Twilight

Sunday morning-what a gift these days are. I'm sitting here with coffee, windows open, listening to the birds, and...what's that? Lydia is barking. Oh! I looked out the window and there's a woman practically running by with, count them, 4 large dogs on leashes. Good grief! I don't know how she manages to keep control of all of them.

We finished up the yard sale yesterday and the kids didn't do too badly. I was glad I didn't have to do a lot of the work for it, though. I put a few things out but no one decided they needed my "treasures". I also went to the nursing home yesterday and played the piano for the residents. There weren't a lot of people there, the attendant told me that many of them had gone with their families for the day. But those that were there to listen seemed to enjoy it. A man and his wife came-she is actually the resident there and he stays with her most of the day. He came up to the piano and sang along with me. He also put a piece of music in front of me that he got from the piano bench and asked me to play it, telling me that they used to play this particular piece in his church during communion time. Although I'm not a very good sight-reader, I managed to make it through this composition easily, and it is beautiful. The title is simply "Hymne". I don't remember the composer, but after I played, he was so appreciative.

It's a little thing, really, playing the piano in a nursing home. They like the old hymns, none of this modern stuff for them. They request the same ones each week, and each week, I'm happy to do it. Every time I get ready to leave there's this goodbye "ritual -, I play "God Be With You Til We Meet Again", and then greet each one who has come. "Come back!", they'll say. "Come anytime!" This time, I had lots of questions about where my daughter and son were-they usually come along and help sing and he plays as well. They both had other things they needed to do, but they were greatly missed. Next Saturday I will probably miss as I am having a medical procedure done on Friday, and I just am not sure I will feel up to going, but we'll see how things go. This is the second time in my life that I find myself doing this. Many years ago when my children were little, I went on Sunday afternoon with a couple of people to the Lincoln East Nursing Home. I played, Bill sang, and Sam preached. We had a little church service right there. I told God I would do it for 18 months (the length of time my mother was incapacitated before she died), and ended up going for more than 2 years.

It's doing something outside yourself, and forgetting about your problems and your difficulties. It is understanding that many depend on us, the Church, to provide ministry to them. It is helping those at the twilight of the day gain "strength for today, and bright hope for tomorrow", as the hymn states. It is realizing that there are blessings for not only those who are ministered to, but for the "ministers" as well. I'm not talking about a feel good all over transitory emotion-"I've done my good deed for the day" thing. I'm talking about something much deeper. Many of these folks have a faith they are clinging to which I have not yet grasped, but yet, which is so very visible to someone like me who comes in once a week for an hour. It makes me wonder if I'll have what it takes to meet my future-whatever that may be. With my health history, I could very easily end up in a place much like these folks and probably will. Will I pass the test? Will my faith in the God who made me, and who knows my name, be enough to sustain me, no matter what happens? Will I be able to make it visible to those who are around me, even if I can't take care of myself?

I have a friend in her 80's who is currently in treatment for cancer. This is her 3rd or 4th re-occurence, yet, she remains one of the most positive people I know. She told me on the phone the other day that she shares her faith openly with the doctors who treat her, asking them if they pray, if they believe in God, if they know Jesus. If they answer negatively, which some do, she walks through that doorway and tells them what Jesus has done for her. She prays for and with each doctor who treats her, sometimes as he/she is at her bedside. This woman is a true hero of the faith. She has no self-given labels i.e., "Queen of Evangelism", but she has, as so many others, given me an example to follow. My prayer is that I am faithful to the end, whatever and whenever that is for me.