This month's newsletter is really a presentation/speech I gave on the biblical basis for "Dwelling in Rest" which includes the concept Sabbath Rest. I would like to here from other Christians. Do you do a Sabbath Rest? If so, what do you do and what is the purpose?
Is it on a Sunday or do you just find a "day-off."  As acute care nurses, who work every other weekend--how do you figure in a time of rest.

Look forward to your comments,
4him, Carrie
p.s. If you want to read my presentation go to www.nurses4him.org/Balanced_Life.html and scroll down to July, 2009

    

I am publishing a monthly newsletter encouraging Christians to live a holistic balanced life and would love to hear from you! How is it going? Are the articles helping you see a biblical way to care for yourself? Do the sections on nutrition, exercise, spirituality, and rest help you live holistically? Let me know! I welcome your feedback and ideas for future issues. carrie

    

I hope you are excited to begin PrayerWalking. This is something I have done for years. As a walker, jogger, and hiker I have used my time on the path or the sidewalk to pray. I encourage you to try it out! It is a great way to spend time in prayer while enjoying taking care of your body.
I look forward to your comments on the blog!
carrie

    

 

Download | Duration: 00:03:36

 

    St. Francis of Assisi
    Around the year 1200 mendicant orders, those who live by begging, were founded in order to care for the needs of the community through religion and nursing. Giovanni Francesco Bernardone or St. Francis of Assisi became the best known saint. After suffering from a serious illness in his twenties, he left his life of privilege and wealth and set out on his own to devote his life to the care of lepers. Even after his family rejected him, St. Francis would visit the leper houses to bring alms and love. St. Francis is known for his dedication to poverty and his compassion for lepers.

    St. Francis also founded three religious orders; The Friars Minor (Little Brothers) was for men. The second, called Poor Clares, was an order for nuns or women; while the third order, Tertiaries was for lay men and women who wished to continue to live outside the monestary walls but wished to care for the sick, the poor, the needy and especially the outcast.  They lived the same life of the religious orders, yet exemplified the ideals of St. Francis; for their religion was carried into everyday life, and unselfish and useful service was rendered to humanity.

    Through time, the Tertiaries attracted thousands of people of all classes with some merging. The final four emerged as: the Dominicans, Franciscans, Carmelites, and Augustinians. Many famous nursing saints merged from Franciscans with St. Elizabeth of Hungary the most renowned.  Elizabeth was the daughter of Hungarian king Andreas II and married Ludwig of Thuringia. With her husband’s support she built hospitals. She personally ministered to the sick, distributed alms to the poor, fed the hungry, nursed the lepers, and bathed newborns while comforting their mothers. Even after her husband’s death and subsequent exile by her husband’s family, she joined the Third Order of St. Francis and built a Franciscan hospital at Marburg where she lived only a short period of time.

    St. Francis and other Christians were humble servants for the Lord who chose to serve the poor and sick without regard to their own comfort. As we conclude this podcast, I am going to read the very well known Prayer of St. Francis, may it be our personal prayer as we humbly set aside our own desires and seek to serve our patients.

Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi

“Lord, make me an instrument of Thy peace;

    where there is hatred, let me sow love;

    where there is injury, pardon;

    where there is doubt, faith;

    where there is despair, hope;

    where there is darkness, light;

    and where there is sadness, joy.

O Divine Master,

    grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console;

    to be understood, as to understand;

    to be loved, as to love;

    for it is in giving that we receive,

    it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,

    and it is in dying that we are born to Eternal Life. Amen.”

You can learn more about St. Francis online at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_of_Assisi

and Nursing: The Finest Art 2^nd edition by M. Patrician Donahue. 4him, Carrie

    

I want to take a moment and ask that we pray for the people affected by Hurricane Ike. 
    -pray for the nurses and other health care providers, rescuers, volunteers, etc that are giving of their time and resources to help those in need. May the Lord give them strength, courage, wisdom and hope during this time. When they feel a lack of human strength, may the Lord fill in the gap with His almighty power and strength to give to them above and beyond their human potential.
    -pray for the people affected by the hurricane. May they find hope and encouragement in the Lord. May they praise the Lord for the blessings He has given them: life, family, community, love, etc. These blessings are despite the devastation of the hurricane. 
    -pray for the body of Christ, that they may come unified for the glory of the Lord and for the work of our Savior, Jesus.
    Please join me in prayer and forward this blog to others,
    4him, Carrie
    

    

Download | Duration: 00:03:11

    

    The active service of men in nursing continued into the late Middle Ages, especially during the Crusades. In response to the call of the Pope thousands of men responded in the defense of Christ to uproot the Islam occupation of the laceName w:st="on">HolylaceName> laceType w:st="on">CitylaceType>. 

    A total of four major and four minor crusades occurred between 1096 to 1291. Hospitals were erected along the pilgrim routes and in Syria and Palestine in response to the carnage of war, famine, and diseases. Military nursing orders were developed and this ushered into nursing culture the deference to superior officers and a vow of unquestionable obedience.

    These religious brotherhoods of military nursing orders combined religion and chivalry with charity to dedicated service. One of the most famous of these orders is the Knights Hospitallers of St John of Jerusalem. Knights, priests, serving brothers and women cared for the sick; with the women branch of this order becoming the Hospitaller Dames of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem.

