Video Transcript: The Chaplain as a Non-Anxious Presence in Crisis Moments

The Chaplain as a Non-Anxious Presence in Crisis Moments

Henry: So we're back today. We're going to discuss the officiating chaplain as a non-anxious presence during crisis moments. And based on some of our previous conversations, Tom, you have experienced crisis moments. So, this will be an excellent opportunity to understand some of those dynamics, including the power of a non-anxious presence. I'll read this out, and then I'd love to hear your response. People don't need answers. They need presence. A calm demeanor says you're not alone. God is here, calm is more powerful than a sermon. Yeah, there's quite a bit there. 

Tom: There is, but that's all right. Being a non-anxious presence, I often told the chaplains whom I've trained and supervised that probably the most important thing that they can bring is calm to chaos. Because we frequently receive that phone call, it's usually because something chaotic is happening somewhere, and what people need is someone who is a calming, even-keeled presence. 

The last one there: calm is more powerful than a sermon. When you're in the middle of something major, something very traumatic, some disaster, the last thing that people need, because the last thing that they can process, is a lot of words about what's going on. They're more in survival mode, and they need help. They need help navigating whatever they're experiencing, and one way to do so is to be a calm person. Now, the tricky part with that is you're supposed to project calm when you may be filled with anxiety. 

Henry: That's my first question. Yes, what happens is that some people are just more high-strung. This brings us back to something we've discussed several times. It's so important to feel that God has called you, you've been adequately trained, and the organization you work for, whatever that organization is, has put you in this place for such a time as this. 

Tom: Gotcha. That doesn't mean you know all the answers. It doesn't mean that you're perfectly calm and confident, but that you know you're the right person for this for such a time as this. And there is a lot, I'm thinking of too many things all at once, but when I responded after being on the Abraham Lincoln, to the tsunami in Indonesia, we were surrounded by countless dead bodies. We saw devastation on a scale that was truly epic. And what do we do? And the sailors that would come to see me were just completely overwhelmed by what they were seeing just off the side of the ship.

Henry: So this was that tsunami in Thailand. 

Tom: Yeah, we were sent to Indonesia. The same tsunami, and I was on the Abraham Lincoln. We were in Hong Kong when the tsunami hit. And so we were sent. Initially, we were told we were going to Thailand to offer whatever support we could. However, we ended up going to Indonesia. And so our role was to deploy our 16 helicopters, bringing food and water from the airport to the villages that the tsunami had cut off, and to transport injured people from the tsunami to the hospitals at the airport. 

Henry: Wow! 

Tom: The death toll, you know, was horrendous. There were dead bodies everywhere. And our sailors, as we got closer and closer to where we were going to be working, were, you know, panicking, like, what do we do? How do we do this, right? And what do we do next? How do we deal with this? Why aren't we picking up these dead bodies? How can we make a difference? 

What they needed was someone who represented the sacred, which we've already discussed. It is the role of a chaplain to be with them, to listen to them. Not to try to provide answers, but to be a calming presence and help them focus on what we can do, rather than the overwhelming task at hand. What can we do? What can I do? We could pray for people. We could start gathering supplies to bring ashore. 

I mentioned being at 911 in the days immediately following September 11. Just the sheer destruction of that whole part of New York City, and people being overwhelmed and terrified at what they thought was going to come next. And again, I was nervous. I was afraid. I was anxious, but knowing that my job was to be a calming presence, to have quiet conversations with people, to give them someone they could talk to, process with, and share their thoughts with without fear of judgment, I think was very important. 

And so, at the World Trade Center, I would walk around the entire Ground Zero, which would take a whole day to complete. I would then stand next to the firemen when they took a break. And 95% of the time, I didn't say anything. I just stood by them. And they stood there, and we looked at what was going on, and sometimes there would be a very short conversation. Most of the time, they'd simply say 'thank you for being here,' and then they'd return to work. But it meant a great deal to them to know that we were there with them again, because they weren't happy. They weren't consoled because Tom was there. They were consoled because someone who represented God was standing there, and anything that I would have said to them would have been inadequate. It wouldn't have made any difference. It was just the fact that we were there. We don't have to have the answers, because there are no answers to many of the things that happen in life. And I can give examples from my personal life, where our family experienced times of tragedy, and someone came to explain it all to me, but failed miserably. In contrast, other people were just there, present with me, and it made all the difference in the world.

In the Bible, we find biblical models of calm in crisis, such as Moses before Pharaoh, who remained persistent and did not panic. Often, when I was a child, the stories of Moses would be told, and that was something that always struck me. It was how calm Moses was before the great Pharaoh of Egypt. 

