"If There Be a Messenger"

 When a word is spoken in due season to those who are ill, accompanied by a prayer, who knows what the harvest will be?

"He is chastened also with pain upon his bed, and the multitude of his bones with strong pain : so that his life abhorreth bread, and his soul dainty meat. . . . Yea, his soul draweth near unto the grave, and his life to the destroyers. If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand, to show unto man His uprightness : then He is gracious unto him. . . . He will deliver his soul from going into the pit, and his life shall see the light." Job. 33 :19-28.

So fitting is this text that I believe con­secrated medical workers can claim it as their own. "If there be a messenger with him, an interpreter, one among a thousand" —who but Christian doctors and nurses have such golden opportunities to interpret to hu­manity the way of hope and faith and life? Theirs is a dual ministry—a service to the soul as well as to the body. In carrying out this plan, they are following in the steps of the Great Physician who linked healing and teaching closely together, and who never neg­lected an opportunity to speak a word of spiritual encouragement to one whom He had helped materially. But how tenderly and tactfully this must be accomplished; one must be guided by the example of Christlike sym­pathy. Jesus said, "I have given you an ex­ample, that ye should do as I have done."

The Only Avenue

In "Ministry of Healing" we find this pas­sage: "In almost every community there are large numbers who do not listen to the preach­ing of God's word or attend any religious service. . . . Often the relief of their physical needs is the only avenue by which they can be approached. . . . Many have no faith in God and have lost confidence in man."—Pages 144, 145. This last statement was impressed upon my mind more and more during three years as a student nurse in one of our sani­tariums. As I was brought up in a Christian home, more or less sheltered from outside influences, the statement was somewhat of a revelation to me. I had not previously real­ized that disbelief in spiritual things was so prevalent and widespread in an otherwise in­telligent world. But those in professional contact with many types and classes of pa­tients, find that existing unbelief occurs in varying degrees, from the lukewarm, indiffer­ent attitude of some professed Christians, down through the various stages of doubt, un­certainty, and waning faith in humanity and religion to the infidel's absolute denial of a God and Saviour.

In our sanitariums, especially in one of the smaller institutions, an attendant might work for weeks and not come in contact with a patient of the out-and-out infidel class. But it is with those losing faith that we most fre­quently meet, those who need our "little acts of disinterested love," and who respond most readily to our efforts in their behalf.

Often we, as nurses, are not able to dis­cern just what has brought about this sad condition of doubt and unbelief in a patient's mind. He or she may have been brought up to this way of thinking. Or, as is more often the case, faith in God and man has been shat­tered by some unfortunate incident in life. Such an experience is usually a chapter sealed from mortal sight, which is opened only after the respect and confidence of the patient have been gained. To unlock such a secret is to find the most appropriate and tactful means of performing our dual ministry to the soul and the body. Nurses have the divine com­mission to watch for such souls and to be "an interpreter" to them of "His uprightness." And how shall we do this most tactfully and effectually?

To the patient whose faith in the Bible as an inspired book has been destroyed, it will be well-nigh impossible to quote a suitable scripture. But it is always easy to turn a patient's thoughts to the weather, and from that to the things of nature. Mother Nature herself is still a most convincing teacher of true theology. "In singing bird and opening blossom, in rain and sunshine, in summer breeze and gentle dew, in ten thousand ob­jects in nature, from the oak of the forest to the violet that blossoms at its root, is seen the love that restores. And nature still speaks to us of God's goodness."—"Education," p.101

Man can plant seed in the ground, and cul­tivate and fertilize the soil, but only a higher power can provide the sunshine, the rain, and the germ that stimulates the seed to growth. Only a creative power can enforce a law which says that every herb and tree shall bear fruit, each after its kind. A grain of wheat cannot produce corn.

Of course, religion cannot be argued in our medical institutions. The subject of doctrine can seldom be approached without a sponta­neous inquiry or interest on the part of the patient. However, there are countless golden opportunities to be grasped by consecrated, observant attendants to perform little unselfish deeds and to speak encouraging words that may start some groping soul on the road to sacred thought.

In our Canadian institution we have made it a practice to offer a short word of prayer after the evening treatment, if the patient is willing. This offer is usually accepted and very much appreciated, but there are those who will coolly reply, "No, thank you." Or, "I say my own prayers, thank you." Or, as one patient told me, "I do not believe in prayer." The next night this same patient, of her own accord, unfolded to me the story of her life, her disappointments and strug­gles. "Now," she said, "perhaps you will understand why I seem so embittered, and why I feel that heaven has a brass floor through which prayers cannot penetrate. I do hope you'll excuse me for being so blunt last night."

I assured her that I understood, and said nothing more that night about an evening bedside prayer. However, having gained her confidence, I found the way opened to give encouragement and assurance. I tried to show her that the Lord "works in a mysterious way, His wonders to perform." Sometimes He proves our worth by refining us in the furnace of adversity, but all through the fire He stands by our side. He notes even the little sparrow's fall, and to each one of us 

He says, "Fear ye not therefore, ye are of more value than many sparrows."