The Friendship from Animals: A True Gift from God

"...he will be our friend for always and always and always." ~ Rudyard Kipling "Until one has loved an animal a part of one's soul remains unawakened." ~ Anatole France The above two quotes are taken from a Animal Sanctuary called “HowlMore” in the Columbia area. Here is their website: http://www.howlmore.org. The website and mission is connected with a former chaplain supervisor of mine. I really admire the work they do at HowlMore. It is so needed since every living creature, including humans, need a warm house, regular meals and good friendship. The first quote above talks about friendship never ending: it is always in existence and never goes away, maybe not even in death. The second quote talks about the awakening of one’s soul when one has loved a pet. Has your soul been awakened by the love of a pet animal? No doubt many of us can tell stories about our first pet dog or first pet cat or pet hamster. They are loving memories for many of us. Today I hope this short meditational thought harkens you back to your favorite pet who has gone on to “dog or cat heaven” or maybe the pet is alive and you will be seeing him or her today. Surely their friendship is a gift from God. Psalm 8 says that humanity is made a little lower than angels and we as humans have the custodial task of caring for the animals of our world as we are able to do so. May we do that well, afterall, they usually take good care of us! Dear God: Thank you for my past and present pets. They are all gifts who share friendship, love and presence. Help me and the rest of the human community to look out for them as they look out for all of us. Amen.

The Call: X 5

The Call: Times Five By Rev. George M. Rossi BCC M.A. M.Div. February 23, 2014 For the past six months or more I have been focusing on my newest focus and calling: seeking licensure as a Licensed Professional Counselor. Thankfully two professional colleagues of mine met with me to help mentor and guide me in the complicated process. This calling of serving as a pastoral counselor and LPC is not something new and it is something that is built upon my previous callings. My first call was the call to salvation. That salvation came to me in 1982 while I was serving in the US Air Force at Goodfellow AFB in San Angelo, TX. My life changed for the good and from the inside out. The Lord Jesus Christ came to live in my heart as I placed my faith in him and his work on the cross. It was that time in my life, more than 32 years ago where I heard the first call on my life--the call of salvation and the call to follow Jesus Christ as his disciple. That next call happened in about 1983 or 1984. I cannot pinpoint the exact time but I know it was one of those two years. It was my call to serve in the work of Christian missions. That call found it’s beginning in 1983/4 and would find its fulfillment in 1988 when I was called to serve as a US-2 Home Missionary for the Southern Baptist Convention in the Greater Philadelphia Baptist Association and Emmanuel Baptist Church in West Chester, PA. I served as baptist campus ministry director and also as a catalyst for the development of church social ministries. In Philadelphia I heard my next call of God. The call to serve his church in the pastoral ministry. That would take me to seminary (Southwestern Baptist Theo Seminary in Ft Worth, TX). The third call (call within the call within the call) was fulfilled as I was “called” to the pastoral ministry as associate pastor to Oakbrook Baptist Church in Summerville where I worked in the areas of education and evangelism with all ages. It was a great five years--challenging and times of great growth and learning. At Oakbrook I heard the next call to serve in the work of full time chaplaincy and pastoral care. This happened as I took my first extended unit of CPE (Clinical Pastoral Education) with a hospice agency in Summerville and while serving Oakbrook Church. That fourth call (chaplaincy) lead me to earn my Master of Divinity at Gardner-Webb University and then to earn 4 CPE units at Palmetto Health Richalnd Hospital in Columbia. Following CPE I have worked as a correctional chaplain for one year and hospital chaplain for the last 12 years at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston where I currently work. The fifth call was my call to pastoral counseling. Pastoral Counseling is the logical next step for me. I know that God has been at work in my life and God is using all of my education, work experiences, life experience and church ministry to help me counsel persons who need sound emotional and psychological guidance that is rooted in a deep faith and grounded in my seminary training and education. This call has been at work in my life since at least 1999 when a pastoral counselor first introduced the idea to me about serving as a pastoral counselor. Truly the gospel and sound educational theory can help people to find peace, liberty, change, new direction and healing. It is an exciting time for me. I will continue in my work as a chaplain at MUSC and hopefully one day attain licensure as an LPC. This call to pastoral counseling is “the Call” times five. The LORD has lead me this far and I look forward to the days and years ahead.

Pax Carolina

As I write this devotional thought it is both snowing and sleeting outside my house in suburban Columbia where I live. I am home alone with our pup Lucy. My wife is working at a local hospital and my two middle kids are away at college in Spartanburg and Conway, and our high school senior daughter is at some friends probably eating oatmeal and having hot chocolate. Our oldest and newly married daughter is probably making sure her new Boykin Sage is having fun in the snow. The Winter Storm Pax is barreling through South Carolina bringing ice, sleet, rain, and snow. It just depends where you are located and the temperatures which are hovering around that mythical 32 degree mark where sleet changes to snow and driving becomes flat out dangerous. My good colleague chaplains are covering the hospital at this time. I had my turn during the last storm and my turn will come again tomorrow when I head back to work. For me it is ironic that the winter storm is called Pax. That word is from the Latin and it literally means “Peace.” Snow can be peaceful to watch fall form the sky but watching ice and sleet accumulate on the roads and power lines is anything but peaceful. Yet, having good friends and family gives me peace. Knowing God’s love and presence also gives me a great amount of peace. I also have peaceful thoughts and good thoughts about the hard working power and electric men and women who will be working overtime to make sure our homes have electricity so we can stay in contact via text messages, emails and phone calls. Already this morning I have called and texted family and friends to check on them and let them know I am thinking of them. On top of this snow event some people even have family members in the hospital. It is an extra burden and difficult time and I am praying for them too. Thankfully our hospital staff is very dedicated and committed to taking care of patients as a first priority. It is good to be part of something so meaningful. The health care industry and clinicians work through ice storms and hurricanes. They are like the postal persons who deliver mail--they just get the job done. So, as Winter Storm Pax traverses the Palmetto State be sure to call your family and friends and to say a prayer for those who are hospitalized during such trying weather emergencies. Times like this help us to draw closer to care even more for those whom we love. Most of all, I know that God is the greatest source of peace and that is something available to us through prayers, sacred scriptures and even things like a good meal and an encouraging conversation. Prayer: Dear God, may you be the Peace that passes all understanding amidst my medical challenges and the other challenges of life like weather emergencies and unexpected hospital admissions. Thank you for your peace and may I share it today with those who need it--me included.