Tending Body Life
For deacons, elders, and others in caring
ministry and spritual leadership.
Bringing the Word Into Your
Visit
By Jane Hoober Peifer
A pastor, who is a two-time cancer survivor, confessed to me: “I have rather bad memories of Scripture usage in pastoral care. When I was a patient and not feeling well, it seemed that ministers in particular had a need to read Scripture and offer a prayer regardless. I even had ministers wake me up from sleep to ‘do their thing.’ At times when all I wanted to do was puke, I had to endure the reading of Scripture. The only good part of it was that it was usually the last thing a pastor did before leaving, so at least I could take comfort in the fact that the visit was coming to an end.”
It’s not about you
We who are caregivers shudder to think that what we intend to be comforting
may not always be the case. How can we avoid just “doing our thing” and
yet be ready with the Word when the Spirit prompts us? A place to begin is
to be spiritually grounded. Henri J. M. Nouwen, in his book, Reaching Out,
suggests that too often our programs of training for ministry work to make
us better equipped and more skillful, yet don’t do a good job of leaving
large spaces for the Spirit to work.
“Real training for service asks for a hard and often painful process of self-emptying,” Nouwen writes. “The main problem of service is to be the way without being in the way…. Training for service is not a training to become rich but to become voluntarily poor; not to fulfill ourselves but to empty ourselves; not to conquer God but to surrender to his saving power…. Our fulfillment is in offering emptiness, our usefulness in becoming useless, our power in becoming powerless.”
I am drawn to these words when I think about pastoral care because so often I feel powerless in the face of another’s trauma. I’m tempted to come up with a 1, 2, 3 method for dealing with particular situations, so that the next time, I’ll know what to do and say. Nouwen suggests the place of powerlessness is exactly where we need to be as we make way for God’s Spirit to minister to the one God calls us to care for.
God is at work before you arrive
What does this mean for Word-inspired pastoral care? If you cultivate your
spiritual readiness in this way, you may still be called to share Scripture
with the person you’re visiting. But you will not assume anything when
you approach the hospital bed or the front door.
Instead, in the course of your conversation you will ask, “Would you like me to read Scripture?” If the answer is no, do not be offended. If the answer is yes, let the person tell you what she or he would like to hear, and be ready with some ideas, if the person doesn’t. Another question to ask is: “Is there a Bible story or biblical character that you keep thinking about during these days?” The person may not even be aware of why that story or character has been on his or her mind, and you can discover it together.
For effective use of Scripture, these additional suggestions might be helpful:
- Have ready a catalog of texts with which you are familiar and can call upon as appropriate. Comforting texts could include Psalm 23 or Isaiah 43:1-3a (here, try substituting the person’s name for “O Jacob”). When people are feeling fearful, try Psalm 56; Jeremiah 17:7-8; Luke 1:26-38. For times of lamentation try Psalms 6, 10, 55, 77, or 80.
- While you are with the person, you may wish to discern a “breath prayer” together, taken from a Scripture text. In the midst of pain and trauma, a few words that can be repeated often can provide comfort and centering—“God is my refuge,” for example, or “The Lord is my shepherd.”
- Prepare a tape of guided prayer to be used at will after your visit. Such prayers can incorporate Scripture passages, along with questions or suggestions to guide meditation on them.
To use Scripture well in pastoral care requires that I prepare myself through prayer before the visit. I must take time to listen to what God might have me “do” during this visit. Then, having done that, I can go forward with confidence and trust that the Spirit will work.
Jane Hoober Peifer is pastor of Blossom Hill Mennonite Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania.