Maria Kennedy is an ordained United Methodist clergywoman and board certified chaplain with specialized training in pastoral counseling, and an extensive background in interfaith spirituality/interfaith spiritual guidance (with an emphasis on Buddhism - and the Tibetan/Vajrayana tradition - in particular). Her current primary assignment is to the Main Campus Clark Clinic outpatient area; however, she also serves and collaborates with both Integrative Medicine/Place of...wellness and Rehab Services/Rehabilitation Medicine on a variety of patient/family programs and groups.
What motivated you to enter Chaplaincy as a career?
An experience I had while in college of having the opportunity to "journey with" a professor/mentor and his spouse during the spouse's relatively brief - but quite personally devastating - experience with cancer.
What's the most challenging part of your work?
Coping with the institutional complexities of being a part of such a large organization...and with the impact of those complexities on the lives of the patients, families, and staff to whom I minister.
What's the most rewarding part of your work?
The way that it serves as a constant reminder of the rare and precious - as well as quite fragile - nature of human life.
What do you find to be the most helpful when visiting with a cancer patient?
To remember our shared, common humanness: that - however different our journeys may appear on the surface - we share in the hope and aspiration to be happy, to be loved...and to be free from suffering.
What spiritual or religious resource do you find most personally helpful?
Prayer and meditation. I also find deep spiritual connection and expression through the wonders of nature and the beauty of music, as well.
What personal characteristics do you believe make an effective chaplain?
Though there are any number of possible answers to this, I believe that the most important attributes would be an open, compassionate heart, a sense of personal integrity, a genuine willingness to "walk in the shoes" of others, and a playful spirit.
Are there spiritual/religious topics you personally wrestle with?
Making sense of the enormity of suffering that I see in the world.
What would you like cancer patients and their families to know about M. D. Anderson?
Many folks come here seeking "the" answer - the cure for their cancer - that they haven't succeeded in finding anywhere else. For those folks in particular - but also for everyone, more generally - I would like to convey the sense that there is hope here...even though it may not be the hope, the answer, or the cure you seek, there is hope - as well as a community of support...of care...and of understanding.
