Gifting During National Nursing Home Week – the Blessing of the Hands
Shavuot is the Jewish holiday, celebrated this week, which commemorates the anniversary of the day God gifted the Torah to the Israelite people, making them at that time an entire nation committed to serving God. This gifting of God to his people at Mount Sinai is reflected in the holiday’s association with the harvest, when the many gifts of God are celebrated, most especially gifts like gratitude, guidance, discernment, relationship and purpose.
The Christian holiday of Pentecost is also celebrated this week, and it shares many similar attributes. It remembers the day when the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples, fifty days after Christ’s resurrection, and bestowed upon those who received it equally marvelous gifts, such as wisdom, understanding, discernment, counsel and awe.
It is in remembering these great holidays, which celebrate some of God’s greatest gifts to humanity, that we offer to you our gift of the Blessing of the Hands. Coinciding with National Nursing Home week, this simple and beautiful ceremony will be conducted throughout the company, both in our buildings this week (some of which have already begun) as well as at our Home Office this Friday.
Signature HealthCARE Chaplains Craig Cantrall (Cherokee Park), Clinton Palmer (SHC of South Louisville) and Nathan Marrs (SHC of Trimble County) visited five Signature buildings to perform the ‘Blessing of the Hands’ ceremony. A former hospital chaplain, Craig adapted the program and launched it at Signature three years ago. During the ceremony, the chaplain blesses frankincense and myrrh, pausing to draw crosses on the hands of those receiving the blessings. The ceremony is rooted in the ancient tradition of washing the feet of guests who enter the home. In the nursing home, the practice is viewed as a ‘thank you’ to the caregivers for the work they do, but it also serves as a reminder that their hands are performing God’s work. “Turn your ear to me, Lord, and hear me.” Psalm 85 (86) My almost three year old niece, Lola, takes my head into her little hands when she wants to speak to me while I hold her resting on my hip. Those little hands come up and press into my cheeks and she positions my face so that our eyes meet and she is certain that I can hear her. When she does that, I am reminded of the scripture that God so loves and if He “does” for and takes care of the birds of the air (Matthew 6:26), how much more will He do for His children who love Him. I truly don’t think there is anything I would deny Lola if she asked me–so precious, so earnest, so attentive to what she is trying to convey and wanting to make sure I understand just what she is asking. Our 2nd annual Interfaith National Day of Prayer after almost a decade from our earliest beginnings: What we have learned by Dianne Timmering The National Day of Prayer on May 2, 2013, our 2nd annual Inter-faith prayer day, was about the faith of a mustard seed; like the tight center of a wheel, we were the spokes of faith. As we built the Spirituality Pillar, we began to uncover the power of the listening ear, the lending of compassion toward the empathy of the ailment and the simpleness of time to mend a suffering heart. Prayer or a good game of checkers could heal we discovered; after all it was about time and the bravery of kindness. Prayer and the Spirit were about the essence of unconditional love we found even in the unavoidable imperfections of our existence. We have learned it is about celebrating the dignity and beauty of faith traditions long established, the abolition of assumption; it is about the ancient roots of “crying out” like David in the Psalms for something bigger than the self; it is about the breaking off of caged conceptions and the pressing into new wisdom; it is about the outpouring of love . . . just love because that is what God is. We found that the sanctity of respect could bring different faith traditions together – not watered down or diminished, but thriving in who we are as peoples, with boldness and a shine for the world; a world with no need for strife, but for dialogue, collaboration and a willingness to hear one another. It is in this secret beauty of one voice that is perhaps the best language of love. And finally, maybe this national day of prayer, a government ordained moment, a heritage of our nation almost 240 years old saw the merging of public/government works, business innovation and spiritual pursuits, not just in service and works but as three points of integration to establish thriving communities in our city, prolific job opportunities, and domestic tranquility and justice for all. And we welcomed our honored guests from numerous faith traditions—Baptist, Jewish, Muslim, Quaker, Catholic, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist, Bahai, Unitarian, and Native American-Sioux. And we were one voice crying out for many in need of hope. A theme began to emerge as the power of the divine sang love and healing in magnificent harmony. Tradition made us beautifully different. Love made us the same. We were souls praying with one voice. And we shared moments of faith and the culture of the beautiful and all were welcome. Dianne Timmering, EMBA, MFA, CNA For full news coverage of the event, including a video interview with Dianne, please visit the Courier Journal’s website. This evening at sunset begins the Jewish festival of Shavuot which commemorates the anniversary of the day God gave the Torah (the first five books of both the Hebrew and the Christian Bible) to the nation of Israel assembled at Mount Sinai. The date of Shavuot is directly linked to that of Passover. On Passover, the nation of Israel were freed from their enslavement to Pharaoh; on Shavuot they were given the Torah and became a nation committed to serving God. In the Bible, Shavuot is called the Festival of Weeks (referring to Exodus 34:22 and Deuteronomy 16:10); Festival of Reaping (from Exodus 23:16), and Day of the First Fruits (from Numbers 28:26). Since Shavuot occurs 50 days after Passover, Hellenistic Jews gave it the name Pentecost (“fiftieth day”). This is the same name of the Christian Holiday which occurs fifty days after Easter. This past week we celebrated National Nurses Week in our facilities and one of the programs the Spirituality Department put forth to mark the event was our special “Blessing of the Hands” ceremony. Our chaplains performed this simple ceremony throughout our buildings for all those nurses whose hands care for our dear residents every day. One beautiful testimony in particular that we wanted to share comes from Donna Adams, the Administrator at South Pittsburg which shows just how much this work is appreciated. It’s posted below and thanks so much to Donna for sharing it with us: “The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands.” Deuteronomy 28:12 The power of the hand. It moves in every minute, even fidgets in a restless sleep. It occupies the air and space around us. Its fingers direct or count. Those fingers are the spokes of its core, sculpting, reaching for Kleenex, opening a carton of milk, dressing a wound. Hands toil and wipe tears. They mine the soil and scrub the clothes. They do hard work and they do soft work. They get dry and cracked and burned from the sun. Over time they age and spot. They hold arthritis, and don’t function as freely as before. So one looks at the hand to direct or coax it in one way or another, but it doesn’t go the way it once did. This year Sunday May 5th marks the celebration of Easter in Orthodox Christianity. Eastern Christianity bases its calculations for the date for Easter on the Julian calendar in which the celebration of Easter falls between 4 April and 8 May annually. In Eastern Christianity, every other religious festival in their calendar, including Christmas, is considered to be secondary in importance to the celebration of the Easter. In Eastern Christianity, the spiritual preparation for Easter begins with Great Lent, which starts on Clean Monday and lasts for 40 continuous days (including Sundays). The last week of Great Lent (following the fifth Sunday of Great Lent) is called Palm Week, and ends with the day before which is called Lazarus Saturday. The Vespers which begins Lazarus Saturday officially brings Great Lent to a close, although the fast continues through the following week. After Lazarus Saturday comes Palm Sunday, Holy Week, and finally Easter itself, and the fast is broken immediately after the Paschal Divine Liturgy. “Blessing of the Hands” Ceremonies At Louisville Area Facilities
“Turn Your Ear To Me, Oh Lord” by Dianne Timmering
Our 2nd Annual Interfaith National Day Of Prayer After Almost A Decade From Our Earliest Beginnings: What We Have Learned
Vice President of Spirituality
Signature Consulting Services, LLCDID YOU KNOW . . . Shauvot
Blessing of the Hands – A Testimony From South Pittsburg
“Bless The Hands, A Tribute To National Nurses Week” by Dianne Timmering
DID YOU KNOW . . . Easter (Eastern/ Orthodox Celebration)