One of the venues where we have been sharing the Gospel for a long time is Riverview Psychiatric Hospital in Augusta, Maine. Sue and I started doing services there in 1987, and the Catholic chaplain at the time was her former parish priest. The Protestant Chaplain at the time was Scott Dowe, and he did an excellent job for many years. Five years ago he retired, and James Weatherbee, a Baptist pastor originally from Louisville, Kentucky filled the role.
In recent years, LOL has done a program every October and Rose and I have done one every February vacation. Since Sue does not share the same school vacation week –she teaches in New Hampshire –she has not been able to join us at these shows in recent years.
Rose and I did our program once again this morning at Riverview. About 25 patients and staff came out to see the show, and it was a lot of fun for all. Chaplain James told us that one of the patients was a ‘Satanist’ who had never come out to any of the religious programs prior to today. Now, ‘Satanist” is an emotionally charged word to say the least. It can mean a true member of the Church of Satan; a group that is essentially hardcore atheist / evolutionist who chose the symbol of Satan to belittle religion when in reality they do not believe in the supernatural whatsoever. On the other hand, ‘Satanist’ has also been attached to a lunatic fringe who are often – but not always- the thing of urban legends more than reality. Sometimes it’s just a title people adopt simply because they listened to a little too much Twisted Sister in the 80’s. I do not know what this young man means when he says this is his religion affiliation, but I’m honored that my show was the first chapel program he has attended since going into the hospital. He laughed and was attentive all the way through the program. Afterwards, he stopped to pet my rabbit, and we talked. I’d like to say he opened up to me, and, while pouring out his heart, repented of his sins and placed his faith in Jesus; but alas, we talked about…basketball? Yeah, basketball; It seems he played in high school, and somehow that’s what he wanted to talk about. That’s cool, too.
Meanwhile, Chaplain James and Rose have had an interesting relationship for years. They only see each other two or three times a year, but Rose is like Dennis the Menace to his Mr. Wilson. They just have a quirky relationship where they tease each other playfully. So, when the show was over and it was time to load the van, I realized I was doing all the work by myself. I looked up and James and Rose were thumb wrestling - gladly allowing me to do all the work! I wasn’t the least bit surprised.