Many persons turn to religion or spirituality for comfort when stressed…they use their Higher Power. Spirituality and Religion are many times used to cope with common problems in life, especially those involving medical or psychiatric illnesses, as well as the challenges that all of us face when life happens.

I almost didn’t pursue chaplaincy. When I was introduced to chaplaincy almost ten years ago, I was told that I could try it for a year or so, but that Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE) was the educational gateway. I did try chaplaincy out for a few months,then checked out CPE. That is where I almost put the brakes on...

For our purposes here, I define spirituality and religion differently. Spirituality includes not only those who are deeply religious, but also those who are superficially religious, and some who are not religious at all but define spirituality as recognizing the sacred nature of a person. Religion is easier to measure. It means that you do something measurable: worship, pray, attend, read, give, etc...

Are there different causes of depression, different types of depression, different depths of depression? Does everyone get depressed? What can I do about depression? What does depression look like? Is it contagious? Will I ever get over my depression? What about the Christian and depression? Whew… what a can of worms to open up!

The reality of possibly facing the end of life brings a host of emotions: anger, frustration, hopelessness, isolation, confusion, and despair. These all have their roots in fear. Navigating through this minefield of emotions can be very difficult, not only for the patient, but for those who are close to the patient.

We hope to give you some tangible examples of how you might help and encourage someone who is dealing with a crisis in their life... 

I’m guessing that most of us know that worry is not good for our health, takes up time and energy that could be better used for something else, and is just in general the overall “bad guy” in our minds. So, how do we “stop it?” 

There are circumstances that will often come along that can steal our joy if we let them. When we allow the negative things to crush our spirit, it takes away our positive attitude. When our day doesn’t go as planned because of circumstances that happen we had not counted on, we can become disappointed or even frustrated. 

In November, 2010, my life’s journey took a turn that I was not expecting, as have many other events that I had no idea would take place. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. (I know that many of my fellow employees and members of their families have been taken over by the many different types of cancer...