Panacea

To ensure that I can meet the required 40 hours of service I will be pulling what I call “over-time”. This means I will be volunteering on at least two other days outside of my usual Fridays with Cameron. This Wednesday I will be volunteering at a jazz concert where I will be expected to transport the patients to and from the event location, and sit with patients. Also, a couple Sundays from now I will be a volunteer in a Purim party held in one of the other Baycrest complexes. Purim is ofcourse an annual celebration of the deliverance of the Jewish people in the Biblical story of Esther. The story is one of my favourites so I am excited to see Baycrest’s version of the commemoration.

In the time I’ve spent at Baycrest I have just now recused myself of the idea that I could bring something new and perhaps innovative to patient care at Baycrest. The reality is that there are so many volunteers and having the huge responsibility of health care institution Baycrest, and their staff are obliged to do things by the book. This leaves little wiggle room for innovation. But along with the other volunteers I believe my role is to help keep things running by increasing the avidity of the team effort at Baycrest. Sort of like the analogy “two heads are better than one”. So far I haven’t experienced the analogy of “too many hands spoil the broth” because there are always people to help and things that need to be accomplished. For instance, on Friday instead of helping Cameron with his two charges at the evening Shabbat service I decided to ask the recreational therapist for the floor if there was anyone else that I could help bring downstairs to the service. She escorted me around the corner and down one of the many wide hallways to a small lady hunched over in a wheelchair sitting in front of a TV. At that moment new and innovative didn’t matter only ensuring that the client was as comfortable as possible with me especially with the diagnosis of dementia.

One of the volunteers in the afternoon Shabbat service asked us earlier if we would continue volunteering at Baycrest even after our required 40 hours. The truth is I don’t know if it would even be feasible for me to do so for a variety of reasons like cost of travel. But in a perfect world I would love to be able to volunteer at Baycrest long term. And when I think about the life that I want in the future it will have to include service. For me service is a part of my morality-and I talking about service on a large scale like Baycrest. In Jeffery Stout’s article he disagrees that there is a sort of common morality that we as humans share. I believe that people know that helping others is moral but self-centeredness (apart from physical/intellectual limitations) often thwarts are best intentions to act morally in this way. We may protest that we don’t have the time, we don’t know what cause to support and the list goes on. But I think we all feel a little guilty when we pass up the chance to share our abilities in order to ensure the well-being of another.

Client Care

Last Friday’s visit to Baycrest was too short but also very sweet. It was sort of like having just one Ferrero Rocher. I had the opportunity for the first time to participate in the large Oneg Shabbat service held on the first floor in the Worstman Hall, adjacent to the cafeteria. I think what made this service so exiting was that the clientele was larger and so there were more individuals able to verbally communicate. Also for the first time I spoke with a man who used to be a patient at Baycrest but was there just to volunteer with his wife. He was wheelchair dependent and he did make it known to me that he might become a patient again in the near future. I found it interesting that he did not speak of becoming a patient at Baycrest with any trepidation. Maybe he was confident that his stay wouldn’t be permanent. Equally likely is that his experience at Baycrest was so positive that he just didn’t mind being there. I haven’t been volunteering at Baycrest for very long but in the time that I have spent there I haven’t heard any complaints from the clients about either the staff or the hospital. On the other hand I have heard many positives about the nursing staff and I have seen expressions of happiness and gratitude. The environment is so positive that it is easy to forget that I’m volunteering in a traditionally high stress environment. My mom works in a hospital which I have visited on occasion, and I find that her hospital runs at a much faster pace than Baycrest. Also, the care appears to be more transactional even at the nursing level (cause and effect maybe?). And let’s not mention the Bureaucracy. So what really makes religious institutions more compassionate, more apt to slow down the pace and take time for patient?  I think it has to do with who is in charge and the policies they set forth. For instance, although workplace bullying is not commonly tolerated aversion towards bullying may be stressed more often in religious institutions as a result of religious belief. Moreover, I believe that secular institutions (e.g. a hospital) operate with one purpose-to provide a service in exchange for something tangible. This something could be money, public peace, future benefits etc. Whereas religious institutions may hold the intangible to an equal or even greater regard. The intangible can be as simple as client satisfaction.

