“Does jesus care?”

“Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press,
And the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?

chorus

O yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary,
The long night dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fade,Into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief
There is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?

Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches
Till it nearly breaks,
Is it aught to Him? Does He see? ”

The writer of the song writes a song going through a very difficult patch in his life. He looks at what he is going through, and he asks a question “does jesus care?”.  Is he present when bad things happen to us or is he present only when we are happy so as to receive all the praise? He then comes back and answer his question and say “Oh yes He cares, I know he cares, His heart is touched with my grief: when the days are weary and the long nights dreary, I know my saviour cares.” That is how he answers himself in the mist of his troubles.

However, can a patient on a death bed, suffered for years without a family, no support or whatsoever from anyone. With no one besides his death bed to hold his hand say “he cares”? does he see what the patient is going through, the pain that the patient is in and yet he being the God that cares but allow the patient to be in that kind of pain. He is God as they say, he is able to change situations, why can’t he change the patient’s situation as well? I watched my patient cry everyday on a death bed without a family. Begging me every day to call her parents to bring her children over just to see them. I was so detached, it did not even hit me because all the stuff called her a crying baby, until the morning I found her dead. My heart ached, I had failed her,  I failed to be a friend that she needed besides her death bed. I was just a physiotherapist to her, physio sessions and it ended there. Okay, maybe this is the worst scenario of a patient. There is another patient in a hospital stage 4 of prostate cancer, left with few days to live. His family and friends with him day and night, crying all day and night waiting for him to die. How then do I see the relevance of the God who cares to such a patient? The fear in his eyes and the torture that his family and friends are dealing with.

It is hard to relate to such patients. What words or action can really make sense to them. in addition, the writer continues to write and say; Does Jesus care when I have said goodbye to the dearest on earth to me, and my sad heart aches until it nearly breaks, is this aught to him? Does he see? Does he really see when families and friends await by the bed side for their dearest on earth to die?.  “as medical professionals we have a duty to our patients to make their experience as easy and stress free as possible. We often are expected to be therapist, psychiatrists, and technologist in one. Our days are extremely busy and sometimes it is hard to take an extra moment to sooth and comfort a patient.” Said Bones (2016).

As a health professional I ought to be there for my patients. they have to find a reason to keep fighting in me, my presence should not only be physio related but I should reach out to their immediate needs. Majority of  patients i have seen in hospitals do not need physio as much as they need to be told that there is God, there is hope, there is life after death, there is just something.  Perhaps patient do not show improvement from physio because they are not mentally and emotionally working with us.  Most patients die in regrets, in despair, in void because they did not have someone to hold their hands and tell them that it is okay (Law, R. 2009). We ought to be a bridge between their two worlds, encouraging them to maintain connections with the outside world so that they do not become isolated in their dying world.

As professionals we are so absorbed in our work so much that we miss the point. We miss what our patients really need while they are in hospital. This is not even about creating attachments with patients but doing our work as professionals in a holistic manner. If the writer of the song could ask God so many questions throughout his rough patch and still be able to come to an answer that regardless of his situation, He still cares. Surely there is a God that really cares that all patients need to hear about that they may also in their death bed say he still cares.

Reference

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Bone, S. L. (2016). Patients’ Emotional Needs. Radiologic technology, 87(6), 716-717.

Law, R. (2009). ‘Bridging worlds’: meeting the emotional needs of dying patients. Journal of advanced nursing, 65(12), 2630-2641.