Hospital in AND now for a Sunday Spiritual break. Unfortunately, the spirit may not be with you after this Yarn. Lions Gate Hospital, your centre of physical healing, i is currently in the eye of a smalt storm over spiritual healing. Ponder, rs or example, the North Shore Health Region’s (NSHR) December 1999 Spiricual Care Bulletin. Sounds like it should be stimulating soulful stuff. Alas, however, it has stim- ulated more than introspec- tive contemplation. For Lions Gate nursing unit clerk Michael Edwards it initially stimulated introspec- tive irritation. That introspec- tion has since developed into outspoken agitation and a call to arms, And what messages of spiritual care could possibly get the 25-year LGH veteran SO upset? . In the health region’s eagerness to bow to the forces of multiculturalism regardless of their impact on the existing culture, the Spirituat Care Bulletin reports that the recently established Spiritual-Care Advisory Group, is adjusting the region’s services and resources to meet the North Shore's changing demograph- ics by: @ “Seeking representatives of the Jewish, Muslim, First maitiiox Nations and other spiritual traditions to participate in the group and/or provide con- sultative services to the region’s health care recipi- ents. @ “Examining continued use of waditional terminology in an increasingly multi-faith context.” Examples of terms that the group considers might no tonger be appropriate include “chapel, chaplain and pastoral care.” Dangerous terms, indeed. The advisory group is also considering “whether the symbolism currently present in the furnishings of the chapel at Lions Gate Hospital prevents use of the room by people of some faith tradi- tions.” In keeping with its dedica- tion to cultural confusion, the advisory group has decid- ed that the tigger word “chapel” is a touch tou provocative for our new cul- turally diluted land. The deci- sion followed a Nov. 23, 1999, meeting attended by a Muslim representative. The Spirituat-Care Advisory Group has further proposed that the chapel, which has been at the hospi- tal for the past three decades, be renamed the “Multi-Faith Quiet Room.” Adds a real edge to your spiritual] contemplations, don’t you think? The group also deter- mined at its Nov. 23 meeting that the chapel’s religious symbols and artwork “should be covered or removed when not actually in use for a reli- gious ceremony.” Out with those offensive crosses, crucifixes and other Christian paraphernalia, I’m afraid. Too controversial; too potentially offensive. But, for Edwards, too much. He questioned the ratio- nale behind the group’s deci- sions. He got litde in the way of justification for any changes. He found, for example, ne outery from aggrieved minorities behind the deci- sion to neuter the chapel’s spiritual character. Members of other faiths, he says, told him they would never push for such changes. He also found much timidity in the face of the politically correct powers that be — niuch typically Canadian reluctance to rock any boats. Edwards, however, decid- ed some issues were worth rocking boats over. He has since drafted a ler- ter to NSHR vice-president of programs Ellen Pekeles. In it he asks why the NSHR is getting involved in spiritual care when “matters of faith and cultural tradi- tions” are beyond its compe- tence? He points out that “a ‘meditation room’ is not a muld-faith version of a chapel. The words chapel and chaplain are not exclusively Christian. In the armed forces and universities of the English-speaking countries, rabbis and mullahs are also designated traditionally as ‘chaplains.’ * Edwards says he has attended numerous memorial services at the chapel for fel- low employees and uses the chapel regularly. In his letter he says he finds it “extremely offensive, insulting and hurt- ful when upon entering our chapel to prepare myself spiri- tually for a day’s work, I notice the cross, which is the core emblem of the Christian belief, hidden away as if we are ashamed to acknowledge its presence.” Christian sensibilities apparently weren’t considered much ofa priority by the Spiritual-Care Advisory Group. Rev. Keith Hamlin, the NSHR’s regional director of ra Senet Lie titan Nh RR AE RIES ATONE Hh ee: A oN Pee NENA Amt Get tough with irresponsible boarders, skiers Dear Editor: The number of times that we have watched skiers. and snowboarders plucked off the local mountains with line or “no punishment” or financial : ; restitution is beginning to raise our ire. Asa charter member of 2 local North Shore: service club, we work: very: hard to raise monies within the com- munity to donate to worth- while organizations. In partic- ular, many service clubs fund North Shore Rescue. Each “rescue averages avout $6,006 when the helicopter is involved. In most cases, these rescues are the result of skiers and snowboarders going out of bounds, the bounds of Mind Body & Soul iszz : MASTER SHOU-YU LIANG National coach, Canada e Wushu (Martial Art) Chair, Phys. Eo Dept., University of B.C, « Coach of Excellence, which are clearly marked. Each time, we wonder why we continue to pay for these obvious ninnies who de not expect to receive anything more than a slap on the wrist. A fine? Community service? Restriction or use of the , OR, Lubes & Fiktor 21 pt. Safety check, 15 rninutes - FAST! mountains? None of these suggestions will stop these people, but what will would be die loss of a driver’s licence for a year! Just watch this idea sort things out very quickly. Peter Black Charter member, Lions Club “| = E i Includes up to §& litres of 10w30 Quakerstate | "1362 Marine Drive 980-9115 Mon-Sat 8:00am-6:00pm, Sun. 9:00amn-5:00pm | Expires Jan. 26/2000 § . 20 CRS ESR CREE GEC BAS GE GN) NE SAT OR Ce ‘WELL PAY TOP DOLLAR NOW! wr FOR YOUR QUALITY USED GOODS | No costly adverts! Cash immediately! ° ‘ No waiting for the phone to ring! ' . WLS BUY BOUT Sunday, January 16, 2000 — North Shore Hews - 7 spiritual care, concedes that there was no outcry from non-Christians about the chapel. The decisions to blur the Christian focus of the hospitai'’s chapel were made, he says, because the hospital is a public facility and it has to be open to all people of the North Shore, the demo- graphics of which are chang- ing. That they are. But Edwards has since launched a petition opposing the changes. It gathered, he says, close to 100 signatures from nurs- ing staff in four days. Big numbers in these timid times. Hope springs eternal that Canadians will eventually show some back-bone in matters of culture. Now that’s an example that would provide some Specializing * in Needlework ‘gf amis Lane 29-7771 S.LAURSEN & & blinds draperies ome spiritual heall spiritual inspiration. —trenshaw@nsnews.cont Are you experiencing feel- ings of inadequacy that make it difficult to make decisions, to socialize, have satisfying telationships or a rewarding working life? Confident expression of feelings, thoughts, needs and your cre- ativity may be relearned and enjoyed. 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