Emphasis Preaching Journal

A new hospital chaplain reflected on his training. "I was one of seven interns in an intense nine-month program," he said. "In our classes, we sat in a circle with our supervisors and, it seemed to me at first, mentally beat each other up."

The chaplain said a constant barrage of criticism was one of the teaching techniques. As his life carried a history of rejection, he did not receive criticism well. The more he balked, the more his peers and supervisors faulted him.