One of the major initiatives my last two years on active duty as the Deputy G1 of the Army was the conversation about what are the essential attributes for a leader, and of those, which is the most critical. What the Army arrived at was the key attributes of a leader needs are courage, competence and character. While we often think of physical courage, it also means moral courage, and the ability to speak truth to power when needed. With regard to competency, that seems to be self-evident, however often times competency is seen as the only really valid attribute, even if it means short changing the others. Too often this leads to looking the other way if a person can simply "get the job done" as an ends to a mean, with no regard to how others have been treated, or if there were moral shortcuts. The final attribute, character, is at the end of the day what sets apart the moral leader.

 

   What then is the nature of the attributes of a chaplain? One thing that has stayed with me since my first quarter of clinical pastoral education is that a chaplain must not only demonstrate professional competence, and have the moral courage to speak to the needs of the patients when the patient cannot speak for herself to their healthcare team, and that a chaplain must be grounded in their character, which has often be described as what we do when no one is looking. Within the core attribute of character is the importance of compassion. While we all want chaplains with courage and competence, how many of us would want to make a referral to a fellow chaplain whose core character does not exhibit compassion?

 

   An article was published in the New York Times recently entitled "The Day They Came to Tell Me My Husband Died". As I read it, I became very aware that compassion is indeed a large part of what should be seen as shaping the character of a professional chaplain. I believe it is the connective tissue of chaplaincy across faith traditions. The story of the young former Army officer, who met her husband when they were both West Point cadets, has stayed with me since reading the article.

 

   The appreciation that she has for the chaplain who was with her on what was the most tragic night of her life will, I am sure, resonate with all of us. And with that, I would now refer you to the article, and for reflection on how what we do is perceived. I also pray that this is not something that any of us should have to do on a regular basis, but when called upon, that compassion may be a clear part of our character that can be offered to those in pain, and in need of our pastoral care. I believe that you will find the article insightful in the appreciation of the newly widowed, and amazed at how she plans to incorporate compassion into her new vocation.