Aug 14, 2026 · 52 min · 12 segments
Today’s guest is J.S. Park, a hospital chaplain, published author, and online educator. For nearly eleven years he has been an interfaith chaplain at a 1000+ bed hospital that is designated a Level 1…
J.S. ParkGuest
Bianca Mabute-LouiHost'Cause I think for me, I, I mean, I was very Christian for a time in my life, and I think for me it's not so much the assumption of sin or I, I have to have grace on this person, but I think actually as a sociologist [chuckles] and as an activist-
... it's more like there's context people come from where maybe they've caused harm.
And so I think like the Buddhist invitation to be super present to just this moment, does it ever feel like-- I don't know.
I mean, I guess you're talking about how-- 'cause the, the power dynamic is in some ways different or upside down in this particular moment 'cause they are the person in need and you're the provider.
But yeah, I guess that really challenges, I think, my ideas of how I try to see everyone in context and like really keep in mind, um-
Let's name that because, like, for example, if, you know, the person who-- the drunk driver who hit my mom-
if they had been injured in that car and then came as a patient to the hospital, would I have had that sort of like, oh, the concept of grace and all that? You know, that would have all just immediately flown out the window.
I think concepts of like our own safety, there are boundaries, there, there are certain ways where like, hey, this person is enabling harm, even perpetuating harm on the outside.
Different healthcare workers will fall in different places based on their own history, their own tolerance, what they feel is right in themselves, their own principles.
In no way do we wanna cause moral injury or moral distress on anyone who would visit a person who it would violate them, their own selves.
I mean, there are even doctors who after like the fifth round of resuscitation, they're like, "I think at this point we're torturing this patient."
So I think, yeah, to, to kind of address what you're saying, I may be speaking very idealistically, and this is part of where I get my mom's optimism.
'Cause I think for me, I, I mean, I was very Christian for a time in my life, and I think for me it's not so much the assumption of sin or I, I have to have grace on this person, but I think actually as a sociologist [chuckles] and as an activist-
... it's more like there's context people come from where maybe they've caused harm.
And so I think like the Buddhist invitation to be super present to just this moment, does it ever feel like-- I don't know.
I mean, I guess you're talking about how-- 'cause the, the power dynamic is in some ways different or upside down in this particular moment 'cause they are the person in need and you're the provider.
But yeah, I guess that really challenges, I think, my ideas of how I try to see everyone in context and like really keep in mind, um-
Let's name that because, like, for example, if, you know, the person who-- the drunk driver who hit my mom-
if they had been injured in that car and then came as a patient to the hospital, would I have had that sort of like, oh, the concept of grace and all that? You know, that would have all just immediately flown out the window.
I think concepts of like our own safety, there are boundaries, there, there are certain ways where like, hey, this person is enabling harm, even perpetuating harm on the outside.
Different healthcare workers will fall in different places based on their own history, their own tolerance, what they feel is right in themselves, their own principles.
In no way do we wanna cause moral injury or moral distress on anyone who would visit a person who it would violate them, their own selves.
I mean, there are even doctors who after like the fifth round of resuscitation, they're like, "I think at this point we're torturing this patient."
So I think, yeah, to, to kind of address what you're saying, I may be speaking very idealistically, and this is part of where I get my mom's optimism.
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