Caring Enough to Share Our Reality

Georg Pencz | Christ Healing the Leper, from The Story of Christ

The first patient I ever met with as a student chaplain had leprosy. It’s now called Hansen’s Disease, but my preceptor told me he had leprosy. I sucked in my breath when the assignment was given. I was frightened but was willing to serve.

Before entering the patient’s room, I donned layers of PPE. I trusted the equipment, but I was still afraid of what I would encounter.

The patient was a young man. He was lying in bed, looking out the window. I introduced myself to him, and he thanked me for visiting. I asked him how I could help, and he told me to read scripture, any scripture. There was a Bible by the bed. I picked it up and randomly opened it to a page and began to read.

It was the Gospel of Mark. Jesus was healing a leper. I hesitated as I read, but decided to keep going. The young man’s eyes opened wide for a moment and then he closed them, listening. When I got up to leave, he thanked me. He welcomed me to visit again.

I witnessed this young man’s stoic suffering. I sat in the room long enough to give him something that helped his spirits. Later, I worried about him. I learned that the patient was being transferred to a hospital with a higher level of care. I prayed for his healing.

To witness the intense suffering of a stranger in person is not like seeing it in the media. The news shows us suffering from around the world, which we watch from a safe distance and only for as long as we choose to engage. Reality is different. Reality is unpredictable. It has smells, sights, and noises that shake us, move us, and scare us. Reality is intense. Media is good for sharing information, but it does not provide understanding. Only reality can offer knowing.

The intimacy of real life is irreplaceable, and it feeds our souls. We need it. Without reality, we grow angry, arrogant, and impotent to serve. Technology is not a stand-in for living. When we are worried about other people’s suffering, we must listen to the stirrings in our hearts as to how to respond- how to act in real time. Sending a few bucks to a charity or a candidate is inadequate. We need to show up.

Reading the Gospel of Mark to a man with Hensen’s disease is a memory that will stay with me. I didn’t do anything special. I was frightened and awkward. But I showed up and witnessed this man’s pain. I cared enough to share his reality.