Drumming with the Vets!

Here at the Veteran's Hospital in Palo Alto, CA there are many innovative therapies. One such therapy for healing is art and music therapy. This therapy is offered to the Vets in the hospital, especially in the PTSD unit and the hospice unit.

This last week the Music Therapist decided to offer a weekly Drum Circle during lunch for the staff and Vets as a way to de-stress.

Drumming? How could I resist?! What fun!

So I showed up at the drum circle which was held during lunch hour in front of the hospital, outside. There we all were, drumming away. Quite a few people showed up to play, creating good rhythms and having fun.

It was very timely for me. It has been a long time since I have played my drums. How I have missed it!

We played for 45 minutes. There is a certain connection that happens as you play with the others, the drumming is energizing, it moves energy inside you. It is joyful. It is healing. It is de-stressing. It is communal.

Drumming is very powerful.

And spiritual. After all, music is the language of the soul!

Anchor's Aweigh!.... Singing with the Women Veterans

The other day I attended a social function held by the Veteran's Hospital honoring Women Vets. I met so many older women veterans, some served in Korea, Vietnam, and even a few from WWII!

Interestingly, so many of them were Navy. Some were Army, one lady a Marine, a couple served in the USAF. The ladies told me stories of their time in the service, with flashes of excitement in their eyes..."Oh it was such a time!" said one of the older lady vets.

So many stories.

Today we are so used to seeing women in the military. But before the 1970's, women in the military services were a drastic minority. One of the male chaplains I serve with here is a Vietnam vet, (Marine Corps) and he said he only saw one or two ladies in the military when he was in, back in the '60s.

Toward the end of our social gathering I asked the lady vets, why so many Navy here? (I am Air Force.) I started humming the Navy song, and they all chimed in, singing "Anchor's aweigh, my boys!..."

Such great fun!

CPE at the Veteran's Hospital, Palo Alto, CA

Greetings from the VA hospital in Palo Alto, CA where I am TDY (temporary duty) doing training & serving here for ten weeks called "C.P.E." (Clinical Pastoral Education). I am now half way through my tour.

CPE is about visiting patients in various units, processing with the others in your group every few days under the supervision of a senior chaplain and in the process one sharpens their pastoral care skills. We are also given special training on Grief, PTSD, and exposure to many things.... everything from surgeries, illness, spirituality and healing, addiction treatment, mental illness, Spinal Cord injury, blindness, and so forth.

It is a rare and wonderful opportunity to be able to have this special training at a VA Hospital. There are also 2 other ANG chaplains in my CPE group here at the Palo Alto VA hospital and three civilian CPE residents, who have been doing this for almost a year. We have a CPE supervisor (like our teacher) who is a very experienced VA Chaplain, she is really a wonderful teacher / supervisor.

The VA hospital here in Palo Alto is one of the nicest, most modern and large VA hospitals I have ever seen. The Vets here get top notch treatment, as they should!

It might seem really scary or unpleasant to visit patients who are ill and be around suffering all day, but what happens is that you have compassion and very much care for them. You develop a love for them. It is love based, not fear based. And as you do this over and over, you have less anxiety about facing people's pain and suffering. You gain more confidence, and in the process, one becomes a better chaplain / minister / priest / rabbi / imam. And that is the other thing, we have all faiths here... Roman Catholic, various Protestant Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist, etc.

Yes, it is a real honor to serve the Vets here...and the learning never stops.

The photo here is in the Chapel. The stained glass window in the photo has a picture of the famous 'four chaplains' who went down with their ship, giving their life vests to others so they could live.

A New Priest...