I entered a hospital room at the cancer center where I served as a chaplain resident, and saw an elderly, white-haired woman sitting on the side of her bed. As I approached her, I smiled and said, “Hi! I’m Chaplain Seyda, how are things going with you today?” She looked up with a frown and said, “I don’t need any chaplain, I’m not interested in talking to a chaplain.” I looked back at her, and with a big sigh of relief I said, “Oh thank God! I’m so glad to hear that, because sometimes I don’t want to talk to people like a chaplain either!” So, would it be alright if we just talk like friends?” She looked up at me and said, “I didn’t mean to be rude, but you see, I’m Jewish, and didn’t think Christian chaplains talked to Jewish people.” I sat down and said to her “I like Jewish people, some of my best friends are rabbis, and it’s so nice to meet you.” She gazed at me with a quizzical look on her face and inquired, “Can I ask you something?” “Of course,” I said. “I’m a survivor of the holocaust,” she continued, “and I can’t understand why God would allow me to escape that death camp where I saw my whole family die, and now let me get cancer and die like this. I just don’t understand a God like that.” I said to her, “Well, it all depends on what God we’re talking about.” “What do you mean?” she said, “I thought Christians and Jews both believed in the same God.” “Let me explain,” I responded. “Many of us believe in the God our parents told us about. Some of us believe in the God our ministers or rabbis explained to us. And some of us believe in the God we made up in our own minds. Now if you are talking about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob; the God of the Bible, then I’d be happy to talk about Him.” “Yes! Yes! That’s the God I meant,” she responded. So, I then asked her if she believed the story of Noah, of Abraham, of Jacob, of Joseph, of Moses, of Joshua, of Daniel and the three Hebrew children? She nodded yes very vigorously to all my questions. Then I pointed out that all of these patriarchs went through tough times; sometimes being tortured and near death. However, one thing that impressed me about their God was that He went through it with them. He didn’t abandon or leave them to face it alone. Therefore, if that’s the God you’re talking about, then I have a feeling that He’s right here with you, and won’t let you go it alone. There was a pause as she looked up at me with an enlightened look on her face, and the said: “Tell me more about your God, that’s the one I want to know.” For the rest of her stay in the hospital, we had wonderful chats together, talking about the God she wanted to know. I never called her after she left or tried to follow up, since that was against the rules unless the patient asks. Rather, I turned it over to someone much more capable than I, the Holy Spirit. I’m absolutely sure He did a great job. I learned that there are our ways and other ways, but the best way, is God’s way.