Accompanying towards God

Didn't get to blog yesterday as K had the computer. So here are my reflections from yesterday.
We have come to the end of six months of hospital placement. I think of all that I have done since coming to college this placement has been the most formational, enjoyable and spiritually sustaining. We have had a mixture of classroom teaching and ward visiting. The teaching has been very good and has included a mixture of information and real life stories. Yesterday we had Michael Welham author of My Donkey Body talking about disability. This was followed by a question and answer session with all the chaplains. One of the questions asked was -" What do you ( the chaplains) see the difference being between being a chaplain and a parish priest? The answer that sticks with me was that they felt parish ministry should be the same as Chaplaincy in that it should be about accompanying people on their journey. This really resonated with me, as more than anything I feel called as a priest to accompany people as they make their own journey's towards God. Having been with these chaplains as they have walked the wards and talked with people I hope I have learned new skills for pastoral care. I have also realised that though i feel very strongly called to rural parish ministry I could also be very happy in hospital chaplaincy if that is where God wants me.