Being A Chaplain While Standing on One F

ON BEING A CHAPLAIN WHILE STANDING ON ONE FOOT

December 9, 2003 - Revised Wednesday, July 01, 2009

If the same curious stranger who approached Hillel and asked him to teach him the Torah while standing on one foot instead asked the sage to teach him all one needs to know to be a chaplain, Hillel would have found a better verse than “Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Lev. 19:18) Without a doubt, Hillel would have hopped to Psalm 24:5 and described the ideal chaplain as “One who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood, and has not sworn deceitfully.” The rest, as always, remains commentary.

It is that simple. All a chaplain needs to know is how to keep his hands clean and his mouth shut. Keep both in mind and a chaplain will do little harm and much good. The rest, as always, is commentary.

It is very simple but also very deep. Hillel’s verse does not stand alone. It is embedded in a Psalm that asks who is worthy of standing in God’s holy place and promises blessing and success to whoever passes the test. The preceding verse asks, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? And who may stand in His holy place?” and the following verse promises, “He shall receive a blessing from the Lord, And righteousness from the God of his salvation.”

To the Psalmist God’s holy place was the Beit HaMikdash, the ancient Temple in Jerusalem and he addressed his words to the prospective pilgrim. One does not come to the Temple to perform rituals nor does one come as a sightseer. One enters the Temple as part of a spiritual journey and one leaves with the sense of fulness and peace that comes from experiencing God’s presence. There is nothing that one can bring into God’s presence. The pilgrim’s hands are clean, his heart is open and his tongue is without pious platitudes. The pilgrim has come to receive blessings and not to give gifts.

We, chaplains, are like pilgrims. We, too, are on a journey to God’s holy place. Nevertheless, we find God’s presence not in the Temple but alongside those who are ill, infirm, and battered by the trials of life. We seek God’s presence in hospitals, nursing homes, mental hospitals, clinics, prisons -- wherever the ill of body and spirit may be found. We understand that God’s shekinah, holy presence, rests on the burdened and to receive God’s blessing, we must journey to God’s holy place.

We bring nothing more to the encounter than ourselves because there is nothing we can bring. What wisdom can we give to those already standing on the edges of life? Our mouths are shut. All we have to share is our willingness to hear their stories and embrace their insights. Our hands are clean. All we have to offer is our promise not to harm their bodies and their souls.

Our hearts are open. We are willing to be touched by their hurt and their pain and be changed by their hopes and their dreams.

We are not there to say prayers, though they may ask us to pray. We are not there to probe into their lives, though they may tell us more than we thought we could bear. All we need is the courage to climb the mountain of fear and doubt to stand with them in their place and allow it to become God’s holy place.

If we are fortunate, our meeting will be blessed. We will witness a bit of God’s world from a perspective we could not otherwise have gained. We will be in a place that we could otherwise never have entered.

While sitting, visiting, and listening to the voices of the ill, the hurt, the lost, and the frightened, our quiet presence can help create a moment of peace in their and our terribly noisy lives. If only we keep our hands clean and our mouths closed, we can be chaplains and the rest will be commentary.