ER Theology: a chaplain and post-modern counseling
I used to be a huge ER fan, but stopped watching religiously when I didn’t have a TV in college. So I’m out of the ER loop, but have picked up that they now seem to have a regular chaplain character. I saw a full show a few weeks ago in which she led some weird prayer service without prayers–fascinating, actually, and not all bad. (I’d love to hear more about this chaplain character….)
Well here’s a fascinating clip from an episode called “Atonement” in which the patient wants answers–is literally screaming for answers–and the chaplain only seems to have the resources to ask more questions.
It’s unclear from the short scene if she’s limited by her job description, or personal beliefs, but my heart goes out to the patient. He’s totally right. I’m not expert here, but it seems like such a situation calls for confession in at least two ways. First, the patient–as he is trying to do–should confess his sin. Second, in response to his confession, there needs to be a confession in God who forgives. The dying patient doesn’t need any more questions, as important as they are, but to hear a public confession that Jesus is Lord, and that nothing the patient could do can separate him from Christ’s love.
I don’t know how the chaplain character is in other ER episodes, but kudos to the writers for such a powerful scene.
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This is a tough one — because my first response is to think that the chaplain is doing okay — active listening, not coming down with a bunch of answers for the patient, “I hear that you’re ______”-statements….I think that her supervisor would tell her that she did a fairly decent job…
But there is the question of forgiveness…and confession. Clearly, the types of counseling and active listening with reflective questions was NOT working for this patient. Clearly, this patient needs forgiveness – needs to hear a word of forgiveness.
We don’t know the person who is playing the chaplain, nor do we know their beliefs, etc. However, I think it is okay to expect that they would at least attempt to offer confession/forgiveness to this patient, or be able to refer them to another chaplain who could provide such emotional & spiritual support.
Adam – I agree – kudos does go to the writers for creating such an intense pastoral care situation.
I’ve seen a couple of shows with this character – don’t recall that her faith tradition was clearly defined, but I never got a sense that it was distinctly Christian..so the “new age” on God fits all label the patient sticks her with kind of fits my fuzzy perception of the character in general.
I’ve wondered if she is a Jewish (Reformed) chaplain.
The chaplain has been a love interest (who hasn’t been) for Gates, among other things.
Powerful scene, and as Adam W-C said, the active/reflective tack wasn’t working – and a hearing his confession and offering assurance of God’s love and forgiveness was needed. I found myself wondering if the patient was bringing up things the chaplain had issues with, too. And I wondered if there might be some underlying gender issues/power issues for the patient (women as religious authority figures) but unless I see more of the show don’t know if that is a rabbit trail.
Adam,
I stopped watching ER after it jumped the shark many years ago (and kept bringing people back from incurable diseases…) but this clip was interesting. I think you are right. While I would approach most pastoral care situations with the circumspection that this chaplain did, I think (I hope) I would give this man an opportunity to make a confession and to ask for the forgiveness he is so desperately seeking.
As a fellow lapsed-ER watcher, and a hospital chaplain, I too was interested to see that this chaplain character had been included in recent storylines, and this particular clip is indeed a goodie.
So reflecting as a pastor/chaplain and former actor/director/writer I too felt some sympathy with what the chaplain was trying to do, but also aware (as only spectators can be at times) that this was a situation where non-directive counselling was never going to be sufficient. But I would question whether the simple offer of forgiveness would have been sufficient. Confession, where it is only a matter of an exchange of words, is not enough. What, perhaps, this man needed before coming to the point where he was ready to fully confess, and perhaps more importantly repent, was confrontation. Not being confronted with the idea of hell and a God of judgement… he had a stronger vision of that than the chaplain… but a confrontation as regards the decisions he made in the first place. It is all very well to be sorry when you feel you are on your way to meet the judge, but why did you do those things in the first place. There is a difference between feeling sorry for yourself, as this man seems to be, and being sorry for your sins.
Saying that confession, both in the sense of witnessing to a forgiving God and admitting one’s sins in order to avail of God’s forgiveness, is then the key to peace: in relation to God, others and oneself; with our past, our present and our eternal future.
A related discussion has been occuring on Jaybercrow at http://jaybercrow.furiousthinking.org/?p=24