What I Learned from the Hospital

Do you remember returning to school after the summer break and receiving the first homework assignment of the year – write an essay on “What I did over my Summer Vacation”? You know you are old when you start writing articles like “What I learned while I was in the Hospital.” But I did learn (or was reminded of) some things while I convalesced in my hospital room that I would like to pass on to you.


First, I learned how important simple gestures of concern and love can be. Sometimes we forget the power of sending a get well card or providing a meal or making a visit or a phone call. In receiving those from you, I was reminded of how important they are to healing. Being one of the infirmed can make you feel isolated. Receiving a card or a call brought me back into community. Don’t neglect to make one of those simple gestures by minimizing its importance.


Which brings me to my second revelation; ministers are some of the worst hospital visitors ever. I am very grateful so many of my minister friends and colleagues took the time to come and visit me. There were times there were so many ministers in the room they would fight to see who would get to pray over me before they left. However, there were a few of my colleagues who forgot the task at hand. Their voices were loud, their visits were too long and I was not ready to host a party in my room. When visiting someone in the hospital, we should be aware of how the patient is feeling and let that determine the tone and timing of our visit. I was visited by one minister (who I don’t know all that well) who came to my room at 9:30 the night following my surgery, took off his coat and hat and sat down and talked for 45 minutes. By the time he left I was exhausted. He was ob livious to how I was feeling. His visit will make me a better visitor. It really is all about the one in the bed.


I also found the best visitors were those who had been in the hospital before. They knew what it was like to be there. They had the most important tool we can have in visiting – empathy. Empathy enables us to identify with and feel the needs of the person we are visiting. Empathy is the most direct path for sharing God’s love.


Another thing I learned was the importance of encouragement. The staff at the hospital must have had a course in encouraging your patients, because, starting the morning after my surgery, the nurses got me out of my bed and on to the walking track. Everything hurt and, even though I knew walking was an important part of the healing process, my brain told me to quit and get back in bed. It was their encouragement that kept me going. Nurses, doctors, the woman cleaning the hall, the maintenance guy, all told me how well I was doing. By the time they finished with me, I was ready to run a marathon – well, a really short one. Say an encouraging word to someone today. Make it a spiritual discipline in your life.


Finally, you have heard it said, “If you have your health you have everything.” While in the hospital I found out that is not true. Our health is certainly something for which we should be extremely thankful, but I saw several people in the hospital whose health was just a distant memory and yet they were filled with joy. (Joy is a feeling of peace and hope and confidence when there is no logical reason to feel that way.) That joy comes from the Spirit of God and that Spirit is healing.



Grace and peace,

John Mollet