Behold, I Am Making All Things New
Bob Wickizer
Isaiah 25:6-9
I don't know much about what happens after death. Last week I gave last rites to one parishioner and as part of my hospital chaplain volunteer work, I dealt with three more people in their final hours of life and their families. I spent some time this week thinking and praying about my experiences with the dying, about saints and about ineffable mystery.
Sometimes when you deal with people who have had strokes or serious medical conditions you get the impression that while they are still in that hospital bed, perhaps they have been over the fence a couple of times to see what's on the other side. They come back to us in this world and you get to experience albeit vicariously that abiding presence of God with the dying when they jump back and forth. That was certainly my sense of things in one encounter.
George had several small strokes. While he was slumped over in bed his family introduced me to him. He looked at me with weary cloudy eyes and started talking about cattle on his ranch. I agreed that hay was really expensive this time of year. After a bewildering set of changes of subject his family told me that he wanted to have confession with a priest and they left the room. Between my poor hearing and his poor speech, I was a bit worried as to how this was going to work.
I realized that he could not connect the right words to the thoughts in his head. I could translate a few things but most of what he said was gibberish. Then I wondered if he could respond to yes/no questions. I started with, ''Do you have four children?'' He looked at me a bit surprised at how I knew that and said ''Yes.'' ''Do you know that I am a priest?'' ''Yes'' and h ...
Bob Wickizer
Isaiah 25:6-9
I don't know much about what happens after death. Last week I gave last rites to one parishioner and as part of my hospital chaplain volunteer work, I dealt with three more people in their final hours of life and their families. I spent some time this week thinking and praying about my experiences with the dying, about saints and about ineffable mystery.
Sometimes when you deal with people who have had strokes or serious medical conditions you get the impression that while they are still in that hospital bed, perhaps they have been over the fence a couple of times to see what's on the other side. They come back to us in this world and you get to experience albeit vicariously that abiding presence of God with the dying when they jump back and forth. That was certainly my sense of things in one encounter.
George had several small strokes. While he was slumped over in bed his family introduced me to him. He looked at me with weary cloudy eyes and started talking about cattle on his ranch. I agreed that hay was really expensive this time of year. After a bewildering set of changes of subject his family told me that he wanted to have confession with a priest and they left the room. Between my poor hearing and his poor speech, I was a bit worried as to how this was going to work.
I realized that he could not connect the right words to the thoughts in his head. I could translate a few things but most of what he said was gibberish. Then I wondered if he could respond to yes/no questions. I started with, ''Do you have four children?'' He looked at me a bit surprised at how I knew that and said ''Yes.'' ''Do you know that I am a priest?'' ''Yes'' and h ...
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