I Corinthians 13-- Nurses’ Version

Though I’ve memorized all medical terminology,
and have learned every treatment protocol we’ve had in class,
if I have not love, I will be of little worth as a caregiver.
Though I may be great at reading test results,
and seeing health patterns that others overlook,
if I forget that my patients come to me broken and in need, yet made in His image,
I am little better than a clanging, robotic machine.
Though I have all faith to believe that my patients will be healed,
and pray fervently and loudly toward that end,
if I do not touch them as Jesus would, my prayers mean nothing.

Love is patient...
especially when Mrs. Smith in 214 rings for the fifteenth time in the last half hour.

Love is kind...
especially when the family of Mr. Williams has just been informed that his cancer is terminal.
Love never envies a colleague for having nicer or more interesting patients.
Love is never boastful or conceited about the wonderful care my own patients receive.
Love is never rude...
even when having to tell Mr. Jones for the umpteenth time that it really is imperative
for him to take his insulin to manage his diabetes.
Love is never selfish, hoping to get more compliant patients than other nurses have.
Love takes no offense...
even in the face of Mr. Abernathy’s constant grumbling about what poor care he receives.
Love doesn’t keep score...
even when it seems I’m carrying more than my share of the load,
and takes no pleasure when those who are struggling seem unable to keep up
their end of the bargain.
Love delights when one of my patients improves,
and is doubly-delighted when they are restored to full health.
There is nothing which is too great to face with Love –
no disease too overwhelming,
no trauma too gruesome,
no sorrow too great,
no person too difficult -- for Love to bear.
There is no limit to the enduring faith and hope that grow out of deep, abiding Love.
Love never ends.
There will, most certainly, be perplexing cases for which diagnosis will not be forthcoming.
Miraculous healing will sometimes give way to the reality of death and loss.
Knowledge will fall short of a cure far too often.
For all that I know and all that I can now see is only part of the picture,
and I must keep reminding myself that it is only through the grace of a Love-sustaining
Creator that any of us ever experience good health at all.
I used to think, like a child does, that only old people die or get sick.
Now that I’ve grown up, though, I’ve moved beyond such a simplistic perspective.
I now know that physical, mental, and spiritual health is a gift...
And while I have come to know many things about good health, many mysteries remain...
My knowledge is only partial,
and I can only see the dimmest of glimpses of this miracle we call Life.
What I can count on, though, are the three things that last forever: Faith, Hope, and Love.
And the greatest of these is Love.