Today at lunch, my previous campus minister Cathy M. shared the best image for chaplaincy: Hospital chaplaincy is like being a firefighter... everyone else is running away from the building, but you run in. Someone's in there, and they're glad that you're coming.
Indeed, patients often do feel like they've been abandoned in a burning house. In a myriad of ways, those around them may have unintentionally run away from the flames of hurt and confusion. Someone is realizing they'll never walk again, that they're not going to see their children grow up, that they're dying - but the friend doesn't visit, not wanting to intrude or ask awkward questions. The sibling is there in the hospital room yet keeps busy, distracted on a laptop researching medical options and opinions. Thus friends and families sometimes flee from the discomfort of tough, emotional conversations by taking refuge in distance and logistics.
The chaplain doesn't know what's inside that burning house any better than anyone else, but this is precisely the time when he or she can serve by going in rather than out, towards rather than away.
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