The Rev. Deacon Larry Jesion writes in the Diocese of Georgia’s newsletter, From the Field:
For the past year, I have been functioning as a hospital chaplain through an Augusta Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) course. I have been humbled and privileged to witness God at work in the lives of patients and families and would like to share one of those times with you.
For patient confidentiality, I will call this patient “Jesus.” I received a request to visit Jesus in the shock trauma unit; I was told that he was recovering from a work accident and surgery and could not speak as he had a tracheotomy to help him breathe. His wife died a few months earlier; he’d had no visitors. “Oh, and by the way, you will need a translator as he does not speak English.”
I called the interpreter to come with me to meet Jesus. During our visits, Jesus wrote in Spanish, the interpreter read the message to me, and as I spoke my words were translated for him. I was struck by how this man constantly praised God for being so good to him. He expressed how he missed being able to sing His praises. He expressed how lonely he was. But through it all he continued to thank God.
Image by sana, via Flickr • http://is.gd/HxWjY9
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Amber D. Noel, M.Div., directs the public-facing programs of The Living Church, including the podcast, events, and the Partner program. Outside of work, she is a writer and enjoys life in Atlanta.
