Be grateful for every day you have on this earth

This week, Rabbi Miriam Lorie joined BBC Radio 2's Pause for Thought. She explains that:

"My work is full of privileges. And a particularly unique privilege is hospital chaplaincy. I'm not paid for it, yet I stick with it because of the extraordinary and ordinary encounters I've had in those wards. I hope the conversations lift the patients and help them feel heard - this is of course the primary objective. But however much I give, it's something I'll always gain from more."

Click below to hear about one of these encounters is the subject of This Pause for Thought:

For today’s Pause for Thought, I’m just the messenger. I met this amazing guy, Joseph, on my hospital chaplaincy rounds this week, and his words blew me away.

Picture the scene - the chemotherapy suite of a local hospital. About ten people in huge armchairs having medication administered. Heavy medication which we hope will conquer an even worse disease.

Joseph - maybe in his 60s, athletic, Jamaican background as he tells me later - sits head down, looking a little crumpled. “Would you like a chat today?” I ask. And Joseph sits up. His face comes to life. For the next half hour, Joseph is the chaplain, and I’m his disciple, as he shares with me his life philosophy.

“This is no big deal” he shrugs at the picc line into his arm, as if to say “we’re not talking about cancer today”. Instead he says this:

“Hold no hate in your heart. For anyone. Know that everything comes from God. Be grateful for every day you have on this earth. Most of us forget gratitude. It doesn’t matter if you’re rich or poor. The end of every single person is the same - in the ground. So why hate? Why lie and steal and kill? Why obsess over money? All those countries killing other people - for what? Never hate anyone.”

Honestly Scott I can’t really do it justice - Joseph said it all so much better. He is a Christian and I am Jewish but in that moment, he was my teacher about God and the world, and what’s important.

They talk about cancer changing people’s priorities and giving them a new zest for every moment of life. And I’m sure there’s something in this. But from what I’ve seen of my time in the chemo suite, it’s also the resources and life philosophy people bring into their treatment which affects how they’ll walk through the illness.

And time after time, I’ve learnt from the patients - their resilience, their faith, sometimes their honest doubt and fear. It’s them who should be some of our Pause for Thought contributors. So for today, this Pause for Thought was brought to you by Joseph.