Then there was Elisha. And the story where, you know, his servant is worried that there are all these people attacking the city. And then Elisha says to the Lord, "Open his eyes..." And then the servant saw that there were chariots of fire guarding the city. Also, then Jesus, in the storm, asleep, centered in his father's presence, with contagious peace. You know, there's a spiritual calmness that we see in the Bible, which the Holy Spirit can bring. 

And this is a gift, in many ways, for a chaplain. What happens if somebody is called into chaplaincy and they are a little more high-strung? I mean, in some ways, this is not only a gift, but it's also a trait to cultivate and ask for as a gift. I mean, have you ever met chaplains who are so high-strung that you have to calm them down? And how does that work?

Well, and I've been high-strung and needed to be calmed down too, not just in my interactions with other people. Still, one of the first things that comes to mind is we had a group of Chaplains working at the World Trade Center, and another group of Chaplains came in to relieve us and take over the work we were doing. One of the chaplains who arrived was overwhelmed. The amount of destruction was incredible, something that none of us had ever seen before. It was just horrific. 

And he said to the chaplain he was replacing, which wasn't me, but he said to the chaplain who he was replacing, "I can't do this, right? There is just so much here. The destruction is so terrible. This is just overwhelming. I don't know what to do, right?" And the chaplain he was relieving said to him, "Why are you here?" And he said, "To help God's people." And he said, "Do you see any of God's people?" And he said, "Well, sure." And he just pointed at a fireman, and said, "There's one over there." Then the other guy said, "Go help him." Right?

You know, when we're overwhelmed by the magnitude of some of these things, like tornadoes, hurricanes, that kind of thing, tsunamis. What am I there to do? I'm there to help God's people. Well, there's one. Go help that one. Don't worry about the huge event. What can you do here in a calm way?  As we've already said, helping that person doesn't mean I'm explaining to him how God can allow such a terrible thing to happen. It just means being there.

I had a helicopter pilot in the tsunami who was landing and refilling his helicopter with food and water to bring out to the people who had been cut off. And he told me that night, "I was overwhelmed by what was going on, and I was thinking about how minuscule our event, our efforts to bring food and water to people. Was this gonna make a difference? Were we really helping?" Then, he said, "I looked and I saw you standing next to the helicopter...." But he didn't see Tom standing next to the helicopter. He saw the chaplain, a representative of God, standing by the helicopter. He said, "When I saw you there, I knew I had to keep flying, and we had to do what we could do and not worry about what we couldn't do." And he was able to continue flying for the rest of that day. Again, it was nothing that I said, nothing that I did, but he saw the presence of the keeper of the sacred there, and that gave him the strength he needed to continue to go forward.

Henry: I'm not sure how you feel, but I feel incredibly emotional during this class. I mean, these stories fire me up for the work of the Lord, because the Lord is here in this world, helping people. That's like the insight from Ministry Sciences: anxiety is contagious, but so is peace. Chaplains are like a spiritual thermostat, not a mirror; spiritual silence and presence often bring healing more than advice.

Tom: I'd certainly affirm, especially that last one, just your presence. And we often discuss a ministry of presence in the chaplaincy. It's not what we say, and most of the time, the less we say, the better it's going to be. It's a ministry of presence that gives people the strength they need to keep doing the work that they do.

Henry: In brief, here are some practical skills for crisis moments. I'll read them, and then you can provide your comments. 

Slow down, speak calmly, and embrace silence. Be grounded in prayer. Whisper, breathe, and say prayers. Listen first, and let people set the pace. Centered truths: I am here, God sees you. Centering truths: I am here. God sees you by language, open postures, and soft eyes.

Tom: I wish I had written those. Those are, those are good, I think, and they kind of all relate to the same thing, slowing down, speaking calmly when and if you need to speak, but embracing silence. As I said, I would walk around ground zero at the World Trade Center and stand by people, right? And they would notice me, and jumping to number four, they would see that I was there. And for many of them, that gave them the comfort of knowing that God saw them, wow. 

As far as prayer. On a few occasions, I prayed with people. If our brief conversations led me to think that praying for them would be helpful, I should say I prayed for all of them throughout the day. But I prayed out loud on a few occasions when it was clear that that was something that they wanted me to do. However, the presence aspect is just so important, and simply being there somehow gives people comfort. And many nights, I would go back to my room, and I would call my wife, and she'd say, What did you do? And I said, for most of the day, I just stood there, and it seemed to make a difference, because I would not have had an explanation. I still don't have an explanation. There are so many things that happen that we don't have an explanation for, and yet we can still represent God in the middle of those very difficult places.

Henry: Thank you so much. And as we reflect on this, I ask the Lord to quicken your spirit to know. This is a type of presentation that really does go to your calling, too, and to say, "Hey, I have the opportunity in a severe crisis to bring the presence of the Lord." The Lord is not done with this world, and He allows things to happen; we don't have to have all the answers. Powerful.