It started like any other shift… Take report, prioritize call-backs, round through critical care areas and Emergency… The pager has been constantly going off. The incidents I’m responding to are full of emotion and pain and loss. And the house is pretty full tonight, so there’s lots of stressed and grumpy staff to boot. All in all, I guess it’s a pretty normal night.

I handed out all my tissues well before 8 pm and came back to re-stock my pockets… And I just wasn’t ready to go back up on the floor. At first, I wasn’t sure why, until I reflected on the stories that were shared and the prayers that were offered in response. Tonight the pain and loss are very deep and the shock to the families so real, so raw that you can see the lines of pain and anguish on the faces of the staff and the visitors. I stopped to regroup and pray. I wasn’t ready to get back in the dance yet. It’s the way it works sometimes…

As I sat and stared at my cubicle wall, refilling my quota of tissues (and procrastinating) a couple of nurses came by with ice cream treats for Nurses Week. No, I’m not a nurse… But that little gift lifted my Spirits. Ice cream… What’s not to like? 😉 And then they asked that, in return, if I could give them a blessing… Which of course, I could.

In a quiet space I stopped to thank God with my sisters, remembering that if God is present in the Bread and Cup, then when we invite the Spirit’s Presence, is there in ice cream treats too.

Thanks be to God…

God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive God there with gratitude in that Sacrament.
(Evelyn Underhill)