As I reflect on my journey in chaplaincy, I have noticed that much of my understanding of foundational skills, specifically, cultural competency, is shaped by my bicultural experience as an immigrant to the United States, my marriage and my academic studies. I am a preacher's kid who grew up in the United Church of Christ both in the Philippines (UCCP) and, after immigrating at the age of 17, the UCC in the United States. As an immigrant, I am a cultural hybrid who is able to speak three languages fluently. I am in an interracial and intercultural marriage after marrying an American Episcopalian priest who grew up in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) tradition. Hence, I can easily swim back and forth between low church culture and high church culture. While continuing to be rooted in Christianity, I am fortunate to have studied and explored different global faith traditions, first, as a Religious Studies major in my undergraduate studies, and second, in graduate school. All these experiences of crossing boundaries of culture, religious and theological frameworks have shaped my understanding of the significance of cultural competency in my work as a chaplain.

Chaplaincy is a very fascinating work in the realm of spirituality and religion in that while a chaplain might have their own spiritual (or religious) belief that shape their understanding of their life and the world, a chaplain's encounter with someone in emotional-spiritual struggle is person-centered. This means that while the spiritual caregiver needs to be fully aware of the spiritual-religious and cultural lenses that have shaped them and that they carry into the conversation, the chaplain's main job is to empathize as best they can with the spiritual-emotional world of the person in crisis. Subsequently, this means that the chaplain needs to have some level of cultural competency in providing spiritual care by entering into the spiritual-religious framework of the patient, and supporting them in drawing out resources from the patient's own spiritual well. In other words, the chaplain's role is to be open and curious companion-guide in helping the patient articulate their spirituality whatever that may be so the struggling person can find their bearings in a time of emotional-spiritual vulnerability and disorientation. 

In my work as a hospital chaplain, two metaphors - that are shaped by my experience and social context ​- help me frame the skill of cultural competency: food & the chameleon.

THE APPRECIATOR OF DIVERSE CUISINES
If spirituality is a source of nourishment like food, then the diverse spiritual and religious practices and beliefs are the cuisines. However, chaplains do not dictate or enforce what people should consume. We are not proselytizers of cuisines (i.e., religions). We are there mainly to be present and understand what cuisine(s) people use to nourish themselves to thrive, or what flavor(s) they prefer. When the person has allergies, and the food (or cuisine) is making them ill or not helping them thrive, then I bring this up to their attention.
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While it is certainly impossible to learn all cultural cuisines (i.e., religions, spiritualities and theologies), chaplains who have more exposure to the diverse flavors of spiritualities and religions are the ones who are more able to  meet the spiritual needs of a population in a religiously pluralistic context. When a chaplain understands the spiritual lingo of a person in emotional pain, it is much easier to connect by using “spiritual” or “religio-theological” empathy. The general contrasting flavors that I, as a chaplain, pay attention to in the spiritual-religious menu in North American context include, but are not limited to, the categories below (NOTE: These categories are not strict binaries; rather I see them as a spectrum, and would go so far as to say that some spiritualities and religions may not fit these categories at all - there are aspects of spirituality/religion that are too complicated to categorize in a box):

Contrasting flavors (a few categories):​​
          1) High Church vs. Low Church
          2) Eastern Spirituality vs. Western Spirituality 
          3) Theist vs. Non-Theist/Atheist/Agnostic (Article #1, #2 )
          4) Religious vs. Spiritual But Not Religious (Article #1, #2)
          5) Christianity: High Christology (Christ as divine) vs. Low Christology (Christ as human)
          6) Mono Spiritual/Religious vs. Poly Spiritual/Religious​

​Neuroscience tells us about the good news of neuroplasticity in our brain. That is, our brain has the capacity rewire. My hope is that by accessing a wide lens perspective of our life journeys with the help of wisdom stories, we consciously create new neural pathways in our brain (analogous to creating a new footpath or nature trail illustrated in pic on right) as we make new choices and embody new actions that lead to our thriving and flourishing. ​