| The patients sitting in the outpatient hematology clinic, receiving their infusions of |
| chemotherapy, are in a “caesura” of their life, a great rupture. Sitting next to one patient, |
| the spiritual caregiver suggested using the image of the steps rising from the hospital |
| lobby to the clinic for some “reframing.” The patients sitting in their easy chairs would |
| speak about a serious step down in their lives, as fears, anger, and a sense of |
| powerlessness piled up. It's a paradoxical feeling—they are physically climbing up the |
| stairs but metaphorically going down into the depths of their deaths. |
| Her suggestion was to decorate the steps with colorful wallpaper and jointly to create a |
| picture composed of colorful strips that each patient would make separately. After the |
| supplies had been distributed, and the patients began designing, cutting, and pasting, they |
| were no longer gazing at the slow drip of the chemotherapy or getting angry at the staff if |
| there is a delay. They were lost in the act of creation. The conversation returned to the |
| stairs—the experience of climbing the stairs up into the clinic had changed, for they have created new stairs. |
| The spiritual caregiver shared with the patients how many of the Psalms begin “A Song of |
| Ascents”—a song of stairs. And together they began to sing one of those Psalms, Psalm |
| 121: “A song of ascents. I lift up my eyes to the hills; from where will my help come?” Now |
| the tears can turn into dancing, and the terrifying clinic stairs into stairs of ascent. Even in this place, song is possible. |
| The Psalm continues, “The Lord is your guardian, the Lord is your protection at your right |
| hand.” I ask the patients what protects over them, and what their fear is. The Psalm |
| concludes, “The Lord will guard your going and your coming, now and forever.” The |
| spiritual caregiver asked the patients, What blessing are you receiving with the conclusion |
| of your treatment? What is your prayer for the path forward? |
| And a room of strangers has been transformed into a small band of people who have come |
| to truly see one another and offer each other blessings. |
