On the day before Christmas, Ralph Benson walked 5.2 miles, gave directions to countless lost souls, prayed spontaneously with a few dozen others and helped some guy find his connecting flight to Tokyo. In other words, a pretty typical workday, if you happen to work as the senior chaplain at Dulles International Airport on one of those hectic, get-outta-town-at-all-costs days like Thursday.

A retired Army chaplain who lives in Nokesville, Va., Benson did what he does four days a week, holiday or no holiday: He spent about 10 hours roaming the ramps and corridors of Dulles, serving his “flock.” Which in this case includes about 36,000 airport employees and tens of thousands of travelers, many of whom seemed more in need of gate information than spiritual guidance.

And that was just fine with Benson, 61, a calm, preternaturally cheerful fellow who begins his marathon rounds at 3:30 a.m., greeting baggage handlers and ground technicians on the freezing tarmac. For the next 10 hours, Benson circled the airport like a cop on a beat, searching for anyone who might need a sympathetic ear.

“Basically, I walk up to people and talk to them,” he says. “I’m here to let people vent and to show them that someone cares. I’m here to let people know that someone is listening in a place where you can feel very lost and alone.”

Indeed, nearly 7,000 people this year have sought pastoral counseling at Dulles and Reagan National Airport, according to Metropolitan Washington Airports Interfaith Chapels, the nonprofit organization that runs chapels at both facilities. Chaplains at the airports have met with 28,000 employees over the years, as well, to talk with them about all manner of problems — family issues, money issues, drug and alcohol abuse.

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