Author: Carrie Dameron

Aside

My Christian Nursing Mentor

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Mary Elizabeth O’Brien is an amazing Christian nursing researcher, scholar, and practitioner.  I discovered her book Spirituality in Nursing: Standing on Holy Ground while in grad school. I was researching Spiritual Care for various papers I wrote, as well as implementing Spiritual Care into an Associate Degree Nursing Program and then with The Art and Science of Spiritual Care: Train-the-Trainer project for Nurses Christian Fellowship International. Later, I discovered her other works and have used them as resources for my books and articles.

Sister Mary Elizabeth is a woman of God, a servant for Christ, and an excellent mentor. Even if it is only through her publications. She merges Scripture with the practice of nursing with a humble, compassionate and gracious spirit.  I owe my maturation as a Christian nurse to her and recommend her works be part of a Christian nurses library.

O'Brien books

 Checkout a review for each of O’Brien’s books on my Facebook page.

NCFI Cares: Students of the Master

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One of my favorite things about reading the gospels is how people would just sit at Jesus’s feet and listen to him.  For a moment, imagine sitting at the feet of Jesus as he explained the ancient scriptures in new and refreshing ways. His lectures included every day accounts of work and family as case studies in exploring God’s commands like love and tithing. He would bring applicable wisdom to challenging, confusing topics like marriage and divorce. Even God’s judgment of sin and death were filled with a new light of hope and understanding.

Contemplate the intimacy of his words as he not only spoke to the multitudes on the mountains, or on the sea shores. He spoke personally to each individual as a trusted friend or wise older brother. His language was poignant reverberating with clarity and truth enveloped in compassion and grace.

Jesus was a master teacher, orator (speaker) and mentor, thus we should be master students. Even if we have been Christians for 25 or more years, we can still be master students.

I imagine a master student being a faithful student. In addition to attentively sitting at the Master’s feet, listening and trying to absorb every word from the Teacher.  A master student would approach the discipline of faith as a living practicum focused on Disciple 101. For as a Disciple 101 student, the personal and professional lives are not broken segments of prayer, work, family, and worship; instead the studies merge all activities into a life-time internship under our Master’s guidance.

Sit at the Master’s feet and open your spirit to new ways of being a master student.

“Didn’t our hearts burn within us while he was speaking with us on the road, while he was explaining the scriptures to us?” Luke 24:32

Christian Nursing 101: Spiritual Reflection: Inviting God into Our Moments

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During my presentation on Reflective Practice at the NCFI Congress last year, I shared how Christian nurses can invite the Holy Spirit into their reflective practice. This can simply done through a brief prayer, “Lord, help me talk with this patient about their cancer.” Or “Lord, how an I help this patient be more comfortable?” In some ways, these burst of prayers may be common place for many Christian nurses. On the other hand, a more deeper, purposeful level of prayer or reflection is found in contemplation.

In this issue of Journal of Christian Nursing, I share some quick hints on how to bring the quietness of the mind, the openness of the spirit, and the softness of the heart experienced during prayer into the moments, the minutes and the hours of our day.

Read the article and share how you bring the richness or communion with the Holy Spirit into your work day.

NCFI Cares: Be Ordinary

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Recently, a leader of a missionary organization affiliated with my church gave an update. During his speech he said, “God has enough people doing the spectacular. He needs more people doing the ordinary.” The truth of his words stuck with me. For even in nursing there are the spectacular that we strive for in comparison to the ordinary. I see the spectacular in nursing as being big, bold and noticeable; whereas the ordinary in nursing is the small, quiet, and unseen. I hesitate to give nursing examples, for what may be big and bold for me, may be different from another nurse’s big and bold.

Jesus provides an excellent example of ordinary work with the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4:1-26). Jesus stops to rest from his travels and relieve his thirst and chats with a woman, isolated and rejected by society. Well, we know the rest of the story, for through Jesus’ ordinary act of drinking water and talking to woman, an entire town meets the long-awaited Messiah.

As we look through the Gospels we see that the majority of Jesus’ teachings and actions, were ordinary conversations with one-on-one moments with individuals or small groups. Yes, he fed and taught large crowds. And yes, his torture and crucifixion was witnessed by hundreds. Yet, he taught his disciples to pray, he healed individuals and post-resurrection he appeared to a few men and women.

Look for opportunities in nursing to be ordinary, so that the Holy Spirit can do the extraordinary and the Lord receives the glory (Matthew 6:4,6; 1 Corinthians 10:30)

 

 

“Rejoice in hope, endure in suffering and persist in prayer”. Romans 12:12

“Everything starts from prayer” by Mother Teresa

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“Everything starts from prayer.

Without asking God for love,

we cannot possess love and still

less are we able to give it to others.

Just as people today are speaking

so much about the poor,

we too cannot talk so much

about prayer and yet not know how to pray.”

The Joy in Loving: A guide to daily living by Mother Teresa (1996) p. 43

Consider Him

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Be encourage by this wonderful poem–author anonymous.

When the storm is raging high,notforsaken
When the tempest rends the sky,
When my eyes with tears are dim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.

When my plans are in the dust,
When my dearest hopes are crushed,
When is passed each foolish whim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
When with dearest friends I part,
When deep sorrow fills my heart,
When pain racks each weary limb,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
When I track my weary way,
When fresh trials come each day,
When my faith and hope are dim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
Clouds or sunshine, dark or bright,
Evening shades or morning light,
When my cup flows o’er the brim,
Then, my soul, consider HIM.
–Author unknown

 

NCFI Cares: Easter Blessing for You

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My dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

I feel compelled this Easter to send each of you an Easter blessing! What better way then an amazing video/song entitled “Easter Song” by Keith Green, 1977. The song’s tempo, lyrics and meaning will have you dancing in worship like David!

Easter Song with lyrics

Keith Green live singing Easter Song

Here are the lyrics, if you are unable to view the video and/or hear the song:

Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that you can be born again
Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing Christ is risen from the dead

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the word, He has risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah

Hear the bells ringing
They’re singing that you can be healed right now
Hear the bells ringing, they’re singing
Christ, He will reveal it now

The angels, they all surround us
And they are ministering Jesus’ power
Quickly now, reach out and receive it
For this could be your glorious hour

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah, hallelujah

The angel up on the tombstone
Said He has risen, just as He said
Quickly now, go tell his disciples
That Jesus Christ is no longer dead

Joy to the world, He has risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
He’s risen, hallelujah
Hallelujah

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Christian Nursing 101: Nurses of Integrity

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Integrity is an important value or attribute as a professional nurse and as a Christ follower. Yet, we may struggle to define integrity or put our finger on what a person with integrity says or does. Honesty, trustworthiness, moral uprightness are few words used by dictionaries. Even though we may struggle to describe a person with integrity, we definitely know it when we see it lacking in a person.  “So and so (speaking of individual) doesn’t act with integrity.”

I encourage you to read the article in Journal of Christian Nursing and let me know what you think. Also, I would enjoy seeing your comments on my definition:

 “Christian integrity is a heart or spiritual condition congruent with God’s character and statutes that is expressed by actions and attitudes forged through the continuous molding of the Holy Spirit through our daily times of devotion.”

How would you define Christian integrity?