A Secular Vocation

When you work in Patient Support long enough, you cannot help but notice patterns. One that I have always found quietly moving is the number of people in our field who have backgrounds in theology, divinity, ministry or worship music.

I offer this as an observation rather than an analysis. I have not conducted a survey, and I cannot tell you whether former theology students and church musicians are statistically overrepresented in Patient Support. I can only tell you that I have met enough of them over the years to notice.

At first, I thought it was simply an interesting coincidence. The more I thought about it, though, the more sense it made.

I have written before about how Patient Support can allow people to retain some sense of human decency and stewardship while still earning a comfortable living and supporting a family. We work inside a commercial industry, yes, but the substance of the work is often deeply human.

A person has been diagnosed with a serious illness. A physician has pr…