Department of Spiritual Care Michigan Medicine

10/13/2021

Hope in Waiting at Evenings at the Hospital Rick Durance, Spiritual Care Intern As an evening shift chaplain, I see a lot of waiting. By the time I end up walking the floors, the day is almost over. Our day-time staff are busily finishing those last visits or last emails before they leave. Many of our families are packing up to return home....

Hope in Waiting at Evenings at the Hospital Rick Durance, Spiritual Care Intern As an evening shift chaplain, I see a lot of waiting. By the time I end up walking the floors, the day is almost over…

08/29/2021

Want to join in worship online?

Visit http://www.mmspiritualcare.org to access a variety of online religious resources!

08/20/2021

It is easy to feel overwhelmed with all of the crisis that comes across our newsfeeds. This week's blessing comes from poet and priest John O'Donohue, and it calls us back to the peace that is within ourselves. Full blessing below.

When the rhythm of the heart becomes hectic,
Time takes on the strain until it breaks;
Then all the unattended stress falls in
On the mind like an endless, increasing weight.

The light in the mind becomes dim.
Things you could take in your stride before
Now become laborsome events of will.

Weariness invades your spirit.
Gravity begins falling inside you,
Dragging down every bone.

The tide you never valued has gone out.
And you are marooned on unsure ground.
Something within you has closed down;
And you cannot push yourself back to life.

You have been forced to enter empty time.
The desire that drove you has relinquished.
There is nothing else to do now but rest
And patiently learn to receive the self
You have forsaken in the race of days.

At first your thinking will darken
And sadness take over like listless weather.
The flow of unwept tears will frighten you.

You have traveled too fast over false ground;
Now your soul has come to take you back.

Take refuge in your senses, open up
To all the small miracles you rushed through.

Become inclined to watch the way of rain
When it falls slow and free.

Imitate the habit of twilight,
Taking time to open the well of color
That fostered the brightness of day.

Draw alongside the silence of stone
Until its calmness can claim you.
Be excessively gentle with yourself.

Stay clear of those vexed in spirit.
Learn to linger around someone of ease
Who feels they have all the time in the world.

Gradually, you will return to yourself,
Having learned a new respect for your heart
And the joy that dwells far within slow time

for more resources related to Spirituality and Spiritual care, check our website: http://www.mmspiritualcare.org

08/06/2021

For our Friday blessing this week, enjoy this traditional Irish blessing:

May the blessings of light be upon you,
Light without and light within.
And in all your comings and goings,
May you ever have a kindly greeting
From them you meet along the road.

For additional resources related to spirituality and spiritual care, visit our website: http://www.mmspiritualcare.org

08/02/2021

For this week's meditation, choose an object to be the center of your focus. It might be helpful for the object to be something that you can hold or touch while you are meditating.

Begin by taking deep breaths, and centering your attention on the object. Consider everything you can sense about the object, what does it feel like? Does it make sounds? What does it look like? Allow your thoughts to center on the experience of the object, no need to analyze.

Continue breathing steadily. If thoughts enter your mind, notice them and allow them to move on. When you lose focus, return to the object. Continue for as long as is comfortable for you.

This style of meditation might be helpful for tactile learners, or those for whom touch can increase focus. Enjoy!

08/02/2021

For this week's meditation, choose an object to be the center of your focus. It might be helpful for the object to be something that you can hold or touch while you are meditating.

Begin by taking deep breaths, and centering your attention on the object. Consider everything you can sense about the object, what does it feel like? Does it make sounds? What does it look like? Allow your thoughts to center on the experience of the object, no need to analyze.

Continue breathing steadily. If thoughts enter your mind, notice them and allow them to move on. When you lose focus, return to the object. Continue for as long as is comfortable for you.

This style of meditation might be helpful for tactile learners, or those for whom touch can increase focus. Enjoy!

For additional resources related to spirituality, check out our website:
http://www.mmspiritualcare.org

07/23/2021

In this week's blessing we think about those who work to provide us with food. Farmers are often forgotten, but so necessary for the flourishing of everyone! Enjoy the blessing below, written by John O'Donohue:

For the Farmer
Before the human mind could warm to itself, the hands of the farmer had first to work, creating clearances in the earth's thicket:
cut into the thorn-screens of wild briar, uproot the clusters of scrub-bush, dig out loose rock until a field emerged whose clay could be loosened and softened to take seed and bring forth crops.

The earth was able to trust the intention of the farmer's hands, opening it, softening it, molding it into a domain of shelter and nourishment. It waits through its secluded winter for his imagination of springtime to feed into its darkened heart new seeds for it to work its mind on, until the harvest gathers and thickens with golden corn, honey-scented hay, ripe red and dark purple fruit.

In his mind, his fields become presences; the feel of their colors, the brace of their walls have greened his thought and tempered his heart.

His eyes can read the animal atmosphere; and see through their silence to sense their minds. His skilled hands can guide calves and lambs to birth. Out among his animals, in rain, cold, and snow, talking to them in affectionate callings, something in him tuned into their rhythm.

In these times when geography becomes virtual and developers urbanize the earth, may the farmer continue to hold true ground, keeping the intimate knowing of the clay alive, nourishing us with the fruits of the earth, serving as custodian of that precious threshold where the rhythm of nature with its serene pulse and sublime patience restores our minds.

For more resources related to spirituality, visit our website:
http://www.mmspiritualcare.org