Observations from a hospital bed Part One.

Observations from a hospital bed. Part One.

Many readers will know that recently I spent some time in hospital and I found this first experience both fascinating and enlightening. Amongst other things, it provided sufficient material for a short series of articles, of which this is the first. The later ones refer to my own experiences but this first is inspired by some of the other patients.

Men are generally far worse communicators of personal problems than women. Too often any conversation that does exist, on subjects like sport, is used to avoid real communication rather than enhance it. In an all male ward, each patient can easily become isolated in the individual world of their own illness. At the far end of our ward that seemed the situation and gloomy silence was the order of the day.However, in our section, we gradually got meaningful conversation going and it was remarkable how quickly both the atmosphere and the patients changed.

None more so than one “Jack the Lad” who I will call John. He was admitted a few days after me and was brash, noisy and despite being ill, was very hyped up. I gathered that he was a bit of a villain and amongst other things openly admitted that he once dealt drugs. One night we watched Crimewatch and he knew by name more than half those sought by the Police for the West Ham/Millwall football violence. The change in him started one very hot night when some of us sat around the tea maker in the corridor. Gradually, he started to talk about how much he adored his wife and children and how scared he was that his lifestyle might lead to him losing them. Apparently his wife was already losing patience. He eventually expressed the desire to change and his resolution hardened as, during the next few days, he kept returning to the subject. By the time he left his wife and family were delighted by the change in him and were determined to ensure that it was permanent.

The second influence in him was the elderly very ill, ex Lorry Driver in the next bed. He had lived a very varied life and his stories fascinated John. The more they talked the closer they became. Eventually the hardcase John could be seen day or night getting him drinks, sorting his pillows and tucking him in.Unfortunately,during our last night he deteriorated and was moved to Intensive Care. John and I were discharged the next day and the last time I saw John, he was refusing to leave until one of his family went and found out how his friend was.

The hospital dealt very efficiently with John’s medical needs but it was human contact that changed the person. The Church is like that .Over 2,000 years we have built a vast structure that sometimes more, sometimes less efficiently has enabled Christianity to spread. Of course, being properly organised is necessary.However, buildings, organisations and rules do not introduce Christ to people or enable their inbuilt love and compassion to flourish. That always occurs through individual relationships. The rest only exists to facilitate that happening. Believers both represent Christ to others and learn more about the nature of God through relationships. Nothing we do should ever inhibit the ability of people to interact. Even when we preach or write for large audiences, it is the individual relationship that develops between the speaker or writer and each listener or reader that can change their lives. Issues that we deal with can be far ranging but our attitude to them must start with our own personal commitment.Remember,Christ`s instructions to his followers were all very personal. Like “Love one another” or “Feed my sheep”.