    Two separate hospitals were built in 1096, one for men with the protection of St. John the Almoner and one for women under St. Mary Magdalene. Both hospitals tended to any individual who was sick including pilgrims and the insane. As time went by, their services were more for the wounded and dying Crusader in Antioch and Jerusalem.

    The nursing career under St. John of Jerusalem was distinct and long lasting even after Christians were ousted out of Palestine. They struggled to stay active in caring and ended up on the laceType w:st="on">islandlaceType> of laceName w:st="on">RhodeslaceName>, where they stayed for 200 years until Turks conquered the island. Later, with the mergence of other Knights and building of hospitals, branches were developed in several countries including England and United States.

    The Knights of St. John supplied ambulances and other medical services during times of war. The hospitals they established can still be seen on Rhodes and Malta. Their original functions have largely been overtaken and expanded over the last century by the International Red Cross.  

    The Maltese cross worn by the Knights of St. John survived the Crusades period and was part of the banner of the United States Cadet Nurse Corps. This cross, which was worn on the shoulders of the nurses’ uniform, has eight points to signify the beatitudes the knights were expect to exemplify in the works of charity in their daily lives. These eight attributes are:

    spiritual joy

    to live without malice

    to weep over thy sins

    to humble thyself to those who injure thee

    to love justice

    to be merciful

    to be sincere and pure of heart

    to suffer persecution

May we strive to exemplify these attributes, also, as we continue to serve the Lord in nursing, 4him Carrie.

The listing of the beatitudes can be found on page 126 of “Nursing the Finest Art, 2^nd edition, by M. Patricia Donahue. 
To see a picture of the cross click http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Maltese-Cross-Heraldry.svg

    

Download | Duration: 00:03:10

A Holy Calling for Men and Women 1 Timothy 1:9

    Earlier in this series of podcasts when we were discussing Phoebe, we mentioned briefly deacons and deaconess. It seemed like we buzzed right over this brief mention of both men and women in nursing.  We will see that the calling of men and women to the daily care of the sick continued up to the Reformation.

    After the fall of Rome, we see the inception of the cloistered life for men and women. St Benedict of Nursia established the most influential monastery that stood until it was bombed by Allied forces in World War II. The Benedictine Rule provided reasonable and moderate conditions with adequate sleep, rest, diet, clothing and a balance of study, prayer and manual labor. They became centers of influence, learning, and culture. One of their many contributions to society was the use of medicine and herbs to care for the sick. 

    Caring for the sick became the primary function of the rule: It was stated “Before all things and above all things care must be taken of the sick.” The Benedictine Rule and other monasteries provided hospitals and hospices for the dying. Usually monks did nursing in men wards and nuns would be in the women wards. Because of the chaos during this time there is little known of what kinds of treatments or medical care was actually provided. What is known is that monks and nuns used folk and drug lore therapies, mysticism, bloodletting and application of leeches and blisters. Organization, operation, and training of a large group of sisters and brothers came out of this time of nursing.

    During this time Medieval Hospitals, like the Hôtel Dieu of Paris around 650 AD were established. Both brothers and sisters were assigned specific activities of administration work and care of the sick, as well as religious services and exterior work. The men and women here were from the Rule of St. Augustine and were trained through three stages of training.

    Both men and women have always been equipped by God to care for the sick and dying.  2 Timothy 1:9 states that we were called with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to God’s purpose and grace. Many times we can get caught up in the societal norms regarding our choices in serving God. Well meaning men and women have been talked out of following their heart and the Holy Spirit in serving God. Maybe it doesn’t seem to align up with our spiritual giftings or there is pressure to follow in parental footsteps, or possibly live out the desires of our parents. Whatever the case may be, take your hearts desire to serve the Lord in whatever capacity, whether in nursing or not and let the Holy Spirit guide you. Don’t choose any career based on anything, but the leading of God. Then and only then are we assured we are working out God’s purpose in our life and on earth. 4him, Carrie

Remember, the reference for this and other Christian Nursing History podcasts is the “Nursing: The finest Art, 2^nd edition by M. Patricia Donahue” click on www.nurses4him.org/connections

    

Download | Duration: 00:06:16

            This podcast concludes our interview with Faith Community Nurse and fellow saint, Marion DePuit. She will share her ministry and professional goals, as well as encourage us in our passionate work for Christ in nursing, 4him Carrie

    

Download | Duration: 00:06:38

            We are back again to continue our chat with Marion DePuit. She was just telling us how the Faith Community Nursing or Parish Nursing movement began and, also how she is working with other faith organizations to bring health and healing. Be sure you check out http://www.nurses4him.org/Faith_Community_Nursing.html for links to Health Ministries Association, The International Parish Resource Center and Marion DePuit's email address.

    

Download | Duration: 00:05:22

We are taking a break from Christian Nursing History to introduce you to a Christian Nurse making history through her work as a Faith Community Nurse—Marion DePuit. In her exciting role she is working to build partnerships between faith organizations and a large community health care system in Northern California.

            She took time out of her busy day to meet with us and discuss her passion and purpose in Faith Community Nursing and how God is using her in extraordinary ways.