Where is God in suffering? Mortality, meaning, and spiritual care with hospice chaplain Aaron Klink
Aaron Klink
In the new episode of the Yale Divinity School Quadcast, alum and hospice chaplain Rev. Aaron Klink ‘05 M.Div. discusses how spiritual care complements modern medicine, a near-death experience that transformed his understanding of mortality, and the enduring question of God’s presence in suffering.
Listen to the episode.
Klink is a hospice chaplain in Durham, N.C. His writings on theology, ethics, and medicine have appeared in Christian Century, American Journal of Bioethics, Lutheran Quarterly, and the YDS journal Reflections, among other publications. In addition to his YDS degree, he has a B.A. in religion from Emory University, an M.A. in systematic theology from Lutheran Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, and a Th.M. in ethics from Duke Divinity School. He is an ordained pastor in the Church of the Brethren, dually aligned with the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America.
“Medicine’s goal is the cure of the body,” Klink says in the podcast interview. “What medicine misses is that we’re human beings in a web of relationships.”
Klink also discusses a severe medical emergency he experienced that shifted him from caregiver to patient and changed his understanding of suffering. “That was one of the most powerful experiences of ministry I’ve ever felt,” he reflects. “I think sometimes God in the midst of suffering is about the people who show up.”
“Meds, MRIs, Miracles: A Hospice Chaplain Rereads Genesis”: Read Aaron Klink’s piece in the Spring 2025 issue of Reflections.
When people ask him what makes for a good death, Klink usually responds “a good life.” He cites an old monastic practice of “keeping your death before your eyes daily and to realize that time on earth is finite and not to wait to say I’m sorry and not to wait to say I love you and not wait to say I forgive you.”
The YDS Quadcast is hosted, by Emily Judd ‘19 M.A.R., who started the podcast when she was a student. She is now Senior Communications Specialist at the Higher Committee of Human Fraternity and previously worked as a journalist in the Middle East.