Our church has initiated a new plan for prayer. We will have an unofficial schedule during which we are advised to pray wherever we are three times daily. I like this idea. It seems an appropriate discipline in a time when the idea of spiritual discipline is often viewed as too rigid or antiquated.
While the list of prayer needs in the world is expansive, I would like to suggest a list that everyone can perhaps agree on, whether you attend my church or not. And this, quite selfishly, circles back to healthcare.
Whether it is evident to all or not, physicians, nurses, medics, administrators and everyone in the hospital world are under great stress these days. “Great” is a woeful understatement — the mustard seed of understatement. Right now — due to staffing shortages, delayed health maintenance during the pandemic and a difficult year of respiratory illness with influenza, RSV and COVID — emergency rooms, hospital floors and intensive care units are full. So full, in fact, that many patients languish in the ER for days awaiting admission to the hospital proper — likewise for those who need to be transferred to other locations for specialized care. In fact, many of my colleagues are working in emergency departments that are holding 50 patients in 25 beds.
What this means is that everyone taking care of those patients, clinical personnel and everyone else involved — including secretaries, dietary, housekeeping and the rest — are overwhelmed. There’s inadequate staff, sometimes inadequate equipment or medications, and inadequate strength (both physical and emotional) for the task at hand.
In my nearly 30 years of practice, it’s the worst that I have ever seen — and my co-workers are beyond exhausted. Our patients are in peril from sheer numbers — numbers of patients vs. numbers of people who can take care of them.
Likewise, the sick, the injured, the dying, the frightened are themselves terrified, frustrated and miserable. Their loved ones, expecting things to be like “normal,” are also upset. Tempers are short all around. Patience is wearing thin. And there is no end in sight as hospitals close and professionals leave their professions from fatigue and growing PTSD.
While I like to offer medical advice to my cherished readers, this time I ask that everyone set aside time every day to pray for those who are afflicted and pray equally for those caring for them. Maybe churches could have a time of prayer for the situation.
Over the years, I have been a church member, the son of a pastor, and a deacon. It is so common to hear prayer requests for medical conditions that one can get a pretty good medical education just listening into the list. Prayer requests offer an opportunity to learn (at least in passing) about cancer staging, cardiac procedures, hip and cataract surgeries, and assorted fractures from car crashes.
All I would like to ask is that, in the midst of bringing those before the Father, everyone also bring those struggling in the current crisis — both patients and those who labor to help them. Thank you in advance.