like to talk about hospitals and the counselling that most hospitals administer through a Chaplin. I am a regular person with regular thoughts, but when I feel overwhelmed I make my way to my local hospital where I find solace and guidance through the ministry of the Chaplaincy, more specifically the spiritual resources associated with that. Although I am no longer an out patient, I still feel a very strong connection to the time I spent as a patient back in 1999 and because I still struggle with those same issues, the community does have resources still available to me, albeit there is now red tape to cross over (in a metaphorical sense) if I still want to be a member of that community (which I am) but to participate in those other things that the hospital offers for people like me.

I am a firm believer in the local church in times of crisis, but what the local church cannot offer in the same way as a hospital, is a bed and doctors for someone who is experiencing a psychological crisis which may have lasting consequences for the person suffering and the family involved. Hence the ministry of the Chaplin. I have tried to develop a relationship with my Chaplin, and I think that although he doesn't know my name, I believe he knows who I am.

I have gone to him several times, just to talk, his name is Don Shields. Back in 1999 I had a patient doctor relationship with the chief of psychiatry at Markham's Hospital, which lead me to seek further help from the programs that the hospital administers. To me, Markham Stouffville Hospital is a second home, I frequently visit the hospital to pray and to seek spiritual guidance, and for that I am thankful. I like being in an environment that is safe, and I still consider myself to be a recovering patient, more than an out patient and thankful for the religious freedoms, and the Chaplaincy that has ministered to me in the past.

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