Hip replacement operations are very common these days and,
thankfully, they are generally very successful. Well, such a major
operation was experienced by myself when I was a patient in Abergele
Hospital this July. It has also been said with some justification that
hospital staff are themselves, frequently, the most anxious of patients;
and as one whose past ministry has very largely been spent around
hospital wards, I was no exception.
Indeed, over many years, I had accumulated quite a few positive
phrases which I used to dish out first in St. Luke’s General and
Psychiatric Hospital in Huddersfield and then, much later as a Senior
Chaplain for the Diocese of Aberdeen and Orkney. Indeed, I would pray
and remind patients that good can come out of evil, that sunshine can
come out of suffering, and – the most frequent saying of all! – God does
not will it, but temporally allows it that we end up on our backs so as
to be able to look up to Him! Yes, upset for a time to be set up for
eternity!
Well, the night before my operation I realized that I must swallow my
own words which were never offered glibly though they might have
appeared that way. So – it was no use sweating and turning! The evening
was a most pleasant one and I have always felt the closeness of God
while walking along hospital wards and corridors late on at night. Words
of S. Baring-Gould’s hymn came to my mind: “Comfort every sufferer lying
late in pain” yes, and another verse as well; “Jesus give the weary calm
and sweet repose, with Thy tenderest blessing may their eyelids close”.
Indeed, as yet other verses of hymns flooded into my soul from past
memory it began to appear as if there was a tremendous sense of
illumination all over. Yes, and not least when I walked near the woods
outside.
Indeed, to those of you familiar with such an ethereal setting as
Abergele Hospital you will appreciate the calmness I felt on that late
summer evening where wildlife is so close, and in the words of the same
hymn, “Birds and beasts and flowers soon will be asleep”. But then for
some reason I couldn’t understand, a section of scripture kept coming
back to me. The words were those attributed to David before the temple
in Jerusalem was built: “I have loved O Lord the beauty of Thy House and
the Place where Thy glory dwelleth”.
Well, I thought, the outside of the hospital chapel nearby, might do
well with a few buckets of paint, and the interior is hardly – with all
the best will in the world - a place of beauty, so I made my way back in
the late peacefulness of the night and prepared myself for the surgeon’s
knife, as well as the anaesthetist’s epidural, to occur first thing the
next day.
Indeed, on being wheeled down to the theatre I suddenly found myself
overcome with deep emotion. The assurance from so many who had
previously assured me of their prayers was somehow reflected through the
members of staff whom I passed on my way down. Indeed, the wards and
corridors appeared spiritually aglow and recollections of words on an
illuminous gift box of the war years flooded my soul: “Put me in the
light all day and I will shine for you all night”. Yes, if you put Jesus
in full light as your Lord in the day, when darkness comes He’ll never
forget you! ‘He’ is true to His word.
.
And then, the final recollection of consciousness followed; on being
manoeuvred into the theatre itself I was aware of genuine folk who were
true and humble people of heart. “Do you mind sitting up forward so that
our friend the anaesthetist can put the needle into your back?” asked a
gentle lady. Well, I must admit I didn’t fancy the idea, and said quite
humorously, that as a past Chaplain I’ve been telling people that the
Almighty allows us to get low that we might look up to Him, that now its
happening to me I sense I’m quite a coward at heart! It was then the
words from this sweet lady, were to the effect that the blessings I had
given out to others were now flooding back this hour to bless me! Then
an icy cold spray was felt on my back - enough to make one jump out of
the trolley! - and then she smiled and said in utter sincerity “God
Bless You”. ‘He did’, and I entered the Land of Nod.
Indeed to ‘come round’ with such a dedicated staff caring for one’s
every need – and nothing too crudely basic being any trouble for them! –
brought me to realise that the quotation of scripture which had kept
coming to me on the previous night was not
referring to some hospital chapel adjacent but rather to the very staff
themselves. Yes, inflated hierarchic structures of past chaplaincy
memory from the 1970’s and 80’s - which I’d known only too well - were
clearly absent in Abergele. There were no inflated egoists of western
tradition instilling fear into patients, as well as giving staff
nightmares through self assuming the role of God! On the contrary, from
the most gracious of senior consultants to the humblest of orderlies I
sensed a mutual respect: a loving spirit that was confirmed in my mind
by an awareness of the numinous which, as a Christian, I chose to call
the radiance and blessing of God the Holy Spirit.
Members of other Faiths have, of course, every right to chose a
different terminology. I only know that wise men once came from the East
in quest of spiritual illumination concerning the Christ child: and I
believe they are still as curious today, and amongst their gifts to the
western world are those of compassion, courtesy and humility which our
western medical heritage has so frequently abysmally lacked to its
shame. As the world shrinks, I love the words of a hymn by the
spiritually perceptive yet physically blind George Mathieson: “Gather us
in thou love that gatherest all; gather our rival Faiths within thy
fold” Indeed, I chose it at my first ordination into the Christian
Ministry in 1964, loving its universalism. Nevertheless, I couldn’t help
but appreciate it when in the late evening hour two fellow patients
opposite me in Ward 8 began to sing “One day at a time sweet Jesus, is
all I’m asking of You”. Yes, and then four or five hymns followed, some
in the euphoria and language of “God’s own country”.
Abergele Hospital is, undoubtedly, proud of its Welsh heritage; and
to awaken in the early morning with the greeting of ‘Bore da’ and offers
of ‘Paned o de’ was, I sense, the final cherry on the cake. Like many
more who cross over its illuminated bridge and enter it’s ethereal
setting I will never forget this haven, and all who have been making it
what it has become today. Of such a spot I can truly say: ‘I have loved
O Lord the habitation of Thy House and the place where Thy Glory
Dwelleth’. (Psalm 26 v8).
P.S: I wish to thank all those many well-wishers who either
contacted Doreen to enquire about me, or who sent me a ‘get well’ card
while I was in hospital. You changed what could have been a most arduous
experience in to a blessed one; and I am forever grateful.
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