Please join us to honor the lives of those we have cared for at UCSF/Mount Zion.

The Symptom Management Service, Spiritual Care Services and Art for Recovery invite you to:

The 5th annual

Day of Remembering at UCSF/Mount Zion

Herbst Hall, 2nd Floor UCSF Mount Zion Hospital 1600 Divisadero Street San Francisco, CA 94115

Thursday, May 9, 2012 From 4:00-5:30 PM

An opportunity to celebrate the lives of patients who have been treated here at UCSF/Mount Zion and who have passed away, and to honor the work and care of their families, friends and caregivers.

If you would like your loved one’s name read at this memorial or for more information, please call Gayle Kojimoto at (415) 885-7671, or email at Gayle.Kojimoto@ucsfmedctr.org

 

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There is a parable in the Christian New Testament telling the story of someone sowing seeds (see Matthew 13:1-9). Sowing is an agricultural term referring to the hand movement of liberally planting or spreading of seeds in anticipation of a crop or harvest of fruit.

I found this to be a helpful metaphor, an invigorating thought as I prepared for my daily work as a Chaplain. I saw myself as the sower; the soil as the hearts of the patients, families and staff I will encounter during the day; and the seed are the words that I speak.

In one scene, the Sower liberally spreads seed on the path. The path is so hard the seeds are not able to go beneath the surface. The seeds are eaten by the birds of the air.

In scene two, the Sower liberally spreads seed on a rocky path. The soil is softer but covered with rocks. Plants sprang up but the heat of the sun scorched them because there was no depth to their roots. The plants withered and died.

In Scene three, the Sower liberally spreads seed on soil where thorny weeds grow. Both plants come up together but the thorny weeds choke the life from the plants and they yield no fruit.

In the fourth and final scene, the Sower liberally spreads on good soil. And beautiful plants grow producing multiple harvests.

As Chaplains, we share words with people every day. People overhear our conversations when we speak on our cell phones, in the cafeteria and elevators. We spread words liberally throughout our day. The question is what kind of fruit do our words yield?

We cannot control the condition of the hearts of people we encounter. Their hearts may be rock-hard and impenetrable by our words. The condition of another heart may be rocky. It could be broken and our words can only slip in the cracks. The rocks remaining on the surface are the painful sores that remain long after their dreams have crumbled. Another heart may indeed receive our words, but the unresolved conflict of broken relationships has left behind bitter emotion acting as thorny weeds choking all new growth. But the final heart has been plowed, cleared of rocks and weeds, and is ready for planting and harvest.

As we approach our new day let us be mindful of the new opportunity to sow seeds of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control into the lives of all that we meet. Let us sow liberally into the lives of all we meet. Let us anticipate a harvest of great fruit that continues to bless others. Let us embrace the joy of harvest in the lives of all we encounter. Let us be busy Sowers of good words.

-Reflection by a UCSF Chaplain

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For some people, nature is a spiritual path. That is why retreat centers are often built in beautiful locations. Nature often lifts our spirits and provides inspiration, renewal, and experiences of awe.

For some people, being in nature is a spiritual reward in itself. John Muir, the American naturalist and founder of the Sierra Club, wrote, “Going to the woods is going home.” Being in nature was relaxing, peaceful, and rejuvenating. Ralph Waldo Emerson, American essayist and poet, wrote, “In the woods too, a man [woman] casts off his [her] years, as the snake his slough, and at what period soever of  life, is always a child. In the woods is perpetual youth.” He saw the earth with the eyes of a child, full of excitement and wonder, as if seeing things for the first time. Both Muir and Emerson were clearly inspired by nature’s beauty.

For others, the experience of being in nature leads them to One who created nature. Anne Lamott, a Marin County author of several New York Times best selling books, recently wrote “Help Thanks Wow, the Three Essential Prayers.” For her, experiences in nature fall into the Wow prayer category, where you see an awesome scene, like a green flash at sunset, and “Wow” is all you can say. That’s one of the three essential prayers she describes. It’s like the poem of Gerard Manly Hopkins, “The world is charged with the grandeur of God./It will flame out, like shining from shook foil.” One is moved with the experience of awe and wonder.

Think, for a moment, about a time when you were somewhere in nature and experienced a time of awe, of wonder, perhaps of “wow.” Picture that place in your mind’s eye, as you close your eyes. What colors and textures do you see? What is the weather like? How does the temperature or wind or sun feel on your skin? What sounds of nature do you hear? Rest in that place a moment….Remember that you can return to this place, in your mind’s eye, whenever you like today. When you are stressed, you can pause for a few moments and repeat this meditation.

May you be refreshed by the beauty of nature – where you have been and where you will go.
May your spirit be always open to wonder and awe.
May it be so.

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Visit the newly renovated meditation room, located to the right of the Information Desk in the main lobby at 505 Parnassus Avenue. The new meditation room features:

• prayer request book
• soothing light feature
• ritual objects
• sacred and inspirational texts
• Coming soon: sound system with meditative, spiritual and religious audio tracks

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It is the honor and privilege of our Spiritual Care Services chaplains to support all members of the UCSF community during the holiday season.  Our chaplains are available 24 hours a day by pager (443-CARE) to provide you with emotional and spiritual support as well as rituals and ritual items to celebrate holidays that are meaningful to you.  Here are two upcoming events you may enjoy.  Please spread the word!

For more information or to suggest a particular ritual or event to celebrate a holiday, please contact Chaplain Allison Kestenbaum at allison.kestenbaum@ucsfmedctr.org.   

Second Annual Music is Good Medicine Concert
Come celebrate the holiday spirit with music.  Performances by gifted Music is Good Medicine volunteers.   Family members, visitors, staff and members of the public are welcome to attend.
Friday, December 7
5:00 – 7:00 p.m.
513 Parnassus Avenue,  Medical Science Building, Cole Hall

Reception to follow.

