Closing the Door: Chaplaincy

Mary had done a Field Placement at Mimico Corrections followed by a three month CPE. A CPE is post-graduate curriculum for ministers who want additional training in pastoral care and chaplaincy. Mary worked with women during this time and young offenders. It was quite challenging and Mary found the fairer sex to be tougher to deal with than the men she had previously dealt with. It was during this period Mary was supervised by Joyce, another chaplain. She was also a nun. Mary was smoking at the time and was concerned how she was going to tell this woman of her addiction. What would she think?
However, on her very first day there Joyce and another student headed out the side doors of one of the units to have a cigarette. Mary was overjoyed and relieved. Joyce wasn’t so bad after all!
Anyways, the three months went by with the students meeting each morning. They would sit in group confronting one another about their encounters with the inmates they had dealt with the day before. As well, each weekend students would take turns doing a Sunday Service and then the other students would do a critique of it. It was brutal at times to deal with all the criticism.
What was worse was the day an inmate sexually approached Mary. Mary was more surprised than anything because she assumed if there ever was an attack it would come from the men. But it was a young teenage woman!
Joyce was very helpful and supportive of Mary dealing with the issue. She offered Mary the opportunity to be transferred to another cottage but Mary felt there were only a few weeks left and she could stick it out. Mary was tough that way and was determined to fight back.
Perhaps it was Mary’s resilience and ability to deal with the situation that drew Joyce’s respect. Anyways, after the three month training period was up Joyce approached Mary out of all her students. Joyce offered Mary a special opportunity. Next door to the women’s prison was a men’s correctional facility. The chaplain working there was going into the hospital for an operation and would be off for three months recovering. Joyce offered Mary the position. Joyce would continue working next door and would supervise and come for visits during the few months that Mary would do services, visit and counsel the inmates, and deal with the correction officers.
What started out as a three month stint however, ended up to last for five months as there were complications with the chaplains’ operation. Mary found herself enjoying her role and became more and more involved. She began to change things that later she realized she had no business changing. For Christmas she designed banners for the chapel to be made to replace the old rotted ones that were in storage.
However, Joyce was not happy with the design or the idea and Mary had to change the flag’s configuration to please Joyce. Mary had become proud and haughty after her successful university years. This privileged position became her downfall. She and Joyce had argued a few times and Mary realized afterwards she should have respected her authority more.
The result was that after 5 months the other chaplain returned to duty. At that time Joyce and he wanted Mary to take a CPE here at his prison where she had just officiated as a chaplain! It was very embarrassing to Mary to even consider doing this. It would be not only humbling but like going backwards. As well, after 7 years of school and training Mary felt she had nothing left in her to do anymore studies. She was burnt out. She just wanted to work in her field.
After she left the position Mary was lost. She tried to engage a response from the Chaplaincy Head office where she submitted her degrees and experiences. However, after two tries and no reply Mary felt a door close. Mary always felt that perhaps Joyce had somehow been involved in the silent treatment she received from Chaplaincy. Mary didn’t blame Joyce. Mary felt totally responsible for what had happened.
The doors had closed alright but here she was 10 years later with the issue unresolved, with regrets and grief. Mary decided to forgive herself for being proud and haughty. It was over now and she had to get on with it. Writing about it during this time helped Mary to see she must forgive and go on. She couldn’t live in regrets anymore.
But as she looked at her past she knew she had to do something significant to make an end to this era; but what? Only time would tell but Mary hoped she would do it soon so she could get on with her life.
As Mary looked at the past she was thankful for the gifts God had given her; she had been blessed with favour at university, during her training and even during those five months of leadership replacing the chaplain. She sat sighing and sorrowful but grateful to her God and whispered quietly, “Thank you, Lord, you have been good to me”. This reminded Mary of the promise that “all things work together for good for those who trust God”. She had held up this guarantee through the years when things didn’t always go well and she always saw a blessing in the end. She knew once again, though it had been 10 long years since it happened that God was true to his word. That even now after all this time all things would work out together for good for Mary. This she believed though it had been a decade since the whole thing happened.
After all, God had told her and she believed that he would restore the counsellors! He would restore her! It was at this moment Mary happened to hear the tail end of a broadcast on the radio. Some christian minister was sharing what God had done in his life after 8 years of waiting. It took that long but God did something wonderful to bless him after a difficulty he had gone through. Mary smiled at this and cried a little knowing that it takes time -sometimes - for all things to work together for good for those who trust God!