Lets begin with the definition…
Fray
[frā] / Verb
(of a fabric, rope, or cord) unravel or become worn at the edge typically through constant rubbing:
According to the oxford language dictionary, the term is a verb typically used to describe fabric, rope, or a cord. In this article, it will be a description of what a first responder (EMS, Fire, Police, MD’s/ RN’s etc.) typically steps into and experiences. The fray stepped into is the unexpected chaos of events happening to people we did not anticipate or even imagine. The fray experienced is the unavoidable trauma that is experienced by the unexpected events whether it was the shock of what we thought could or would never happen or the trauma that was triggered in our own lives based on what we thought could or would never happen, again.
If done well, healthcare professionals are created with critical thinking skills, we are given a foundation (Luke 6:47-49) of large amounts of information to build on, based on our scope of practice and expected to develop our practice based on protocols and scope; ultimately experience is the refinement of those building blocks. Over time, if we are evolving as a lifelong learner, we begin to view our patients through what I call multifaceted windows, which provide a variety of lenses to see where they are at diagnostically. The struggle is had in the lack of preparation to stabilize that foundation with faith. We need the stabilization because we are exposed to a variety of different aspects of life that at the very least, traumatize us, even the best of those of us that might be considered well developed. Educational entities, some, will teach about ethics, morals, and virtues but the true stabilization comes in faith. Faith is not easily acquired in this broken world, at best, even the church at large struggles with “faith”.
If we take this a step further, faith is a trust in God that is developed in relationship over time, but what does that look like?
“Nothing which implies contradiction falls under the omnipotence of God”
~Thomas Aquinas
Summ. Theol., 1a QXXV, Art 4
Genesis 50:20
“As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good in order to bring about this present result, to preserve many people alive
New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (La Habra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), Ge 50:20.
“Faith, as the plain man knows, is not belief without proof, but trust without reservations.“
The Predicament of Man, Chapter 3
Faith is a trust in God, the recognition that He is ever present “in and out of the fray…”. The relationship with Christ via the church as we know it at best deals with the moral, ethical, and even virtues but does it really teach us the basis of unwavering faith?