In CPE, we presented a "Theology of Care" in the form of a drawing. This is the drawing that I came up with. There is a lot here. First, by way of orientation, the blue coat was the uniform of the chaplains ("Spiritual Health Clinicians") at the Emory hospital. The patient gowns were typically green. The strange purple orb is a kind of a science-fiction view of the trinity that I may post about separately. The tear-drop-with-circle shape on the right, the yellow torus, the glyphs on the clothes and heads of the people are all related to this symbol. The bed is being held by the hand of God, whose jacket cuff is also "chaplain blue." The background did not come out strong in the scan of my drawing, but it's intended to be "trinity purple" as well.
Theological Anthropology and the Roles of the Patient and the Chaplain
The glyph on the patient's face and chaplain's forhead show that we are marked by God--marked with the imago dei--as being loved by God. The glyph on the patient's gown and chaplain's coat show that our vocation is also marked by God. If you draw a line from the eyes of the patient to the eyes of the chaplain, the half-way point is the Christ point of the trinity. This signifies that when we encounter a patient, we should see the face of Christ to whom we minister, and when a patient sees us, they should see us representing Christ who ministers to them. This is entirely symmetric, acknowledging that the patient often ministers to the chaplain as much as the chaplain ministers to the patient.
Theology and the Roles of God
The torus around the chaplain, the patient and the hospital bed is the Holy Spirit, the feculum caritas that binds us together in love. The patient's bed is the hand of God holding us up, signifying that God, the chaplain, is in the room before the human chaplain arrives and after the human chaplain departs. The purple background is God permeating the universe, always present. So, God is the Trinity, God is the Christ point of the trinity. God is the chaplain ministering. God is the patient ministered to. God marks us as loved by God. God calls us to our vocaiton and life. God is the hand holding us up. God is the band of love holding us together. God is the field of the universe through which we pass. God cares for the patient without any need for a chaplain. God ministers to the patient through the chaplain, and God ministers to the chaplain through the patient. God is THE Chaplain.
