Over the years I have been deeply moved by the exemplary lives of parents, nurses, and my fellow chaplains and physicians. In addition, the inspiration to write arose out of my encounters with social injustice and suffering that first barged into my awareness in my preadolescent and adolescent years. Sometimes it is just the unwanted stuff of everyday life that comes without invitation to threaten us on the one hand but with the potential to make us better servants and caregivers on the other.

With each essay, reflection, and poetic writing I intend to speak of the need for our presence in community with the suffering. Even then there is more than a human presence, for in all such instances God is also present. This presence acting in the world is not dependent in any way on whether or not we see or acknowledge it. God spoke first; God will have the last word: "In the beginning was the Word" (John 1:1).