Psych field trip!
That's dear old Stephenson. Big and fluffy, he calls himself. Other things he's called by my fellow psych majors are not appropriate for me to repeat. I spent 3 days and 2 nights with him, Prof. Karen Jones, and 7 other psych majors on a psych class field trip. The theme of the trip was abnormal child psych, so we visited various mental health facilities that provided services to psychologically needy children and adolescents (e.g., mentally retarded, conduct disorder, sex offenders).Anyways, these are the other people that I went with, pretty much. Won't bother to name names cos I'm too lazy. ;p
I don't really connect well with those other psych majors. Don't fully understand it, and definitely don't like it. Oh well. I guess life is like that. You can't expect to completely love and connect with every single person you come across. I guess maturity is marked in part by the acquired ability to interact and work with individuals you don't necessarily love to death. ;-) Hehe...a life long lesson on that is needed too.
I did enjoy myself quite a bit. My eyes were opened to various employment and service opportunities in mental health, and one thing that stuck out in my mind throughout our tours was this beauty: "When Jesus saw [them], He had compassion on them..." (Mark 6:34) It stood out especially when we were visiting the sex offender program in the Arkansas State Hospital. That program receives the very dregs of society - literally. Most of the patients have been through numerous correctional and mental health service facilities; the program is a last resort of sorts, one step behind incarceration. My heart burned for them, rejected and given up on by society.
At this point, the words of Jesus in the temple flash back in my mind:
"The Spirit of the Lord is on me,
because he has anointed me
to preach good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners
and recovery of sight for the blind,
to release the oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."
and..."Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing."
How much, I wonder, are the Hands and Feet of Jesus (what the Church was meant to be) bringing healing to those who need it most?
posted by Joel Chan @ 9:39 PM
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