Today I sit by a hospital bed.
I have done it countless times before
accompanying saints and sinners alike
I have done it countless times before
accompanying saints and sinners alike
through illness, tragedy, and even death.
It's hallowed ground beside a hospital bed,
just as holy as the pulpit, fount, and table,
here with hymn of beeps of IV pumps, ringing of nurses' phones, and hiss of oxygen,
here with the confession of human frailty and interdependence,
here with need to help and be helped,
here somewhere between living and dying,
here in the embodiment of the hand of God through the hands of others - nurses, doctors, therapist, CNAs, phlebotomists, social workers, and the lady who mops the floor.
It's hallowed ground beside a hospital bed,
just as holy as the pulpit, fount, and table,
here with hymn of beeps of IV pumps, ringing of nurses' phones, and hiss of oxygen,
here with the confession of human frailty and interdependence,
here with need to help and be helped,
here somewhere between living and dying,
here in the embodiment of the hand of God through the hands of others - nurses, doctors, therapist, CNAs, phlebotomists, social workers, and the lady who mops the floor.
Today I sit by a hospital bed.
This time it's my Dad's.
He moves fluidly between mumbling in his dreams to asking me what the next step is to wrathing in pain to a quiet slumber.
"I'm bored just lying here."
He's been here 14 days and probably more to come.
"Ow, ah. My back hurts. I've got to move."
I try to adjust him in the bed and arrange the pillows.
"What about a sub for lunch?"
He hasn't eaten much of anything in days, but we'll try.
"When's Mom coming?"
They've been married 56 years.
This time it's my Dad's.
He moves fluidly between mumbling in his dreams to asking me what the next step is to wrathing in pain to a quiet slumber.
"I'm bored just lying here."
He's been here 14 days and probably more to come.
"Ow, ah. My back hurts. I've got to move."
I try to adjust him in the bed and arrange the pillows.
"What about a sub for lunch?"
He hasn't eaten much of anything in days, but we'll try.
"When's Mom coming?"
They've been married 56 years.
My wife's bringing her soon.
Today I sit by a hospital bed
and I pray
and I pray
as I have countless times before.
I pray for healing, for strength, for peace, relief from pain, for recovery, for well-being.
I pray:
Lord, help.
Lord, heal.
Lord, hold us all in your loving embrace.
May your kingdom come,
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Today I sit by a hospital bed
I pray for healing, for strength, for peace, relief from pain, for recovery, for well-being.
I pray:
Lord, help.
Lord, heal.
Lord, hold us all in your loving embrace.
May your kingdom come,
May your will be done
on earth as it is in heaven.
Today I sit by a hospital bed
and wait.
Trusting that our only comfort in living and in dying
is that we belong body and soul to our faithful Savior Jesus Christ.*
In whose name I pray.
In whose name I wait.
_________
This thought reflects the first question and answer of the Heidelberg Catechism:
1 Q. What is your only comfort in life and in death?
A. That I am not my own,^1 but belong— body and soul, in life and in death—^2 to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.^3 He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood,^4 and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.^5 He also watches over me in such a way^6 that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven;^7 in fact, all things must work together for my salvation.^8 Because I belong to him, Christ, by his Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life^9 and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.^10
^1 1 Cor. 6:19 ^2 Rom. 14:8 ^3 1 Cor. 3:23 ^4 1 Pet. 1:18; 1 John 1:7; 2:2 ^5 1 John 3:8 ^6 John 6:39 ^7 Matt. 10:30;Luke 21:18 ^8 Rom. 8:28 ^9 2 Cor. 1:22;5:5; Eph. 1:14;Rom. 8:16 ^10 Rom. 8:14
No comments:
Post a Comment