Just an update on the museum project: It has been postponed until the 26^th of this month but classes finish soon after that so I figure I won’t be participating. So now I need to contact my volunteer co-ordinator to ensure that I can complete the 40 hour requirement. Wish me luck!

Article Review

Jason Hackworth’s article focuses on the role of American Gospel Rescue Missions (GRMs) for the homeless as fortuitous vehicles of neoliberalism within American society. In other words, American GRMs inadvertently function to support the political and economic goals of the federal government. Hackworth only briefly discusses how these organizations support neoliberalism and that is through their general ideology that dire conditions like poverty and homelessness result from personal failures. Moreover, in order to remedy the quandaries that result individuals need to seek spiritual guidance, repentance, and actively work towards a better future.  Hackworth also suggests that these religious missions also relieve the welfare burden of the state since approximately 60% of GRMs refuse to rely on government financial support for sustenance. The main reason for this refusal is religious: the federal government tends to make specific demands of these religious organizations that are areligious and at odds with their proselytizing mission. However it is ironic that one of the conditions for receiving HIV aid from President Bush’s PEPFAR was that recipient countries did not use the money to help/educate sex workers, this in order to appease the fundamentalist Christian support of the government. Intriguingly, Hackworth’s research showed that rescue missions felt more accepted within their municipalities (e.g. city contracted rescue missions) than at the federal level. This speaks to the phenomenon that religion can prove useful at one level of government but exist at odds with another level. Furthermore upon examining Table 4 the question arises as to whether rescue missions and even organizations like them support private enterprise or the dreaded “welfare state”. For example, the NYC and Bowery Missions offer free medical and dental to the needy. Should this not foment a desire to expect these services from federal and state governments?

The Laird and Cage chapter dedicates itself to the exploration of the role of religious identity of faith based organizations in a sort of case study. Although Hackworth asserts that the religious identity of faith based organizations cannot by typified with any accuracy, Laird and Cage agree with Thomas Jeavons that degrees of religious/spiritual identity exists in faith based organizations. The authors studied two Muslim affiliated clinics by interviewing staff and analyzing their speech for religious associations towards the clinics. The authors determined that generally the staff members were concerned with the non-Muslim perception of Islam in America and therefore the clinics served as a means of disabusing the negative perception of Muslim passiveness (pre-9/11). One founder of the Al-Shifa clinic in particular desired to contribute to American society as an American instead of simply benefitting from society as a second generation immigrant. The authors also concluded that although far from being proselytizing endeavours the existence of the clinics met the spiritual needs of the founders, in particular the doctrine of zakat (almsgiving). Interestingly, unlike the GRMs the clinics were not hesitant to accept government aid and funding issues mainly surrounded whether or not zakat is meant for Muslims alone or can be applied to non-Muslims as well. This begs the question as to whether it is the type of sector that determines faith based organization acceptance of government aid, or whether it is the identity of the faith based organization that determines this.

William Garriot writes with the burden that the Christian moral perception of addiction in America has prevented the classification of addiction as a physical health problem, and instead typifies addiction as a “disease of the will”. As a result government policies at all levels tend to only treat addiction by attacking it from a criminalization standpoint instead of focusing of medicalizing addiction. Garriot’s argument seems to be more of an attack against the Christian perception that any ailment can be overcome by faith in God and personal effort. He hardly offers any means by which addictions can be treated more like other physical ailments such as cancer. At any rate he would be hard pressed to do so because recovery still has to be chosen by the addict. Individuals cannot be forced to end their addictions except in jurisprudence against an addict who has committed a crime. Garriot also seems to imply that Christianity is the only religion that associates/classifies mental illness as curable by spiritual intervention, and he further understates the role that religion especially Christianity has played in recovery from addiction for thousands.  

