Harborview News

It's hard to believe that it's been 20 weeks since I started the internship at Harborview.  And it's not lost on me that I've been able to be at this place where I've learned how to come alongside people dealing with loss and grief while I have been processing the loss of the chapter at SPU.   I've learned so much and grown in ways I did not even know I needed, and I'm so grateful. 

I applied to be a per diem chaplain, had an interview yesterday, and was offered the position today to join the spiritual care team starting this summer! I'm so excited to get to stay on to keep learning in this place. I'll just sign up for shifts as they come up and imagine it will be once a week this summer starting in mid-July. 

Thank you to Anna for a celebratory welcome home!! 

 

My Wednesday morning bus to get to Harborview💗

Gnome came with me to the sleep room on Monday night... 

with Sam (an incredible per diem chaplain at Harborview I've had the privilege of getting to know the last few months) 

question and answer from our final paper submitted today: 

Reflect on a central theme or resource from the curriculum that has been most resonant during this unit of CPE. How has this shaped your learning about spiritual care? 

A central theme that has deeply resonated with me during this unit of CPE is the transformative power of ‘with-ing”—the kind of presence that holds space, listens deeply, honors the whole person, and sees the image of God in others. As Tim said multiple times in many different ways, “my job is not to make it feel rosy. My job is to make sure they are not sad alone.” The spiritual care that mattered most wasn’t about fixing or offering answers—it was about showing up with compassion, staying grounded in the moment, and affirming each person’s story, pain, and dignity.

Whether through silence, prayer, tears, or shared laughter, I learned that connection happens when we honor the complexity of someone’s experience without trying to wrap a neat little bow around it or brush past it too quickly. The framework of meaning pain, forgiveness pain, relatedness pain, and hopelessness pain helped me better understand the spiritual dimensions of suffering, while resources like art, music, breathing practices, and rituals offered gentle ways to nurture the spirit amid uncertainty.

Ultimately, this unit taught me that spiritual care is less about “doing” and more about being—being present, being open, being human, and being willing to meet people (and myself) where they are.