This Week's Reflection for Hope and Resilience

This is part of a series of weekly messages of hope and resilience that will be made available through Employee Connections and printed copies for those who do not have easy access to computers. Read last week's reflection here.

Never Surrender Hope, Though What You Hope for May Change With Time

At 50 years of age, I completed my chaplain residency in 2002 and began a life-changing journey as a bright, shiny, new staff chaplain at Creighton University Medical Center, a Level 1 Trauma Center. I had no sense of the transformation that lay ahead, and I certainly never imagined I’d be privileged to serve at Methodist Hospital these many years later.

Today I’m humbled to be part of our beloved Methodist work family and hold all in prayer as we’re individually and collectively stretched to our limits during this ongoing pandemic. It’s my hope that the sharing of a personal mantra that evolved in my first years of chaplaincy will offer you support and encourage you to create one of your own.

My mantra began simply: “Never surrender hope.” Hope strengthens our faith, keeps us moving forward even in the most desperate times and binds us together in our shared humanity. More often than not, our prayers are answered tenfold supporting this mantra to never surrender hope.

With time, I came to a deeper understanding that we all initially hope for complete healing and are brought to our knees when that doesn’t happen, leaving us to question why our prayers aren’t answered. It was then that my mantra expanded to: “Never surrender hope, though what you hope for may change with time.” Wisdom comes when we trust that God is always present, always listening to our prayers and will always do what is best (thy will be done), even when it goes beyond our human ability to understand. It’s not easy to fully surrender to God until we accept that he created each one of us in our mother’s womb, gave us our first breath of life and will be with us when we take our last breath.

I offer you my mantra in the hope that it will give your courage and strength to accept the miracles and the deaths we witness as health care workers. “Never surrender hope, though what we hope for may change with time.” 

- Chaplain Sandra Powers, Methodist Hospital

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We know these are difficult times. If you would like to speak with a chaplain for support, please feel free to reach out.

Methodist Hospital and Methodist Women’s Hospital: Call Operator “0” and ask for the chaplain to be paged.

Methodist Fremont Health: Call Scott Jensen at (402) 290-1408.