Daily Devotion - Tuesday, October 27

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

World Series Week and Pastoral Care Week
Is it possible to create devotional reflections out of these two events?

“Teach me your way, O Lord. Lead me on a level path.”
--A song from an ancient seeker

Tuesday: Where is the ballgame?

As I write this devotion (October 23), the American League champion hasn’t been determined. We do not know the schedule for the World Series; it all depends on how the ALCS mystery is solved. By the time you read this devotion that mystery will be solved, but at this very moment, no one knows where.

In some ways the question “where is the ballgame?” can be reframed as we think about “Supportive Presence,” the theme for Pastoral Care Week 2009. Across the country and around the world, many of my colleagues in pastoral care continually ask, “Where is the best place for me to place my supportive presence?” Sometimes that place is directly with the patient, other times it is with the family, other times it is with the staff.

I believe there is healing for everything. Sometimes we need to examine medical questions, sometimes we need to examine psychological questions, sometimes we need to examine spiritual questions, and sometimes we need to have a multi-disciplinary approach to healing. As caregivers learn to be a supportive presence, good decisions can and will be made in the best interests of the patient.

As you sit back and let the commentators take you out to the World Series ballgame (wherever it is), allow your spirit to do some work as you contemplate what it means to be a supportive presence.

Have a very good day.

Prayer: Holy God, take me to the ballgames I need to play. Amen.

--Ben Keckler
10.27.09