Understanding Patients’ experience is a big topic in healthcare right now. A study was recently undertaken to understand the unique patient experience of chronically ill older adults. Findings from this study found that older adults’ experience was related to the actions and the attitudes of their healthcare providers. Actions were defined as what the caregiver did, and attitudes were defined as the manner, or way of being.
Actions and attitudes are important for health care providers and also for prophets. During the sixth century B.C., Babylon invaded the nation of Israel and as a result, the Israelites became desperate and turned away from God. God called Ezekiel to action to bring hope to the Israelites. Ezekiel was charged with delivering God’s message with the attitude of fearlessness, and to ignore mean words and hard looks from the rebelling Israelites. Ezekiel’s actions and attitudes helped the Israelites emerge from the rubble and become a new people of God.
Lent is a time of repentance and self-examination, and provides us an opportunity to think about our actions and attitudes as Christians. How are we using actions and attitudes to improve the experience of those around us? Ezekiel gives us a good model.
Questions
1. Are we like Ezekiel and taking God’s message to a world that is filled with naysayers? Are we fearless in delivering God’s message of hope?
2. Or, are we being more like the desperate rebels that Ezekiel found among the Israelites?
Prayer
God, give us courage to be Your people. Give us an attitude of fearlessness so we can deliver Your message of hope. Amen.
—Jean Scholz Mellum
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