* * * * * * *
One perk of serving as a priest in a parish near teaching hospitals and universities is that I regularly get a front row seat to watch some of the world's smartest people embrace prayer and redemptive work together.
One friend and parishioner, Noel, has trained and studied for decades to be among a few dozen doctors in the United States who can do the kind of pediatric surgery he does. Sometimes his surgeries take over 10 hours. They are complex, intense, and exhausting. And on those days, you can find Noel standing in a hospital break room, praying.
Clipped to the door inside his surgical locker is a liturgy he prays before and during surgery. At the encouragement of his spiritual director, Noel wrote it himself, drawing from the Book of Common Prayer and Scripture he whispers:
“Grant me, oh Lord, for your sake, through the work of your Holy Spirit,
love for my patient,
joy in participating in this work,
peace as I follow your lead,
patience in the trying times of this case,
kindness... to all in the room,
goodness in this difficult task,
faithfulness to have integrity in the details even when no one else but you sees...
and self-control that my own sins of
anger,
anxiety,
and vainglory
would not mar my judgment.”
He prays for his patient by name. And he scrubs back in and continues surgery.
His patients rave about him. One father says simply, “He saved my daughter's life.” But Noel tells me his job is simply a chance to be “a minister of common grace.” So as the sun sets at the end of a long day, Noel completes his work. A child has been helped and healed. And a man takes off his surgical mask and exhales a prayer of thanks that he could participate in God's restoration, that his work can be part of God's own work.
My friend works as one who prays. And prays as one who works.
From: Prayer in the Night, by Tish Harrison Warren – p. 74
No comments:
Post a Comment