A video of Lubbock Covenant Hospital staff gathered to pray for their patients and coworkers has gone viral on social media.
The video was posted on Facebook last month by Sonia Diaz, a certified surgical technologist at Covenant. It has since reached around 1.9 million views and 30 thousand shares.
“I did not expect it to go viral,” Diaz said. “It’s just something that I did and it happened.”
Covenant’s chaplain, Bary Moynihan, said the operating room staff started incorporating prayer into their morning huddles after a nurse, asked if it would be possible for them to pray together as a staff.
“We’re a faith based organization,” said Moynihan. “So, we encourage the expression of faith, especially when it’s organic and it’s coming from the people themselves.”
Diaz said she’s received positive responses from people all over the world who have been encouraged by the video. Some have even said they wanted to come work at Covenant so they could be a part of an organization that supports a time for morning prayer.
“I guess you don’t think about how this doesn’t happen everywhere,” she reflected.
Diaz explained that her job can be very stressful, having to always be prepared for whatever may happen and paying attention to all the details. She said being able to pray before the beginning of the work day has boosted the staff’s morale.
“Starting our day off with God has been amazing, it’s been different, your whole attitude is different,” she said. “You’re more helpful and you just look forward more to your day.”
Moynihan said he thinks the video speaks to who they are as an organization. He said they value their faith tradition and honor the expression of it through prayer. He said prayer contributes to the healing process for patients and medical staff by providing a sense of comfort.
“Prayer doesn’t always change the outcome,” he said. “You don’t always get the answer that you ask for, but I think prayer ultimately changes how we deal with what happens.”
