I Wonder--July 31

I just returned to the office from visiting with some members of the church in the hospital. Their health is compromised, and as I leave their rooms I wonder, 'will they get better? What does 'better' look like?'

One of the ugly parts of long-term illness that I witness is that it robs the individual of hope. 

They are sick and without the intervention and skill of others, their illness will not be healed, helped, or resolved. In that room we are confronted with our own stuff--mortality, regret, a lingering desire to be reunited with others. In that room there is little to do but contemplate and wonder about what it will be like to end the humanly suffering and be with Jesus. . . and for most, even those with a deep sense of faith, there is uncertainty that sits on the bed or in the chair next to us. 

You see, I don't know what it feels like to stop breathing and feel my heart stop for the final time. . . and neither do they. . . 

We can have a strong faith, a deep faith, a faith taught to us generationally by loved ones and lived out in the church, but when it comes right down to it (and I have experience to back this up) we are anxious--in that room.  

And so I wonder: What does it look like to show up and dwell in those lives? I wonder what happens when we leave everything go and just sit down in the chair, take their hand, and remind them that they are sacred, they are loved, they are cared for, and they are redeemed?

Perhaps that is the good news that we can offer. .