Music is good medicine is a program of Spiritual Care Services founded through a Rankin Booster Grant from UCSF Partners in Care, and is made possible by generous donations and volunteer musicians.  

 

Nightly Menorah Lighting         MenorahLightingPDFFlyer-Parnassus2012
in the Parnassus Meditation Room
December 8-15
4:45 – 5:00 p.m.

Patients, their loved ones, and staff of all backgrounds are invited to attend a brief lighting of the electric menorah (a.k.a. chanukiyah) in the Meditation room on each of the eight nights of Hanukkah.  A chaplain from Spiritual Care Services will “light” the menorah and offer a brief inclusive blessing and reflection related to healing and bringing light into the dark season of winter.

Rabbi Elliot Kukla of the Bay Area Jewish Healing Center will be present for the lighting on Tuesday December 11!

Chaplains and our Music is Good Medicine volunteers are available to bring celebratory items and sing Hanukkah songs at the bedside.  Jewish chaplains are also available upon request.

 

 

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Have you visited the Resources section of our website lately?  There are several PDF’s for download, including a brand new addition highlighting existing grief support at UCSF Medical Center for bereaved loved ones of deceased adult patients.

The goal of this resource is to  promote support and healing for loved ones of deceased patients through cross-departmental and interdisciplinary collaboration and sharing of practices.   We hope this information will be useful to staff, patients and their loved ones. You will find two charts in the PDF; one that is organized by activity/service and another chart that is organized by department/unit.

Please contact Allison Kestenbaum at allison.kestenbaum@ucsfmedctr.org or 415-885-7785 if you have updates, questions or need more information. 

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The ocean provides us with a beautiful image of personal growth and opening to new possibilities – the chambered nautilus. Initially, the nautilus occupies only the smallest chamber at the center of the spiral. That is the whole shell. Yet, from this core, as it grows, it adds new chambers as it needs more space. The nautilus takes the natural shape of a spiral.

Think of your life. Many chambers are behind you and many are yet to be added ahead of you. Each chamber has an opening and an emerging channel into the next chamber. When the old chambers feel cramped, as we have outgrown old places, people and purpose, we feel the need for more space to move ahead into different spaces, as our purpose evolves. We, too, move through different phases or chambers to make way for the new to emerge.

Contemplate the chambered nautilus.
What does this image teach you about the nature of your life’s journey?
What “chamber” are you in right now?
How does it fit your purpose in life?

Consider this poem “The Chambered Nautilus” by Oliver Wendell Holmes, 1809 – 1894

Year after year beheld the silent toil
That spread his lustrous coil;
Still, as the spiral grew,
He left the past year’s dwelling for the new,
Stole with soft step it’s shining archway through,
Built up its idle door,
Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more…

Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul,
As the swift seasons roll!
Leave thy low-vaulted past!
Let each new temple, nobler than the last,
Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast,
Till thou at length art free,
Leaving thine outgrown shell by life’s unresting sea!

May you be blessed through all of the winding passages on life’s spiral journey
today and all days.
May it be so.

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Look around.  I invite you to consider gratitude today.

It could be as simple as asking ourselves: What are we most grateful for?

Most of the time, we are quick to think of the obvious things… my own health or family.

Or perhaps our ability to work and the opportunity to have a consistent place to live.

Consider a moment, a person, a situation from today that proved especially difficult or disengaging for you.

Can you be grateful for that moment, that person, or that situation?
Now, with that difficult moment in mind, what can you be most grateful for?

The following is taken from an online resource called Spirituality and Practice:

“…Learn the grammar of gratitude, practice saying ‘thank you’ for happy and
challenging experiences, for people, animals, things, art, memories, dreams.
Count your blessings. Utter blessings, and express your appreciation to
everything and everyone you encounter. By blessing, we are blessed.”

So now I invite you to silently say thank you to all who support you
Say thank you to those who may make your commute longer
or make your wait in line double.

May your ability to count your blessings and find gratitude,
even in challenging moments,
be a source of strength to you.

 

 

 

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At UCSF Medical Center we believe that “Caring comes first,” and we all do our best to embody that phrase in our work with patients. Yet caring isn’t always easy to do, especially when we see the suffering that many people have to endure as they deal with their illness and receive treatment. When we see a someone  suffering, we may be tempted to try to make the situation seem better – by attempting to cheer the person up. However, the Dutch author and theologian Henri Nouwen offers some wise counsel in those moments when we are with people who are experiencing pain:

“Being with a friend in great pain is not easy. It makes us uncomfortable. We do not know what to do or what to say, and we worry about how to respond to what we hear. Our temptation is to say things that come more out of our own fear than out of our care for the person in pain. Sometimes we say things like “Well, you’re doing a lot better than yesterday,” or “You will soon be your old self again,” or “I’m sure you will get over this.” But often we know that what we’re saying is not true, and our friends know it too. We do not have to play games with each other. We can simply say: “I am your friend, I am happy to be with you.” We can say that in words or with touch or with loving silence. Sometimes it is good to say: ‘You don’t have to talk. Just close your eyes. I am here with you, thinking of you, praying for you, loving you.’”

It can be more meaningful, truthful, and healing to simply express our caring. In that way we let them know that their pain is noticed and that they are not alone.

Question for Reflection:
• What is one way that I can communicate my caring today to a person who is experiencing pain?

May your compassion shine forth from what you say, how you say it, what you do, how you do it, and who you are.

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http://www.ucsf.edu/news/2012/10/12950/ucsfs-lgbtq-community-assures-teens-it-gets-better

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