Better Late Than Never-Media Item

I neglected to post a media Item last week so this is my media contribution for this week. It is a short article coupled with a video discussing/reviewing the musical The Book of Mormon from the creators of South Park:

http://content.usatoday.com/communities/Religion/post/2011/02/mormons-broadway-south-park-/1

I have never been a South Park fan because I think the show exposes the depravity of North American culture. The writers not only satirize, trivialize, and profane every accepted social construction but they aggrandize the constructions that are not acceptable (e.g. murder).  So, when I came across their new musical on USA Today’s Faith and Reason blog I already knew that I was not going to watch it. What I did not expect was that the writers wouldn’t be directly poking fun at Mormons even though I suspect that it will still be done furtively. I was further surprised by the comments of support from some of the Mormon reviewers even though I’m sure they are not representative of the believers as a whole. The blogger Cathy Grossman seems to believe that the musical doesn’t deviate far from South Park with her question: “Can your religion take a joke?” My answer to that is not all jokes are created equal and people have the tendency to display their true feelings in the guise of a joke. I just simply refuse to believe that the writers had any good intentions towards Mormons in creating the musical, and I doubt that this display of religion can edify even the most obtuse observer.  

Let's Celebrate!

I had never really thought about the fact that Baycrest is not like other hospitals. But this past Friday I was forced to think about the fact that geriatric centres like Baycrest are the final destination for most patients enrolled there. One of the regular fixtures at the sixth floor Oneg Shabbat services passed away suddenly on Thursday and although I didn’t know him, I know that he was relatively young (approximately 74), I know that he was loved by friends and family and I have witnessed that he will be missed. Allan, who officiates the services, spoke a few words with regards to the passing and then he spoke a few words with regards to what our focus should when faced with death. According to Allan, Jewish law stipulates that when a funeral and wedding procession are about to intersect the funeral procession has the obligation to let the wedding procession pass first. The underlying idea is that life is to be celebrated more than death is to be remembered. This idea resonates with me on so many levels. One of which is fittingly from the health prospective. Dwelling on negative experiences can adversely affect physical and mental health. Also, many religions possess different teachings that aim to prevent degenerative thinking. From my own tradition the Bible speaks about forgiveness and believing that God is will answer our prayers instead of doubting that perhaps our situation can't be improved. It also gives hope that life on this earth isn’t like Baycrest-that life on earth isn’t the final destination.

After the service on the sixth floor Cameron and I were involved in another Sabbath service in the residential section of the Baycrest campus. This section can be thought of as a nursing home and the residents are more stable in terms of health than the patients in the hospital wing. However, most of the residents have dementia albeit at different stages. I was responsible for transporting a wheelchair bound lady who spoke no English to the Sabbath service. Her husband was present and luckily for me he spoke English quite well but was unable to transport her because of his own mobility problems. I don’t know how often he visits his wife but simply watching his dedication to her, in her state of deterioration, literally epitomized the enduring love most often shown in movies like The Notebook. He was so wrapped up in her world that nothing else mattered, not even the fact that I had to leave at four o’clock and he wanted to return to his room a half hour later than that. Now that I think about it there is great bliss in the thought that I was able to facilitate that experience for them. I have such a passion for marriages and the Jewish community at Baycrest has strengthened that passion. It is not rare to see a spouse visiting their loved one and doting on them. And I have to say that celebration of life in this way can really brighten anyone’s day. I hold religion responsible for such fidelity and by extension such happiness.  

Status Quo

Since I have a class every other week I was not at Baycrest last Friday. But I am already looking forward to the Oleg Shabbat service this coming Friday. I’m looking forward to being more efficient as a volunteer, because helping newcomers integrate does take away some of the efficiency from any program. I’m also looking forward to knowing the clients by name. I feel like when I’ve done that I will have done 50% of what is necessary. What’s more, on Friday I spoke briefly with Aviva Babins, Museum and Project Co-ordinator. She informed me that I will be starting in the museum in March although I was hoping to start this week.

