I have been volunteering on an internet counseling line. It is a secured site like a chat room but the only access is between a patient and counselor... The site I'm involved in focuses not on the victims of the Haiti earthquake but on the psychological trauma absorbed by those involved in trying to help those victims... A young nursing student...with her first hands on work with patients...is overwhelmed by the tragedy around her...she can't sleep for her nightmares...she feels guilty when she is told to rest...she has symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress (smells that aren't there, hearing voices where there are none, hallucinations, laughing at inappropriate times, crying for no reason) I have been able to help by getting her sedatives so she can sleep, moving her from triage to patient assistance, setting up regular times to talk with me so she can debrief and let some of the horror she faces go. When did I last cry? When she said; "Thank you!"
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Vocatus atque non vocatus, Deus aderit Called or uncalled, God is present
The last time I cried was when the vicar of St. Margaret's Episcopal church moved away. His family showed me how truly open and accepting Christians could be. He and his wife had blessed a natural rock alter out back of my camp in the woods. On one of his last Sundays he read a poem about a rock alter. It did bring tears to my eyes.