Because I have no real Baycrest related updates I wanted to relay my thoughts on a current court case somewhat related to this week’s readings. The case surrounds a church called The Church of the Universe and a judge’s decision to reject their notion that pot smoking is a religious right. The congregants were caught a couple of years ago, as well as recently, selling marijuana to undercover police officers. The judge made his decision based on the implication that allowing the church to be exempt from the province’s marijuana laws would in effect nullify those same laws. I agree with the ruling based on personal ethics but I only somewhat agree with the logic because it agrees with my personal ethics. I’m not familiar with Canadian disestablishment law but if it in anyway reflects the American first amendment then issues such as defining the establishment of religion applies. I believe that posterity and how far any new religion differs from traditions of older religions should be a major factor in determining authentic religious practice in jurisprudence. In the Case of The Church of the Universe its founders claimed that marijuana is God’s Tree of Life and smoking and wearing the leaves is a necessary act of worship. Assuming that the Church is speaking of the Biblical tree of life then it is obvious that their act of worship differs greatly from the emphasis of the Christian religion and scripture. Usually, new religions that differ greatly from the older religions are afforded the title “cult”. But in this case the Church does not appear to have a charismatic element or even psychological brainwashing element. I don’t purpose to deny that the Church has any claims under the banner of religion. In fact I think the Church is a suitable example of how religion can influence the very heart of the state-through the laws that govern it. Even though they didn’t gain a ruling in their favour I can think of several objections to the judge’s logic (e.g. the underlying assumption that marijuana should be illegal as opposed to alcohol with similar if not worse effects on the body). And history has attested that when on a large scale people begin to question the status quo, the way things are become the way things were. 

I Almost Drank My Juice

Oddly for me I wasn’t nervous or dizzy when I walked through the sliding doors of Baycrest for my first day of volunteering this past Friday. I attribute this to the extremely and even overly friendly atmosphere of the volunteer office on the second floor. Janice Sternhill is the coordinator and she made the process of finding my placements within the hospital swift, fun and easy. I’m scheduled to volunteer every other Friday in the Oneg Shabbat programme and as a friendly visitor to the patients when the Shabbat programme is finished. I will also be volunteering my Friday mornings in the Jewish Culture and Heritage Museum on the first floor doing research and maintaining electronic and paper files.

After Cameron and I finished the final paperwork and were issued our I.D. badges Janice escorted us to the sixth floor where we met with Irina Iordanova the recreational therapist for the fifth floor. We followed her to the fifth floor where Cameron and I helped to transport the clients to the Shabbat service on the sixth floor. The participants varied in physical abilities from seemingly incapacitated to fully alert and active in participation. Some could eat and drink the bread and wine, others could not because of dietary restrictions or physical limitations. Whatever the case may be, as Irina pointed out, it is our duty to facilitate an environment that is enjoyable and welcoming to each participant. One very active participant was not even Jewish but I never would have known except for the fact that another volunteer pointed it out. The Shabbat service has led me to reflect on two things. First, the importance of recreation and programmes like Oneg Shabbat in supporting the health and sanctity of life for the clients. The idea that cognitively impaired individuals were present seems to support this. And to what extent I have yet to discover. Also, the individuals that could participate did so with enthusiasm I don’t frequently have in even my own weekly ritual activities. The second point of reflection was on my own mortality-but not with a depressive state of mind. Most of the clients appeared to be over the age of 70 and in one glance I thought of the blessing and privilege it would be to survive for that long. In fact I think I would be satisfied to live to be 80, but 102 is on the top of my wish list.

I also realized anew something about myself while sitting in the cafeteria after my session was over. I realized that if there is any way I can avoid harm or disrespect for individuals and institutions I will do it, in keeping with my personal values of course. According to the kosher rules of the cafeteria no one is allowed to eat food or drink in the cafeteria brought in from the outside (just in case their food isn’t Kosher). I almost drank the juice I brought from home forgetting for a moment that I wasn’t in an ordinary cafeteria. Even though I was really thirsty (and I was having some of the cafeteria pea soup that was really dehydrating) and I knew my juice was kosher I still opted out of disrespecting the rules of the institution. On the other hand I overheard a group of ladies doing just the opposite. To go even further with this example is the realization that religion in the public sphere is not easy. People have to deprive themselves of things in order to make other groups comfortable. While in my situation it didn’t hurt too much to go without fluids for a half hour, situations can certainly exist wherein the demands that religions place on the public may cause hostility.